Before a student masters prepositions, he must first understand the definition of a preposition. A preposition connects a noun or verb to another noun. Prepositions describe the relationship between a noun and verb. For example, in the sentence, "Sally sat in the chair," "in" serves as the preposition. "In" connects the verb "sat" to the noun "chair." It explains the exact place where Sally sits, in relation to the chair.
Identifying prepositions helps a student understand their usage. Because dozens of prepositions exist, it often proves difficult to teach students every preposition. Provide students with a worksheet to help them identify prepositions. Each sentence of the worksheet contains a sentence with a single preposition. The student circles or underlines the preposition, then identifies the noun or verb the prepositions connect.
Prepositions typically describe time, direction, means, manner, state, quantity or purpose. Identifying the purpose of a preposition helps a student understand proper preposition usage and choice. Typically, time prepositions include about, at, after, by, for, past, to and on. Direction prepositions include "around," "down," "above," "inside," "at," "through" and "with." Means prepositions include "by," "from," "with" and "on." State prepositions include "at," "in," "for," "on" and "as." Quantity prepositions include "for" and "by," while purpose is typically identified with the preposition "for."
Improve students' abilities to use different types of prepositions with a worksheet on preposition selection. These worksheets typically include an otherwise complete sentence in which the preposition is removed. Students write the correct preposition or select a preposition from a list of choices.
Typically, the end goal of a lesson on prepositions involves improving a student's ability to use prepositions. Practice prepositions by writing short sentences that include a single preposition. For example, write sentences similar to, "Billy ate at the table." After students properly use prepositions in simple sentences, move on to complex sentences that include multiple prepositions. For example, write, "John is tall for his age; he towers over other classmates."