Lesson Plan: Beyond "Nice" – Describing Personalities and Character Traits

 

This lesson aims to equip students with the lexical and grammatical tools necessary to describe people in depth. By the end of the lesson, A2 students will be able to use a wider range of adjectives, while B1/B2 students will learn to qualify those adjectives and use relative clauses to provide evidence for their descriptions.

Level: A2 - B2 (ESL/EFL) 

Duration: 90 Minutes 

Topic: Describing People (Personality, Character, and Qualities) 

Learning Objectives

1. Vocabulary: Students will learn and practice at least 15–20 new adjectives describing personality (e.g., ambitious, reliable, stubborn, easy-going).

2. Grammar: Students will practice the correct order of adjectives and the use of relative clauses (e.g., "He is the kind of person who...") to expand their descriptions.

3. Speaking: Students will fluently describe a friend or family member, providing reasons for their description.

4. Writing: Students will write a structured descriptive paragraph about a person they admire.

Phase 1: Warm-Up and Engagement (10 Minutes)

Activity: The "Adjective Race"

Goal: To activate prior knowledge and assess the current vocabulary level of the class.

1. Setup: Divide the board into two halves. Write "Positive Traits (+)" on one side and "Negative Traits (-)" on the other.

2. Procedure:

• Divide the class into two teams.
• Give each team a distinct color of marker.
• Set a timer for 3 minutes. One student from each team runs to the board, writes an adjective describing a person’s character (not physical appearance), and runs back to hand the marker to the next teammate.
• Rule: No repeated words allowed.

1. Review:

• Go through the words. Correct spelling and pronunciation immediately.
• differentiation: If A2 students write "happy," ask B2 students for a stronger synonym (e.g., "cheerful," "optimistic").

Teacher’s Note: This acts as a diagnostic tool. If the board is full of basic words like "nice" and "bad," you know you need to focus heavily on the vocabulary input section.

Phase 2: Vocabulary Input and Expansion (20 Minutes)

Activity: Semantic Gradients and Context

Goal: To introduce nuanced vocabulary and teaching antonyms.

1. Presentation (10 Minutes):

Instead of a flat list, present vocabulary in pairs or scales. Write the following words on the board (or project them). Ask students to match them to their definitions or opposites.

• Target Vocabulary (A2/B1): Generous, lazy, shy, confident, polite, rude.
• Target Vocabulary (B2): Ambitious, reliable, arrogant, stubborn, sympathetic, conscientious, witty.

2. The Scale Technique:

Draw a line on the board. Place "Quiet" at one end and "Loud" at the other. Ask students where "Talkative," "Chatty," and "Introverted" would sit.

3. Guided Practice – "The Matching Game" (10 Minutes):

Hand out a worksheet where students match the adjective to a situational context. This ensures they understand the meaning, not just the translation.

• Example Questions:
• "Sarah always arrives on time and does what she promises." ➡ Reliable.
• "John wants to be the CEO of the company in five years." ➡ Ambitious.
• "Mike refuses to change his mind, even when he is wrong." ➡ Stubborn.

Differentiation:

• For A2: Focus on matching the word to a simple picture or emoji.
• For B2: Ask them to provide a synonym for each word (e.g., Stubborn ➡ Obstinate).

Phase 3: Grammar Focus – Adding Detail (15 Minutes)

Activity: "He is a person who..."

Goal: To move students from simple sentences ("He is funny") to complex sentences using relative clauses.

1. The Formula:

Explain that adjectives are good, but evidence is better. Write this formula on the board:

{Person} + {Verb (to be)} + {Adjective} + {BECAUSE} + \{Evidence}

• Basic: "He is funny because he tells jokes."

2. The Upgrade (B1/B2 Focus):

Introduce relative clauses to define the person.

{He/She is the kind of person WHO} + Verb Phrase...}

• Advanced: "He is the kind of person who can always make you laugh when you are feeling down."

3. Quick Drill:

Give the class a prompt adjective and nominate a student to finish the sentence using the "who" structure.

• Teacher: "Generous."
• Student: "A generous person is someone who shares their food with you."
• Teacher: "Short-tempered."
• Student: "A short-tempered person is someone who gets angry very easily."

Phase 4: Speaking Activity (25 Minutes)

Activity: "The Perfect Roommate"

Goal: Functional usage of vocabulary in a negotiation context.

1. Scenario:

Tell students they are living in a shared house and a room has become free. They need to choose a new roommate from three candidate profiles.

2. The Profiles (Handout):

• Candidate A (Alex): Very tidy, reliable, but slightly moody and very introverted. Plays the violin (badly).
• Candidate B (Sam): Extremely easy-going, funny, generous, but very messy and sometimes unreliable with rent.
• Candidate C (Jo): Ambitious, hardworking, confident, but can be arrogant and bossy. Never is at home.

3. The Task:

• Put students in small groups (3-4).
• They must discuss the candidates using the target vocabulary.
• They must agree on one person to move in.

4. Execution:

Monitor the groups. Listen for sentences like:

• "I think Sam is too messy. I can't live with a person who leaves dishes in the sink."
• "Alex seems reliable, which is important for paying rent."

5. Feedback:

Ask each group to present their choice and give two reasons why. Correct any grammar errors anonymously on the board afterward.

Phase 5: Writing Component (20 Minutes)

Activity: Guided Descriptive Paragraph

Goal: To consolidate the lesson into a structured piece of writing.

1. Analyze the Model:

Distribute the following example paragraph to the students. Read it aloud and ask them to underline the adjectives and circle the relative clauses (or evidence).

Example Paragraph: My Grandmother

One of the people I admire most is my grandmother. She is an incredibly warm-hearted person who always makes guests feel welcome in her home. Even though she is eighty years old, she is very energetic and independent; she still tends to her garden every day. However, she can be a little stubborn at times. For example, she refuses to let anyone help her with the cooking, even during big festivals. Despite this, she is the most reliable person I know. If you have a problem, she is the kind of person who will listen for hours without judging you. I hope that one day I can be as resilient and caring as she is.

2. Deconstruction Questions:

• What are her positive traits? (Warm-hearted, energetic, independent, reliable, resilient, caring).
• What is her negative trait? (Stubborn).
• How does the writer prove she is stubborn? (She refuses help with cooking).
• connector usage: Point out words like "However," "Even though," and "Despite this."

3. The Assignment:

Ask students to write a similar paragraph (100–150 words) about a friend, family member, or famous person.

Instructions:

• Choose a person.
• Pick 3 adjectives (2 positive, 1 negative/neutral).
• Use at least one "who" clause.
• Give an example of their behavior.

Differentiation:

• A2: Provide a fill-in-the-blank template. "My best friend is ____. She is very ____ because she ____."
• B2: Encourage the use of modifiers (incredibly, slightly, rather) and complex connectors.

Phase 6: Cool Down and Homework (5 Minutes)

1. Peer Review (Time permitting):

Have students swap their paragraphs with a partner. The partner must highlight their favorite adjective used.

2. Homework Task:

• Observation Task: "People Watch." Ask students to observe a character in a movie or TV show they watch this week. They must write down three adjectives that describe that character and be prepared to explain why in the next class.

Teacher’s Cheat Sheet: Vocabulary Bank

To help you during the lesson, here are some pairings you can offer students who are stuck.

Basic (A2)	Advanced (B1/B2)	Antonym
Happy	Cheerful / Optimistic	Miserable / Pessimistic
Nice	Sympathetic / Kind-hearted	Mean / Cruel
Smart	Intelligent / Sharp	Stupid / Dull
Funny	Witty / Humorous	Serious
Hard-working	Conscientious / Diligent	Lazy
Honest	Trustworthy / Sincere	Deceitful / Dishonest
Quiet	Introverted / Reserved	Outgoing / Extroverted

Potential Pitfalls & Solutions

• Pitfall: Students describe physical appearance (tall, blonde) instead of character.
• Solution: Clarify at the start: "We are talking about the inside, not the outside."
• Pitfall: Students overuse "Nice."
• Solution: Ban the word "Nice" for the duration of the lesson. Create a "Forbidden Word" jar—if they say it, they have to do a forfeit (e.g., spell a difficult word).

• Pitfall: Cultural differences in judging character (e.g., directness being seen as rude vs. honest).

• Solution: Turn this into a discussion point. "In your country, is being direct considered rude or honest?"

Rationale for Methodology

This lesson follows the PPP (Presentation, Practice, Production) method.

1. Presentation: We introduced the vocabulary and grammar scales.

2. Practice: We used controlled matching exercises and the sentence drill.

3. Production: The roommate debate and the writing task allow for freer, more creative use of the language where the focus is on communication and fluency rather than just accuracy. By mixing visual cues, logical deduction (the scales), social interaction (the roommate debate), and solitary reflection (writing), the plan caters to various learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic).

Describing the qualities demands higher level language skills. Teacher can support the A2 students while supplementing the B2 students. You have to develop some activities according to the level of the students in your class. Hope you have got a clear insight about teaching personality and character traits. Leave a comment about your experience. Happy teaching!