This simple activity practises vocabulary and to some extent speaking. Make a list of four or five words, all but one of which have something in common. Ask the students to find the "odd-one-out".
Don't be surprised if they come up with some surprising answers. Just ask them to justify their choice. You may well find it logical. Take, for example:
The answer could be dragon (because it is the only mythical creature) or cat (because all the other words start with "d").
Ideally, the students should phrase their justification in a form such as:
Here are some suggested words. You can easily find more. And one good exercise is to ask your students to create some lists (along with valid justifications).
words | some possible answers |
---|---|
dog, cat, donkey, dragon | cat - begins c dragon - mythological |
banana, tomato, peach, apple, pear | banana - shape |
Thailand, Singapore, Tokyo, England, Vietnam | Tokyo - city, not country England - not in Asia |
car, aeroplane, truck, bus, train | aeroplane - flies truck - not for passengers train - guided by rails |
camera, computer, television, telephone, fax-machine | camera - doesn't need electricity television - 4 syllables |
love, hatred, fear, greed, anger | love - positive greed - not an emotion |
hotel, motel, town-house, condominium, classroom | condominium - 5 syllables classroom - not for residence |
water, bottle, shop, pencil, river | water - uncountable noun |
branch, strawberry, anvil, iceberg, boat | anvil - doesn't float in water |
If you print a page to use later, you can usually "print to paper" or "print to PDF". In the latter case, you have a handy PDF file that you can save/transfer as you wish.
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