y
Verbs of Mental Processes
Conteúdo Exclusivo
Acesso à Academia
Enhance your B1 students' expression of opinion and reasoning with "Odd One Out - Mental Processes". This advanced classification exercise is crucial for consolidating verbs related to thought (to believe, to consider, to analyze...). By asking students to identify the odd one out verb (often a concrete action verb like cooking), the resource strengthens their mastery of abstract vocabulary and develops their ability to differentiate between fields of action (mental vs. physical). It's the perfect tool for a sequence on argumentation, expressing doubt, or decision-making.
Sua folha de exercícios
Avalie o conhecimento dos seus alunos com esta folha de exercícios pronta para usar, projetada para reforçar pontos gramaticais e de vocabulário.
Recurso premium. Esta ferramenta faz parte da The Big Challenge Academy. Inscreva-se para ter acesso ilimitado a centenas de recursos premium.
Guia Pedagógico
Objective & Plot Summary
The main pedagogical objective is to reinforce the recognition and memorization of B1 level vocabulary related to mental processes (to believe, to analyze, to doubt, to realize, etc.) [cite: 4, 19, 16, 7] by developing the ability to categorize and identify a verb that does not imply cognitive activity or thought. The resource is an "Odd One Out" type exercise composed of several lines of verbs in the infinitive form. In each line, the majority of verbs describe a mental action (e.g., to judge, to remember, to imagine) [cite: 18, 17, 22], while the odd one out is a verb of physical action or preparation, often related to cooking (e.g., to bake, to boil, to fry, to roast)[cite: 6, 9, 11, 20]. The student must circle the verb that is extraneous to the lexical field of cognition.
Suggested Procedure
Before the activity (~5 min): ACTIVATE THE BRAIN
-
Getting started: The teacher distributes the worksheet. Write 'Mental Processes' on the board. Ask students to list verbs that describe what the brain does (e.g., to think, to learn, to know) to introduce the abstract lexical field.
-
Introducing the task: Remind students of the 'Odd One Out' rule. Emphasize the distinction: which verb is a physical action done with the hands (the odd one out) versus an action done with the head (the target verbs)?
During the activity (~15-20 min): ANALYZE THE VERB AND ITS AGENT
-
Step 1: Individual resolution and semantic verification (10 min). Students read and circle the odd one out. Encourage verification by the subject: If one says « I am *verb* », is it an activity visible from the outside? If yes, it is probably the odd one out.
-
Step 2: Pair verification and justification (5-10 min). In pairs, students compare their choices. They prepare oral justification using the complete sentence: « To bake is the odd one out because it is a **physical action** and the others are **verbs of thought** (or **mental processes**). »[cite: 6].
After the activity (~10-15 min): APPLICATION IN EXPRESSING OPINION
-
Collective correction: Proceed with oral correction. Write the mental process verbs on the board and group them by function (Opinion: to believe, to suppose, to assume; Reflection/Attention: to concentrate, to focus; Memory/Judgment: to remember, to analyze).[cite: 4, 10, 21, 12, 14, 17, 19].
-
Oral production: Ask students to choose two verbs of opinion (e.g., to believe, to doubt) and use them to express their opinion on a simple topic (e.g., school uniforms, sports): « I **believe** that sports are important, but I **doubt** that they are necessary every day. »[cite: 4, 16].
Adaptations
-
To simplify: Provide a list of the odd one out verbs (the cooking verbs) and a list of mental verbs. Ask students to find which list each word in the line belongs to, to facilitate identification.
-
To extend: Introduce the grammatical function of the subordinate clause: ask students to formulate complex sentences using the verbs from the list followed by **THAT** (e.g., « I **consider** **that** the exam will be difficult » or « They **realize that** they were wrong »).[cite: 4, 7].
