By third grade, most students understand the meaning of prepositions and use them correctly when speaking, but can sometimes still struggle to use them correctly in their writing. By focusing on explicitly teaching these small but mighty words for one week, your students will feel like pros by Friday.
In this post, I’ll share a simple, engaging routine for teaching prepositions that will help your students understand and use them with confidence. I’ve included prepositional phrase examples to make teaching them easier.
What Are Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
Prepositions are words that connect nouns or pronouns to the rest of a sentence to help tell us about locations, time, or direction. A prepositional phrase is a group of words that starts with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun.
Examples of Common Prepositions
| Type of Preposition | Examples | Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Prepositions of LOCATION | Above, under, next to, on, by, near, between, at, in, in front of, behind, inside | The girl is inside the tent. |
| Prepositions of TIME | before, at, after, on, by, in, during, for | The lake freezes during the winter. |
| Prepositions of DIRECTION | across, around, to, up, into, down, towards, onto, through, over, from, off | Ana rode her bike down the street. |
Prepositional Phrase Examples
| Sentence | Prepositional Phrase |
|---|---|
| He hid behind the tree. | behind the tree |
| Bees fly around the hive. | around the hive |
| Kyle sits on the stump. | on the stump |
| Mom tucks me in at bedtime. | at bedtime |
How to Explain Prepositional Phrases to Elementary Students
What is the Easiest Way to Find a Prepositional Phrase?
Below is a step-by-step guide with prepositional phrase examples:
1. Look for the “Starter” Word (The Preposition)
A prepositional phrase always begins with a preposition. These words usually describe where, when, or how something is happening.
- Common “Where” words: in, on, under, over, behind, across, through.
- Common “When” words: during, after, before, since, until.
- Common “How/Other” words: with, by, for, of, about.
Pro Tip: Think of a cloud. Anything a plane can do to a cloud involves a preposition: it can go into the cloud, around the cloud, under the cloud, or above it.
2. Find the “End” Word (The Object)
Follow the preposition until you hit a noun or a pronoun. That person, place, or thing is the “object,” and it’s where the phrase stops.
- Example: “The cat is under the table.”
- Under = Preposition
- Table = Object
- Phrase = “under the table”
Below you’ll find tips and no prep teaching resources with a lesson plan and prepositional phrase examples to help your student learn, practice, and effectively use prepositions and prepositional phrases in their writing and identify them when reading.
Develop a Weekly Routine
When teaching new grammar skills, especially when you don’t have much time in your schedule, consistency is key. Establishing a weekly grammar routine keeps lessons organized, reduces planning time, and gives students a clear sense of what’s coming next.
The weekly routine I use is this: On Monday we start with an interactive PowerPoint to introduce the new concept. On Tuesday, students get to practice together in pairs, while on Wednesday, it’s hands-on fun during grammar centers. By Thursday, students are usually ready to apply what they’ve learned in reading and writing activities or grammar practice worksheets, and we finish the week on Friday with a quick assessment to see how well they’ve mastered the skill.
Keep Practice Activities Consistent
Along with following a weekly routine, keeping your grammar activities consistent each week is key. This predictability helps students stay focused and minimizes time spent on directions or transitions.
I rely on a mix of familiar activities each week, an engaging PowerPoint, a cut-and-paste practice, fun variations of task card games, and a grammar-based reading passage (we call them our Grammar Gazettes) for students to find examples of prepositional phrases to tie everything together.
Prepositional Phrases PowerPoint
Since many students are visual learners, using colorful teaching slides when introducing a new grammar concept is extremely helpful (and so easy to leave for a sub!). To teach this skill, I’ve created an engaging set of teaching slides that clearly define the skill, show examples, and include interactive games for students to practice together.
Prepositions PowerPoint source
Examples and Non-Examples Word Sort
An easy activity to add to your centers is to have students sort between examples and non-examples. Simply write the words (both examples and non-examples) on notecards and then have students sort the cards into the two categories!
If you have some students who need a challenge, they could sort the prepositions by type. Using a variety of preposition cards, students would sort them into three categories: time, location, and direction.
Play Preposition Games with Task Cards
Task cards area good way for students to learn how prepositions are used. They give students the opportunity to practice the skill in a low-stress setting. We use task cards to have students find examples and non-examples, fill in the blanks with the correct preposition, and describe images using prepositions.
Write Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
Make practice worksheets fun! My students look forward to reading the Grammar Gazette every Thursday! It’s a fun, kid-friendly news article that helps your students to apply the weekly skill in context.
For prepositions, students read all about a book fair while locating and circling prepositions and prepositional phrase example. Then, students write their own narrative about a visit to the book fair.
Make Grammar Notebooks for a Quick Reference
While interactive notebooks a popular in many classrooms, they do take time to cut paste, and glue. To be able to fit grammar in each day I need short targeted activities. A Grammar Glossary is quick and easy to glue into a notebook with the option to have students add their own examples at a grammar center, or simply use the pages as a glossary of grammar skills and parts of speech.
Prepositions & Prepositional Phrases Lesson Plans
Have you checked out our teaching resource shop? You can Shop Around the Kampfire and get no-prep, pre-planned grammar units for both second grade and third grade.
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Books and Videos to Help Teach Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
These books and videos are the perfect addition to your prepositions unit.
1. Up, Down, & Around
by Katherine Ayres
I love a read-aloud that ties into multiple subjects! This one not only includes plenty of prepositions, but it’s also great for your plant life cycle science unit!
The illustrations are bright, the text is predictive, and the content is great.
2. Under, Over, By the Clover: What Is a Preposition? (Words Are CATegorical ®)
by Brian P. Cleary
As with all of my grammar units, I always include one from the Words Are CATegorical series. My students love the funny illustrations, and I love the ample amount of teaching opportunities.
3. The Berenstain Bears Inside Outside Upside Down
by Stan Berenstain
This one is sure to bring back all the nostalgic feelings! The Berenstain Bears have been around since 1962, but are loved throughout the generations.
It has simple illustrations and simple text, making it a quick read and fun to find prepositional phrase examples!
4. Behind The Mask: A Book about Prepositions
by Ruth Heller
Ruth Heller is another great author who writes fabulous grammar books. This one has bright illustrations and rhyming text. You’ll be wanting to add the rest of her books to your library ASAP.
5. Prepositions for Kids
by Homeschool Pop
Homeschool Pop is my go-to for when my students are struggling to grasp the concept. This preposition video is just over 10 minutes long and dives deep into the skill. They share real-life images while explaining prepositions.
6. The Prepositions Song
by Scratch Garden
As always, a song is a must during every grammar unit. It’s a fun way to break up the lesson or use it as a quick (and educational) brain break.
7. Prepositions for Kids: Time Edition
by Little Dreamers Education
I like this video as it focuses on just time prepositions. It uses fun animations and ends with an interactive quiz.
3rd Grade Prepositions Unit
Save time planning your prepositions unit, and grab a no prep, week-long unit in either of my resource shops! You’ll get a full week of print-and-go lessons that are easy to differentiate, engaging teaching slides, skill-building worksheets, task cards, and more to help your students identify and use prepositions in a variety of reading and writing activities.
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