ESL EFL Grammar Activities

Prepositions

Darshna Thakor
Mehul Rana
Nimesh Joshi

Classroom Activities to Teach Prepositions

Uses of Prepositions

Seven senses of “Over” [According to the Book: University Grammar of English]

1.  Position :   A Lamp hung over  the door.

2. Destination : They threw a Blanket over her.

3. Passage :  They climbed over the wall.

4. Orientation : They live over the road.[= On the far side of]

5. Resultative : At last we were over the crest of the hill.

6. Pervasive (Static) : Leaves lay thick (all) over the ground.

7. Pervasive (Motion) : They  splashed water (all) over me.

Different Uses of  “In”

Position

The pen is in the beg.

We are sitting in the classroom
.
The cat is sitting in the box.

Time

In June I’ll come to Bombay.

I was born in 1982.

I’ll be back in a minute.

In the first week of May we will come to meet you.

In future we may take up a work of this sort.

Tell me in a few words.

People of Surat, are in danger because of the heavy rainfall.

How many of you are going to take part in the drama?

In the 18th century......

In summer vacation.......etc.

Different Uses of “On”

Position

The birds are sitting on the barren tree.

The duster is on the table.

Your books are on the bench.

Dimension- (line)

On the river Thames,   on the boundary,   on the coast

Surface- (a notice was pasted)

On the wall,  on the ceiling

On Monday morning I’ll teach you.

On the first day of the month I’m going to test you.

On my birthday, on Friday evening, we meet on the following day.

argue on,   on the other hand

write on,   on the spot

lecture on,  on the behalf of

speak on,  on account of

Discussion on

A Live Classroom

Classroom Activities to Teach Prepositions

“Hello class, Good Morning. How are you today?”
“Fine, thank you.”
“Are you all enjoying the English classes? Or have you got board?”
“Yes...enjoying”
“not bored..”
“Today we are going to do some interesting activities and play some games.”
“I’ll show you some pictures.  Can you see these pictures clearly?
“Look at this picture. What is it?”
“A cat.”
“Yes. what is the cat doing?”
“Sitting”.
“Yes, The cat is sitting in a jug.”
“Where is it sitting? in a jug...   It is sitting in a jug.”
“Now look at this picture. Look at this. What is it?”
“A goat.”
“Yes, and what is this?”
“A scooter.”
“Yes, the goat is standing on a scooter.”
“Look at this picture. This telephone is near a box.”

“Now let’s play a guessing game.”

Out of these pictures I am going to think about one picture. Guess the  picture. Ask me questions and  guess the picture I’m thinking about. Ask me questions like...

‘Is it a cat in a jug?’/ Is it a goat on a scooter?’ Start now.
“Is it a cat in a jug?”
“No, guess again”
“Is it a goat on a scooter?”
“No, I am not thinking of a goat. Guess again.”
“Is it a telephone near a box?”
“Yes, you are right. You come here and think of a picture. The others will guess.”

[after the game] Let’s do something different now.
Would you like to draw something ?
Yes.
Open your book. First tell me what you are interested in. What do  you like to draw?
nature…...plants...flowers….boys, girls……….river…….animals

O.k. Now I want you to draw something different. I want you to draw geometrical figures.
Follow my instructions and draw a picture. O.k. Are you  ready?

Draw a rectangle, draw two circles under the rectangle; draw two squares on the rectangle . The squares should be touching each other. Draw a triangle on the two squares. Draw a circle inside the  triangle. Write your name inside the circle.

O.k.  Now show your picture to the person sitting next to you and compare. Now turn back and share your pictures with whoever is sitting behind you.

One of you come here and draw the picture on the blackboard.

How many of you have drawn a  picture like this,  raise your hand.
Is your picture different? Come and show me how you have drawn. What is the difference?

Now look at the Black board. Look at these letters.

A    N    E    T
O    B    G    J
U    P    C    I
R    M    W   D

Tell me  which letter is below N , which letter is above I , which letter is between  O & G , which letter is above D, which letter is below P, which letter is between M & D 

Now I am going to give you some clues and you should guess the word.
The clue for the first word is this: The first one  is  a letter above J. The second letter is below B. Find a third letter and make a word. Let the others guess your word by asking questions like...

Is the third letter above C?
Is it below I?
Is it above O.

Now the second activity. A letter below N, and another letter is above O. Now guess the third letter.

Make at least three words and then think of any one and ask the class to guess it. Give a clue, e.g. 'The third letter is above J'.

Now the  third activity. Now I want a volunteer who wants to try this. Select a word and give some clues to your friends . Ask them to guess your word.

Let’s do something different now. Let's play 'Find Someone Who'. Go round the class and find the following students.

Find Someone Who

was born in 1995    ........................... (write the name of the person who was born in 1995 here)

was born after 1995 ..........................

was bron before 1995 .........................

was born in a big city .........................

born in a small town or village ..............

is below 10 years ..............................

is above 12 years .............................

scored below 50 in the class test .........

scored between 60 to 70 ......................

Go round the class and ask questions like, 'Were you born in 1995?' If somebody says yes, write their name. If nobody fits in with the description write 'none'. Then present a report to class.

(After the activity)

Good you have done that quite well. Let's listen to a conversation now.

Listen to the Conversation and answer the questions.

Shyam:  What a lovely day for a picnic!
Ram  :   Yes, the weather is perfect today. It’s not too hot & there  isn’t a cloud in the sky.
Shyam:  Don’t drive too fast. Let’s stop there & have lunch by the
            river. Park the car under the trees.
Vina :    Anita, will you bring the lunch basket?
            Heena, please take out the plates.
Sneha:   I have some orange juice. The glasses are in the plastic bag. Take them out please.
Vina:     Let me spread this carpet on the ground. Heena you can lay out the plates and glasses.
Ram:     Shall I pour the orange juice in the glasses?
Sneha:  Yes, Ram. Please do.

Now answer the questions.
What did Ram say? He said there isn’t a cloud ..........

                        in the sky

Where did they have lunch? (give me short answers)

                       ........ the river

Where did they park the car?

What did Veena ask Heena to do?

Where were the glasses?

Where did Vina spread the carpet?

What did Heena do?

What did Ram do?

Other conversations for classroom use:

Smita:    Hina, do you know Mrs. Tripathi ? She is very strange. She walked right past me yesterday, as I was going up the stairs. She didn't smile at me or say  hello.
 Hina:    Yes, she is very strange. The other day she was standing opposite me at the bus stop. So, I couldn’t   help looking at her. I said hello, but she didn’t reply.
Sumit:   Swati, You can go and meet Neha right away. That will help you tackle this problem. I know Neha and she is not like that at all. There is some misunderstanding. Have you seen Neha’s house?
Swati:   Actually, I have been to her house once. But I don’t remember the place quite well. I think it’s near the bank of Baroda.
Sneha:  No, not there. Her house is very near the bus stop, between two shops. If you want  to go there you’ve to go across the road and walk along the other side, towards the Swami  Narayan Temple.
Swati:  Really? Thanks for telling me. Can you come with me and help me  find the house?
Sumit: Well, I’m going through that area, let me drop you near the cross road and then go ahead.
Swati:  That would be very nice.Thank you.

Lots of picture based activities can be used for this lesson. These are not described here indetail.

For a PowerPoint Presentation of the use of Prepositions visit:  www.eltcops.com