Lesson Plan (1 hour)

Teacher: Julia Damion Level: Beginner Course: Primary EFL (~8 years old)

Where is the Pencil?

Materials: Various school items (pencil, eraser, marker) and assorted props (stuffed animal(s)), paper with grid
(1 per student), markers for coloring, stickers

Objective: Students will learn three basic prepositions of location (on, in, below) and how to describe the
location of objects using these prepositions

Student Groupings: Pairs (~ 6 pairs)

Assessment: Informal – pair practice and writing

Necessary Prior Skills/Knowledge/Language: New Skills/Knowledge/Language:

- Classroom vocabulary (table/desk, chair, - Understanding question: “Where is the _____?”

pencil, marker, book, eraser) - Producing response: “It’s [prep] the [object]”
- Pronoun contraction with verb: “It’s” - Using prepositions (in, on, under) to describe
location

Time Activities
5 mins Warm-Up / Review
- Greetings (Hello, how are you? What day is today?)
- Review: Teacher reaches into box and pulls out an assortment of things (school supplies, balls,
stuffed animals). Asks students “What’s this?” guide students to respond: “It’s a ______.”
Have students repeat new vocabulary (such as “llama”). Make sure they know “box.”

10 mins Presentation
Introduce prepositions:
- A) Song: Tell students we are going to learn a song: (“On, In, Under, clap clap clap”)
- For each preposition, show students a hand motion (e.g. “On” is right hand placed flat over
left fist; “in” is fingers of right hand inside donut-shape of left hand; under is right hand flat
under left fist). Have them repeat the preposition with the hand motions.
- Sing the song for students once; have them join in the second time. Sing through once or
twice.
- B) Demonstrate: Take a stuffed animal and put it in the box. Act confused like you don’t
know where it went. Try to see if students will say “in”; if not, guide them, using the hand
motions. Say “it’s in the box.” Have students repeat the whole sentence.
- Review the three placements by placing the stuffed animal in each respective position; have
students repeat the sentence
- If time: do the same with a school object and the bag; practice in/on/under the bag
 20 mins Guided Practice
- Teacher-directed:
A) Flashcards – shows a cat in/on/under a box (3 cards) and a pencil in/on/under a bag (3
cards)
1. Arrange the preposition flashcards (on, in, under) vertically. Point to each flashcard
and say the preposition; have students repeat. Remind students of the hand motions
from the song.
2. Hold up each flashcard (with the cat/ pencil) and ask students questions: Where is the
cat? / Where is the pencil?
3. Write the answer to each question on the board.
B) TPR
Teacher-student: Teacher leads students in TPR using classroom objects. The teacher says
“It’s (on/in/under) the (object).” (e.g. it’s on the table; it’s on the chair; it’s in the book; it’s
in the bag; it’s under the table, it’s under the chair). The first time, students listen. The
second time, students listen & do. The third time, students do it by themselves. Work with
a small set of sentences and get faster and faster.
C) Group practice (independent): Students get into groups. One student will put his/her
pencil somewhere, and the other one (or two) students have to say where it is. They rotate.
D) Whole group: Teacher will show a few examples (realistic and more silly; e.g. it’s on the
computer; it’s on my head). She will ask students where the pencil is. (The goal is to
generalize to more objects/situations).

15 Independent Practice: drawing

minutes - Draw a diagram on the board with three squares. Give students each a handout* that also has
three squares and has the words “in,” “on” and “under” in each.
- Give each student three stickers (review the word “sticker.”). Tell them to put one sticker in
each part of the grid (each square has different preposition). Put three equivalent “big stickers”
on the board so they can see placement.
- Do the first square with them: draw a cloud and say “Where is the sticker?’ Erase the cloud
and draw a dog. Ask “Where is the sticker?”
- Have students complete the squares themselves, drawing something on or under the stickers
and tracing the letters for in, on, under (or finishing the sentence, depending on level)
- If they finish, will share it with a partner / class (otherwise, will share tomorrow)

5 mins Summary/Review
- Teacher asks a few students to show their art

2 mins Closure
- Clean up materials
- Say goodbye (“See you later, alligator”)
- Homework: worksheet – fill-in-the-blank**

*See below for handout (differentiated)
**See below for homework sheet
Handout: Where is the sticker?

Where is the sticker?

Where is the sticker?

It’s on the ___________ It’s in the ______________ It’s under the ____________
 Homework

A. in B. on C. under

The cat is _____ the box.

The dog is ______ the table.

The pencil is _______ the book.

The book is ________ the table.