Identifying and Using Prepositions
Identifying and Using Prepositions Objective: Students will be able to identify prepositions in sentences and use them correctly to show relationships between nouns or pronouns and other words in a sentence.
Learning Objectives
- Define what a preposition is and recognize it in sentences.
- Identify the object of the preposition in a sentence.
- Use prepositions correctly in sentences to describe location, time, or direction.
Materials Needed
- Printed worksheet with sentences containing prepositions
- Pencils
- Whiteboard and marker or paper for writing examples
Key Vocabulary
- Preposition
- A word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence, often indicating location, direction, or time.
- Object of the preposition
- The noun or pronoun that follows the preposition and completes its meaning.
- Phrase
- A group of words that work together but do not have a subject and a verb.
Detailed Activities
Introduction to Prepositions
- Explain the definition of prepositions using simple examples such as ‘in’, ‘on’, and ‘under’.
- Write a sentence on the board, for example, ‘The cat is on the mat.’ Ask the student to identify the preposition and the object of the preposition.
- Discuss how the preposition shows the relationship between ‘cat’ and ‘mat’.
Preposition Identification Practice
- Provide the student with a worksheet containing several sentences.
- Ask the student to underline the prepositions and circle the objects of the prepositions in each sentence.
- Review the answers together and discuss any mistakes.
Creating Sentences with Prepositions
- Ask the student to create five original sentences using different prepositions.
- Write the sentences together and identify the preposition and the object in each one.
- Encourage the student to explain the relationship the preposition shows in each sentence.
Parent & Instructor Notes
- Prepositions can be tricky because they often describe relationships that are not always physical, like time.
- Encourage your child to look for small words that tell where or when something happens in a sentence.
- Practice using prepositions in everyday conversations to help reinforce learning.
Assessment Questions
- What is a preposition? Can you give an example?
- In the sentence ‘The book is under the table,’ what is the preposition and what is its object?
- Can you write a sentence using the preposition ‘between’?
Extension Ideas
- Create a scavenger hunt where the child finds objects ‘under,’ ‘next to,’ or ‘behind’ other items and describes their location using prepositions.
- Read a short story and highlight all the prepositions you find together.
- Make a list of common prepositions and use them to write a short paragraph.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can explain that prepositions are like little words that tell us where or when something is happening. Using examples and pointing them out in everyday speech helps make the concept clear.
Yes, it’s common. Gently correcting and providing many examples will help your child improve over time.
Teacher’s Guide
Common Misconceptions:
- Students might confuse prepositions with conjunctions or adverbs.
- Sometimes students think the preposition is the object that follows it.
- Prepositions are often overlooked because they are small and less emphasized in speech.
Scaffolding Ideas:
For Struggling Students:
- Use more visuals and physical gestures to demonstrate prepositions.
- Focus on a few common prepositions before introducing more complex ones.
- Provide sentence starters to help form sentences with prepositions.
For Advanced Students:
- Introduce compound prepositions or prepositional phrases.
- Encourage writing short paragraphs using a variety of prepositions.
- Discuss how prepositions can show abstract relationships, such as time or cause.
Pacing Recommendations:
- Spend extra time on identifying prepositions in sentences if the student is new to the concept.
- Allow more practice sentences if the student needs reinforcement.
- For advanced learners, move quickly to creating sentences and exploring prepositional phrases.
Standards
- 7.L.2a — Use a comma to separate coordinate adjectives (e.g., ‘It was a fascinating, enjoyable movie but not one you might want to watch more than once’).
Printable Worksheet
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