Prepositions of place

Objective & content

This poster teaches where things are with one dog and 14 model sentences, such as The dog is on the blanket. and The dog is between the bowl and the ball. By the end, A1 students can use position words (on, under, behind, next to) and movement words (into, out of, over) to say where something is or where it goes.

Pedagogical guide

The same dog appears in every sentence, so students attend to the preposition and not to new nouns. Teach the two position groups first: they pair with The dog is... and need no verb of motion. Keep the movement group for a later lesson, because its sentences use jumps, runs, walks and students often confuse in (where it is) with into (where it goes).

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Put a toy or pen on, under, in and behind a box and say each sentence; students repeat.
2. (10 min) Students point to the poster and describe where classroom objects are, using The pen is....
3. (5 min) Introduce the movement group: act out jumps into / out of / over with the object.
4. (5 min) In pairs, one student says a sentence and the other places the object. Swap.

Adaptations

[S] Use only the first group (on, under, above, in) and accept the preposition alone, with a gesture.

[A] Ask for sentences with two prepositions, or for a short invented story about the dog using the movement words.

Materials & prerequisites

Print at A3 portrait. Bring a small object and a box. Students need basic classroom-object vocabulary and The ... is....