Opuestos
Emparejar antónimos: grande y pequeño, frío y caliente, lleno y vacío.
Words
Match
How to run it
Say both members of each pair aloud together. The contrast is what teaches, and a word matched silently teaches nothing. Once matching is easy, give one word and ask for its opposite without the cards, which is retrieval rather than recognition and considerably harder. Alto and bajo are worth a note — they cover both height and volume in Spanish, which is a useful ambiguity to point out. Eight minutes covers the twelve.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- HintGive a clue about the word's category, what it does, or where you find it.Log as cued
- Two choicesOffer two answers, the right one not always second.Log as cued
- ModelGive the answer in a sentence; the student says it back and uses it once more.Log as cued
Adjust it
Use fewer items and start with the ones the student already knows, such as 'grande' and 'frío'.
Ask for the word in a sentence of the student's own, or a second example from the same group.
Matching IEP goal
Given vocabulary cards, Student will name, sort or define target words in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than an indirect cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Twelve Spanish antonym pairs: grande and pequeño, frío and caliente, lleno and vacío, arriba and abajo, abierto and cerrado, rápido and lento, limpio and sucio, alto and bajo, dentro and fuera, día and noche, feliz and triste, duro and blando. Opposites are learned in contrast, which is why the pairs stay together rather than being taught one at a time.
What to listen for
Listen for the no strategy. A child who answers no grande when asked for the opposite of grande has the concept and lacks the word, which is a retrieval issue rather than a conceptual one. Watch dentro and fuera, which are spatial rather than descriptive and often come later than the physical property pairs.
Carrying it home
Opposites are everywhere in a Spanish-speaking home: la puerta está abierta, ahora cerrada; el vaso está lleno, ahora vacío. Saying both halves in the same minute is what builds the contrast.
What's in this activity
- grande pequeño
- frío caliente
- lleno vacío
- arriba abajo
- abierto cerrado
- rápido lento
- limpio sucio
- alto bajo
- dentro fuera
- día noche
- feliz triste
- duro blando
Questions
- Is this board in Spanish?
- Yes, all the words are Spanish. This page is in English so an English-speaking clinician can find and evaluate it.
- Is it free?
- Yes, no account and no card needed.
- What grades is it for?
- Kindergarten through third grade, for Spanish-speaking students building early vocabulary.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.