Practices: word recognition, classification, rationalization
This simple activity practices 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:
- dog, cat, donkey, dragon
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:
- I think the odd-one-out is dragon because it is a mythical creature and all the others are real creatures.
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 |