Grammar, phonics, and parts of speech often struggle for first place at the very pinnacle of the student boredom scale. I spend a lot of “working” time looking for ways to teach these types of mind-numbing concepts, ways that are not only easy to learn but hard to forget.
The incredible challenge in teaching really boring material is that it is also boring to the teacher! Prepositions fall easily into this category of most boring content. So let’s make it fun! Use body movement, color, images, and hands-on activities, and make it such a riot that the children will never ever forget.
In order to become stellar readers, children need practice finding prepositional phrases in text. One reason for this is to help them read more fluently. Think about the phrasing fluent readers practice that make their reading fluid and easy to understand.
My own students in second grade really struggled with this idea. It took me by surprise because I assumed it was going to be one of those skills that I could show them, and then that they would all just nod and say, “Sure, got it!” But that is not what happened.
