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Japanese Adjectives

Seventh graders learn Japanese adjectives (けいようし, keiyōshi) to describe the world — おいしい (oishii, delicious), たのしい (tanoshii, fun), ふるい (furui, old). They sort positive, nice descriptions from negative ones.

Grade 7Adjectives50 minutes1 class periodACTFL / World LanguagesExplicit teaching4 StandardsACTFL
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Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Learn adjectives.
  • ✓Tell positive from negative.
  • ✓Sort the adjectives.
  • ✓Describe things.
Essential Question

How do you describe things in Japanese — delicious, fun, new, old? Let’s learn adjectives.

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Sort It · Interactive

Positive or Negative?

Project this and sort each adjective into Positive (nice) or Negative (not nice).

🌟 Sort each — a positive or negative adjective?Try it
👍 Positive (nice)
👎 Negative (not nice)
Tap an adjective, then tap a box.
The Lesson · Language Flow (Warm-Up · Present · Practice · Speak · Reflect)

50 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Warm-Up — Describing Things

6 min

How do you describe things in Japanese? Let’s learn adjectives.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Taste something “oishii.”
  • Ask its opposite.
  • Set the goal.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Look.
  • Guess.
  • Get ready.
2

Present — Adjectives

12 min

Students learn.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to Positive or Negative?
  • Sort each one.
  • Say them aloud.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Sort.
  • Say.
  • Repeat.
3

Practice — Practice

13 min

Students practice.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Describe your lunch.
  • Describe a movie.
  • Say oishii.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Describe.
  • Describe.
  • Say it.
4

Speak — Speak

13 min

Students speak.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Say “Kore wa oishii desu” (this is delicious).
  • Describe two things.
  • Ask a partner.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Say it.
  • Describe.
  • Ask.
5

Reflect — Reflect

6 min

Students close.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name an adjective.
  • Describe one thing.
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name one.
  • Describe.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the ACTFL World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (Novice-Mid).

ACTFL
Communication 1.2

Interpretive: understand adjectives.

ACTFL
Communication 1.3

Presentational: describe things.

ACTFL
Comparisons 4.1

Compare adjectives.

ACTFL
Communication 1.1

Interpersonal: describe & react.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Adjective cards with romaji.
  • Sentence frame: “___ desu.”
  • Use pictures.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with oishii & mazui.
  • Sort one at a time.
  • Use examples.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Add ōkii/chiisai (big/small).
  • Describe five things.
  • Learn -i vs -na adjectives.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Screen / board
  • 🌟Adjective cards
  • 💻Positive or Negative?
  • 🖼️Picture prompts
  • ✏️Notebooks
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

けいようし (keiyōshi)adjectiveおおきい (ōkii)bigちいさい (chiisai)smallあたらしい (atarashii)newふるい (furui)oldたのしい (tanoshii)funおいしい (oishii)deliciousきれい (kirei)pretty / clean
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
How do you say “delicious” in Japanese?
おいしい (oishii).
QUESTION 2
What does ふるい (furui) mean?
Old.
QUESTION 3
What does たのしい (tanoshii) mean?
Fun.

Reflect: adjectives.

Have students describe two things in Japanese using adjectives (like oishii, tanoshii). A printable Japanese adjectives sheet is in the World Languages library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Japanese AdjectivesFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Japanese AdjectivesQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Nice work!

Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Japanese AdjectivesPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: あたらしい (atarashii), おいしい (oishii), おおきい (ōkii), きれい (kirei), けいようし (keiyōshi), たのしい (tanoshii), ちいさい (chiisai), ふるい (furui)
  1. fun
  2. delicious
  3. old
  4. small
  5. new
  6. pretty / clean
  7. big
  8. adjective

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. How do you say “delicious” in Japanese?
  2. What does ふるい (furui) mean?
  3. What does たのしい (tanoshii) mean?
Answer key — Part A: 1) たのしい (tanoshii) · 2) おいしい (oishii) · 3) ふるい (furui) · 4) ちいさい (chiisai) · 5) あたらしい (atarashii) · 6) きれい (kirei) · 7) おおきい (ōkii) · 8) けいようし (keiyōshi)
Part B: 1) おいしい (oishii). 2) Old. 3) Fun.