Grammar Lesson for: Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
Essential Question: How can using prepositions and prepositional phrases help students create
written works that are clear and exhibit correct use of the conventions of written Standard
American English?
Definition: A preposition connects a noun or pronoun to another word that it modifies. It is a word
that creates a relationship between other words. Although there are approximately 60
prepositions, we tend to use only nine frequently: of, on, to, at, by, for, from, in, and with. A
prepositional phrase modifies another word in a sentence and is made up of a preposition and
a noun or pronoun plus any modifying words. A prepositional phrase can answer the questions
Where is it? When did it happen? How much? Which one? How is it similar? These can be
wonderful phrases that help us describe imaginatively and precisely and therefore writers can
use them to include more information.
Teacher Resources:
http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/prepositionalphrase.htm (definitions and examples)
http://www.readwritethink.org/lesson_images/lesson34/prepositions.pdf (preposition list)
http://home.earthlink.net/~jesmith/Prep.poems.html (preposition poems)
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/3063 (A Day at the Park story and additional lesson plan idea)
Teaching Grammar with Playful Poems by Nancy Mack (Scholastic)
Fun with Grammar by Laura Sunley (Scholastic)
PowerPoints/Websites:
http://languagearts.pppst.com/prepositions.html
www.brainpop.com (if available, there is a movie on prepositions and prepositional phrases)
Essential Skill or Concept:
3-4.4 Use grammatical conventions of written Standard American English, including prepositions and
prepositional phrases.
Pre-assessment: Students complete a descriptive quick-write. Observe how they are using prepositional
phrases in their writing already. Show select examples on the document camera and have students “notice”
phrases that describe where, when, how much, which one, how, etc.
Suggested Mentor Texts: “Last Night I Dreamed of Chickens” (a poem) by Jack Prelustky (can be found
online) written on chart paper, Behind the Mask by Ruth Heller
How will I introduce and explain this skill so that students will understand the how and why?
(inductive method, mini-lecture, demonstration, notes, etc.) READ ALOUD/Mini Lesson
 Read aloud “Last Night I Dreamed of Chickens”. Stop and point out the prepositions/prepositional phrases
and how they help to add description to the text by explaining where.
 Read the poem a second time where you read the first part and the class choral reads the second part which
contains the prepositional phrase.
 Then assign pairs of students a line and they practice reading it by having one read the first part and the
other read the prepositional phrase. They can act out the line using their hand as a “puppet”. Then read the
whole poem again having each pair do their line.
 Read aloud the book Behind the Mask or show one of Ppts. from above to introduce the term, give a
definition, and give examples. Be sure you establish the purpose of prepositional phrases in writing. You
can hand out a preposition list here too.
How will I model this skill for my students? (exemplars and/or demonstrations) SHARED
READING/WRITING



Write A Day at the Park on chart paper. Read it to students.
Discuss it: “How did it sound? What did you notice about it?” Explain that writers can add details to boring
sentences by adding prepositional phrases.
Rewrite the story by adding prepositional phrases as a modeled writing.
How will I provide opportunities for guided practice? GUIDED READING/WRITING
 Reread the poem “Last Night I Dreamed of Chickens”. Make a list of prepositional phrases that aren’t in
the poem that could describe where animals could be in your house or at school. Use the list of
prepositions for ideas.
 Have pairs of students write their own “Last Night I Dreamed of ______” poem by choosing any animal.
 Rewrite the whole poem on chart paper as a template for pairs to follow with blanks for the animal name,
the –ing word, the place phrase, and the object left by the animal at the end. Model the entire thing for them
first. OR, don’t give them a template and just model/share writing one. Then, as a shared writing, make a
list of the “rules” for writing the poem for them to follow as they write their own with a partner. Example
of how the template would look:
Last Night I Dreamed of __________
(animal)
Last night I dreamed of ____________,
(animal)
there were ________ everywhere,
(animal)
they were ______________ __________________,
(-ing action word) (prepositional phrase)
they were ______________ __________________,
(-ing action word) (prepositional phrase)
they were ______________ __________________,
(-ing action word) (prepositional phrase)
they were ______________ __________________,
(-ing action word) (prepositional phrase)
as they _______________ ___________________ .
(-ed action word)
(prepositional phrase)
They were __________________,
(prepositional phrase)
They were __________________,
(prepositional phrase)
They were __________________,
(prepositional phrase)
They were __________________,
(prepositional phrase)
There were _______________, _______________, ________________
(animals)
(animals)
(animals)
for as far as the eye can see…
when I woke today, I noticed
there were ____________________ __________________ .
(objects left by animals) (prepositional phrase)


Share them and celebrate successes
Using A Day at the Park or another short paragraph, revise it again but this time students do it with a
partner as you circulate and give feedback. Share the results as a class. Discuss how adding prepositional
phrases made the writing more descriptive.
How will I monitor/gauge students’ understanding of the skill? (formative assessment)
Formative Assessment:
 Have students do a “prepositional phrase” hunt in their favorite books. Have them record their favorites,
noting the book and author in which those phrases were found. Share.
PASS Format: See samples
Use the question stem:
How will students independently practice using the skill in their writing? INDEPENDENT
READING/WRITING
 Students can select a piece of writing from their writer’s notebooks or a draft in progress. They should
revise the piece by adding details in the form of prepositional phrases. Note their progress during writing
conferences.
 Have students write a letter to a new student joining the class. They should explain where things can be
found in the classroom using prepositional phrases. Note their progress during writing conferences.
How will I adapt or differentiate this lesson for grade and skill level? GUIDED READING/WRITING or
INDEPENDENT READING/WRITING
 When students are creating their own poems, hold a guided writing group with a small group or do a shared
writing with a small group
 Instead of looking for prepositional phrases in books, have students use the prepositional poems found on
the above website (under teacher resources)
 For students who cannot locate prepositional phrases in books: work on this in a guided reading group,
help them add prepositional phrases to their writing in a guided writing group, give these students a
template of a letter to a new student so they only need to fill in the prepositional phrases.
How will I engage students in a reflection of how this skill has developed and how it has helped each of them
become a more effective writer?
 Have students journal in their writer’s notebook the purpose of prepositional phrases and how using them
will help them be better writers
 Have them return to their past pieces of writing to find examples of prepositional phrases to reflect/quick
write about how it made their writing better.
Other Teaching Ideas:
 Have students use digital cameras to take pictures of a stuffed animal that is, for example, on a desk, under
a chair, beside the slide, beneath an arm, etc. Then print and label the pictures
 Have students draw a picture with an object that is in different places. Label it with prepositional phrases
then write a story about how the object ended up in those places.
 Students can write a “how-to” piece or a list for when their friends/family come over. It can describe all the
best places to hide for hide-and-seek!
 You can do a shared writing with the class for new students to use. You can describe where important
things are located in the classroom or in the school. You can bind and publish it! You could even put one
in the main office!
A Day at the Park
I went to the park. I went on Saturday. I went with my friends. My friends are
Marie, Connie, and Roy. We rode our bikes. I rode my new bike. Roy brought his
basketball. We played basketball. We played for two hours. We were hot. We were
thirsty. Connie and Roy’s mom brought us lemonade and sandwiches. We ate them
for lunch. We had a lot of fun.