Prepositions of place
A striking visual aid to enrich your classroom.
Learning prepositions becomes child's play with this adorable poster! Thanks to a mischievous little dog and clear, colorful illustrations, your students will understand the meaning of words like on, under, or between in a flash. It's the perfect tool for transforming a potentially tricky grammar point into a fun and highly effective visual exercise for young beginners.
Documents to download (1)
- Colour version Download
Teaching guide
Objective & Resource Content
The objective is to introduce and consolidate the use of **basic prepositions of place** to describe the position of an object or a person.
The document is a visual poster that illustrates 12 common prepositions of place using a dog and various objects (blanket, box, kennel, bowl, ball). Each preposition, such as *on*, *under*, *in*, *beside*, *between*, and *near*, is represented by a clear image. Several illustrations are accompanied by a simple descriptive sentence, for example: "The dog is lying **on** the blanket." and "The dog is **in front of** the kennel."
Suggested Lesson Flow
Before the Activity (~5 min): WHERE IS THE PEN?
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Use a classroom object (a pen, a book). Place it in different positions and ask the class: "Where is the pen?". Place it *on* the table, *under* the table, *in* a pencil case, and thus introduce the keywords orally.
During the Activity (~5-10 min): SHOW ME!
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Project the poster or hand out copies. Go over each image. Say the preposition aloud, have the students repeat it, then ask the students to **mime the position** with their hands or a pencil.
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Example: for "on," they place one hand on the other; for "between," they place a pencil between two fingers.
After the Activity (~5 min): WHERE IS THE DOG?
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Hide a small dog plush (or any other object) somewhere in the classroom (under a book, in a bag, behind a chair).
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Ask the students: "Where is the dog?". They must find it and answer with a complete sentence: "The dog is **under** the book!".
Adaptations
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To Simplify: Focus on 4 or 5 of the most basic prepositions (e.g., *in, on, under, behind*). Use physical response (TPR) and real objects as the main tool, with the poster serving as a visual memo.
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To Extend: In pairs, one student places an object somewhere and the other must describe its position using a preposition from the sheet. They can also draw a simple scene (e.g., a cat and a box) and describe it to their partner, who must draw the same thing from the oral description.
Possible adaptations
- Lower levels: Offer segmented listening and additional visual aids.
- Advanced levels: Encourage an oral summary and a debate in English on the theme.
- Large groups: Organise group work with differentiated roles.
