The which doesn’t belong task, which has 3 connected choices and 1 unconnected choice, is popular in math, but is also great for reading, science, and just having fun. Think about collaboration, abstract reasoning, and applying concepts and knowledge all in one activity.
Fill out the form on this page to get your free Google Slides with 100+ “Which Doesn’t Belong” puzzles. You can also print individual slides and use them as worksheets. Check out some of the slides highlighted below.
How to use “Which Doesn’t Belong” Puzzles in the Classroom
The “Which Doesn’t Belong” activity encourages critical thinking and discussion as students explain their reasoning. These are a great way to reinforce knowledge and skills, and are great activities to incorporate into instruction, offer to students who finish early, or use as an intervention for students who need extra practice. “Which doesn’t belong” puzzles have the greatest impact on student learning when students know how to solve them. Here’s how to use it:
Share Google Slides or print and distribute as a worksheet. Give students time to study the grid and come up with their own answers. Ask students to work in partners or small groups to discuss the answer they chose and why.
What does the bundle include?
Learn more about what’s included in the free Which One Doesn’t Belong bundle below and get your own copy by filling out the quick form on this page.
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1. Number sense
These “Which Doesn’t Belong” activities focus on understanding numbers and how they are represented. There are activities to display numbers, place value, division, odd and even numbers, and prime (or non-prime) numbers.
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2. Fractions
Everyone’s favorite math topic! Practice showing fractions and their fraction equivalents using the ‘Which Doesn’t Belong’ activity.
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3. Shape
“Which doesn’t belong?” is great for analyzing shapes. This geometry worksheet has six problems that allow students to analyze the differences and similarities between 2D and 3D shapes.
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4. Phoneme recognition
“Which Doesn’t Belong” is a great way to practice listening to the sounds of words. Use these for small group work or independent practice for rhyming, listening for beginning and ending sounds, and listening for short and long vowels.
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5. Word work
As students learn about word types (nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs), they practice identifying and discussing ways to group words using “Which Doesn’t Belong?” Once students identify common word types, can they think of other ways the words can be grouped?
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6. Animals and habitats
How are dogs, horses, and cats similar? They’re all mammals! These two worksheets will help students think about the classification and habitats of animals around the world. Perfect for applying background knowledge during a habitat unit or wrapping up a unit on animals.
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7. Terrain
Unfold the map and teach students about different types of terrain. These “which doesn’t belong” prompts are great for talking about similarities in terrain. After learning about landforms, challenge students to create their own.
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8. Water cycle and weather
Weather and the water cycle are topics that students will come up with again and again in their lives, so incorporate “Which Doesn’t Belong” activities to help them discuss these topics in new ways.
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9. States of matter
Solids, liquids and gases? This set of slides is a great warm-up for a lesson on the subject.
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10. Emotions
These activities with emotions are ways to talk about the types of emotions we have, how to describe them, and our levels of emotion. Use one sheet a day to start your morning meeting or social-emotional learning lesson.
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11. Just for fun!
Keep these “Which Doesn’t Belong” pages in the trash cans for students who finish early, or for students to complete in the morning when they get to school and need a quiet activity to get ready for the day. Keep it on hand. With back-to-school, holiday, and summertime themes, we designed it so that children can complete it independently.
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