Prepositional phrases can inspire creative writing. Write a number of prepositional phrases on slips of paper. Examples include "down the street," "across the room" and "over the mountain." Distribute the phrases randomly to the class. Have students write a paragraph or short story whose first sentence uses their phrase in some way. Ideally, the prepositional phrase will inspire students to create something unique and imaginative.
Mad libs allow students to exercise their creativity while learning about prepositional phrases. Create a paragraph with a number of blanks where prepositional phrases should go. The first two sentences, for example, might read, "Sandra ate a peach (prepositional phrase). She was happy and talked about it (prepositional phrase)." Students must fill in prepositional phrases to complete the sentences. Encourage students to use humor and creativity without being vulgar. Have students read their mad libs out loud.
This game forces students to think quickly to come up with prepositional phrases. Have two students come to the front of the room. Write a number of prepositions on slips of paper and put them in a hat. The first student must draw a preposition, come up with a prepositional phrase using the drawn word and act it out. The second student must draw a preposition and do the same. The students go back and forth in this way until one of them is stumped and hesitates for more than a second or two. Another challenger comes to the front of the room and the game continues.
Using pop culture can be an excellent way to get fourth-grade students to learn about prepositional phrases. Have three or four students come to the front of the room. Someone else in the class must yell out a prepositional phrase, which becomes a movie title, such as, "In the Office" or "Under Dark Clouds." The students must improvise a short movie trailer. Give every student a chance to be at the front.