We were studying prepositions over the course of a two week unit. Many of these are difficult for language learners and sometimes difficult to explain. I chose several activities that included movement, speaking and drawing to work towards mastering these words.

• Scavenger Hunt: During this activity I had the students work in partner groups to follow a set of directions using prepositions to lead them through the hallways of the school. At the final destination, students were rewarded with a piece of candy if they could successfully complete the sentence of the partial clue that was given to them.

• Drawing Directions: During this activity, students sat back to back. One student was given the task to read through directions of drawing an arrow according to the preposition. (ie. draw an arrow under the box). The other student was given the task of following the directions and drawing. Each student was given a turn.

• Sidewalk Chalk Assessment: The final assessment for this unit was completed using sidewalk chalk. Students were given a preposition and then asked to draw a representation of that preposition in sidewalk chalk on the school sidewalk.

My students were thoroughly engaged in all of these activities and enjoyed learning and practicing the language in fun activities. They are also super competitive and turned many of these activities into a competition. The total physical response to language learning is a great way to emphasize language that may be difficult to understand and speak. Research shows that many times language is understood before a student is able to verbalize the language.