full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Brendan Constantine: The Opposites Game

Unscramble the Blue Letters


"The Opposites Game" For Patricia Maisch This day my students and I play the oopiestps Game with a line from Emily Dickinson. My life had stood a loaedd gun, it goes and I write it on the board, pausing so they can call out the aymntons – My Your Life Death Had stood ? Will sit A Many Loaded Empty Gun ? Gun. For a mmoent, very much like the one between lightning and its sound, the chdierln just stare at me, and then it comes, a flurry, a hail storm of answers – fwoelr, says one. No, Book, says another. That's stupid, ciers a third, the opposite of a gun is a pillow. Or maybe a hug, but not a book, no way is it a book. With this, the others gather their tgothhus and suddenly it’s a shouting match. No one can agree, for every student there’s a final answer. It's a song, a pyarer, I mean a promise, like a wedding ring, and later a baby. Or what’s that person who delivers bibaes? A midwife? Yes, a mifiwde. No, that’s wrong. You're so worng you’ll never be right again. It's a whisper, a star, it's saying I love you into your hand and then touching someone's ear. Are you crazy? Are you the president of Stupid-land? You should be, When's the election? It’s a teddy bear, a sowrd, a perfect, perfect peach. Go back to the first one, it's a flower, a white rose. When the bell rigns, I reach for an eraser but a girl snatches it from my hand. Nothing's decided, she says, We’re not done here. I leave all the answers on the board. The next day some of them have stopped talking to each other, they’ve taken sides. There's a Flower club. And a Kitten club. And two boys calling themselves The sabwolnls. The rest have stuck with the original game, which was to try to wtire something like ptoery. It's a dmnaoid, it's a dance, the opposite of a gun is a museum in France. It's the moon, it's a mirror, it's the sound of a bell and the hearer. The arguing starts again, more shouting, and finllay a new club. For the first time I dare to push them. Maybe all of you are right, I say. Well, maybe. Maybe it's everything we said. Maybe it’s everything we didn't say. It's words and the speacs for wrdos. They're looking at each other now. It's everything in this room and outside this room and down the street and in the sky. It's everyone on campus and at the mall, and all the peolpe waiting at the hospital. And at the post office. And, yeah, it's a flower, too. All the flowers. The whole garden. The opposite of a gun is wherever you pinot it. Don’t write that on the barod, they say. Just say poem. Your death will sit through many empty poems.

Open Cloze


"The Opposites Game" For Patricia Maisch This day my students and I play the _________ Game with a line from Emily Dickinson. My life had stood a ______ gun, it goes and I write it on the board, pausing so they can call out the ________ – My Your Life Death Had stood ? Will sit A Many Loaded Empty Gun ? Gun. For a ______, very much like the one between lightning and its sound, the ________ just stare at me, and then it comes, a flurry, a hail storm of answers – ______, says one. No, Book, says another. That's stupid, _____ a third, the opposite of a gun is a pillow. Or maybe a hug, but not a book, no way is it a book. With this, the others gather their ________ and suddenly it’s a shouting match. No one can agree, for every student there’s a final answer. It's a song, a ______, I mean a promise, like a wedding ring, and later a baby. Or what’s that person who delivers ______? A midwife? Yes, a _______. No, that’s wrong. You're so _____ you’ll never be right again. It's a whisper, a star, it's saying I love you into your hand and then touching someone's ear. Are you crazy? Are you the president of Stupid-land? You should be, When's the election? It’s a teddy bear, a _____, a perfect, perfect peach. Go back to the first one, it's a flower, a white rose. When the bell _____, I reach for an eraser but a girl snatches it from my hand. Nothing's decided, she says, We’re not done here. I leave all the answers on the board. The next day some of them have stopped talking to each other, they’ve taken sides. There's a Flower club. And a Kitten club. And two boys calling themselves The _________. The rest have stuck with the original game, which was to try to _____ something like ______. It's a _______, it's a dance, the opposite of a gun is a museum in France. It's the moon, it's a mirror, it's the sound of a bell and the hearer. The arguing starts again, more shouting, and _______ a new club. For the first time I dare to push them. Maybe all of you are right, I say. Well, maybe. Maybe it's everything we said. Maybe it’s everything we didn't say. It's words and the ______ for _____. They're looking at each other now. It's everything in this room and outside this room and down the street and in the sky. It's everyone on campus and at the mall, and all the ______ waiting at the hospital. And at the post office. And, yeah, it's a flower, too. All the flowers. The whole garden. The opposite of a gun is wherever you _____ it. Don’t write that on the _____, they say. Just say poem. Your death will sit through many empty poems.

Solution


  1. people
  2. prayer
  3. finally
  4. rings
  5. opposites
  6. children
  7. board
  8. snowballs
  9. loaded
  10. write
  11. spaces
  12. sword
  13. wrong
  14. moment
  15. flower
  16. words
  17. cries
  18. diamond
  19. midwife
  20. antonyms
  21. point
  22. thoughts
  23. poetry
  24. babies

Original Text


"The Opposites Game" For Patricia Maisch This day my students and I play the Opposites Game with a line from Emily Dickinson. My life had stood a loaded gun, it goes and I write it on the board, pausing so they can call out the antonyms – My Your Life Death Had stood ? Will sit A Many Loaded Empty Gun ? Gun. For a moment, very much like the one between lightning and its sound, the children just stare at me, and then it comes, a flurry, a hail storm of answers – Flower, says one. No, Book, says another. That's stupid, cries a third, the opposite of a gun is a pillow. Or maybe a hug, but not a book, no way is it a book. With this, the others gather their thoughts and suddenly it’s a shouting match. No one can agree, for every student there’s a final answer. It's a song, a prayer, I mean a promise, like a wedding ring, and later a baby. Or what’s that person who delivers babies? A midwife? Yes, a midwife. No, that’s wrong. You're so wrong you’ll never be right again. It's a whisper, a star, it's saying I love you into your hand and then touching someone's ear. Are you crazy? Are you the president of Stupid-land? You should be, When's the election? It’s a teddy bear, a sword, a perfect, perfect peach. Go back to the first one, it's a flower, a white rose. When the bell rings, I reach for an eraser but a girl snatches it from my hand. Nothing's decided, she says, We’re not done here. I leave all the answers on the board. The next day some of them have stopped talking to each other, they’ve taken sides. There's a Flower club. And a Kitten club. And two boys calling themselves The Snowballs. The rest have stuck with the original game, which was to try to write something like poetry. It's a diamond, it's a dance, the opposite of a gun is a museum in France. It's the moon, it's a mirror, it's the sound of a bell and the hearer. The arguing starts again, more shouting, and finally a new club. For the first time I dare to push them. Maybe all of you are right, I say. Well, maybe. Maybe it's everything we said. Maybe it’s everything we didn't say. It's words and the spaces for words. They're looking at each other now. It's everything in this room and outside this room and down the street and in the sky. It's everyone on campus and at the mall, and all the people waiting at the hospital. And at the post office. And, yeah, it's a flower, too. All the flowers. The whole garden. The opposite of a gun is wherever you point it. Don’t write that on the board, they say. Just say poem. Your death will sit through many empty poems.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations




Important Words


  1. agree
  2. answer
  3. answers
  4. antonyms
  5. arguing
  6. babies
  7. baby
  8. bear
  9. bell
  10. board
  11. book
  12. boys
  13. call
  14. calling
  15. campus
  16. children
  17. club
  18. crazy
  19. cries
  20. dance
  21. day
  22. death
  23. decided
  24. delivers
  25. diamond
  26. dickinson
  27. ear
  28. election
  29. emily
  30. empty
  31. eraser
  32. final
  33. finally
  34. flower
  35. flowers
  36. flurry
  37. france
  38. game
  39. garden
  40. gather
  41. girl
  42. gun
  43. hail
  44. hand
  45. hearer
  46. hospital
  47. hug
  48. kitten
  49. leave
  50. life
  51. lightning
  52. line
  53. loaded
  54. love
  55. maisch
  56. mall
  57. match
  58. midwife
  59. mirror
  60. moment
  61. moon
  62. museum
  63. office
  64. opposites
  65. original
  66. patricia
  67. pausing
  68. peach
  69. people
  70. perfect
  71. person
  72. pillow
  73. play
  74. poem
  75. poems
  76. poetry
  77. point
  78. post
  79. prayer
  80. president
  81. promise
  82. push
  83. reach
  84. rest
  85. ring
  86. rings
  87. room
  88. rose
  89. shouting
  90. sides
  91. sit
  92. sky
  93. snatches
  94. snowballs
  95. song
  96. sound
  97. spaces
  98. star
  99. stare
  100. starts
  101. stood
  102. stopped
  103. storm
  104. street
  105. stuck
  106. student
  107. students
  108. stupid
  109. suddenly
  110. sword
  111. talking
  112. teddy
  113. thoughts
  114. time
  115. touching
  116. waiting
  117. wedding
  118. whisper
  119. white
  120. words
  121. write
  122. wrong
  123. yeah