A few days ago
Penelope

How should I teach prepositions?

I am a graduate clinician for a Foreign Accent Modification class. I need some advice on how to effectively teach prepositions. For example, “He came over ON my house.” should be “He came over TO my house.”

Does anyone have any good strategies?

Thank you in advance!!

Top 5 Answers
A few days ago
Anonymous

Favorite Answer

prepositions are basically details. For adults I might start with this approach. Give many examples and point out subject verb and predicate nominative or adjective. Then ask the class using the words from the sentence like this:

John (noun) did (verb) his homework (predicate noun) on the table.

(WHERE did he do his homework?)

Preposition: on the table.

Don’t know if it will apply to adults but children love the old cartoon I grew up on “conjunction, junction, what’s your function?” It teaches simple words that clue us in on prepositions.

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A few days ago
landhermit
You are probably too young to remember “Schoolhouse Rock”, but you might want to give it a try.

Busy Prepositions

Like a butterfly, or a like bee

Like an ant, as busy as can be

These little words we call the “busy P’s”

Prepositions

Nine or ten of them

Do most all of the work

Of, on, to, with, in, from

By, for, at, over, across

And many others do their jobs,

Which is simply to connect

Their noun or pronoun object

To some other word in the sentence.

Busy p’s,

If you please.

“On the top is where you are!”

Top relates to where you are.

“With a friend you’ll travel far!”

With a friend you’ll go.

“If you try you know that you can fly

Over the rainbow!”

Over the rainbow is where you can fly.

Busy prepositions,

Always on the go.

Like a bunch of busy bees,

Floating pollen on the breeze.

Buzzing over the meadows,

Beyond the forest,

Through the trees,

In to the beehive.

Busy, busy P’s

In, to, beyond, over, on, through!

Busy prepositions always out in front,

On the edges, in the crack.

‘Round the corner, from the back.

In between the action.

Stating clearly to your satisfaction,

The location and direction.

Prepositions give specific information.

Though little words they are,

They never stand alone

Gathering words behind them,

You soon will see how they have grown

Into a parade; a prepositional phrase.

With a noun, or at least a pronoun, bringing up the rear.

A little phrase of two or three or four or more words.

Prepositions! Attention! Forward, March!

Busy prepositions,

Always on the march.

Like a horde of solider ants,

Inching bravely forward on the slimmest chance

That they might better their positions.

Busy, busy prepositions.

In the air, on the ground, everywhere.

The sun sank lower in the west.

“In the west it sank.”

And it will rise in the morning,

And will bring the light of day;

We say the sun comes up in the east every day!

“In the east it rises.”

Busy prepositions,

Busy, busy, busy!

On the top is where you are!

On the top.

If you try you know that you can fly!

Fly where?

Over the rainbow.

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A few days ago
Anonymous
Easy.

Draw a box and a table on a writing surface for the students to see.

A prepostion will answer any question about where or direction. The cat went FROM the box to the house, jumped ON the top of the table, fell OFF the table, walked THROUGH the legs of the table, etc. House and doorways are okay. Maps. Cars. Got it?

Good luck.

1

A few days ago
old lady
I had fun with my classes by assigning them to be various objects/characters, and acting out the prepositions. Might work with your students as well.
2

A few days ago
kwest
use pictures! show them what “on” really looks like!
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