Prepositional Phrase Paper Planes and Poems

Teaching prepositional phrases using a paper airplane in 5th grade.This week we began working with prepositional phrases and I wanted to grab the kids attention with something hands-on (because, let's face it, grammar worksheets aren't exactly captivating.)  So I scoured the internet and pieced a few things together that resulted in a memorable lesson the students actually learned prepositional phrases from!
I began by creating an anchor chart with the students defining prepositions, prepositional phrases, and samples of some of the more common prepositions students will be using in their writing.  They copied these into their grammar journals and we were off to the fun part.

I instructed kids to fold a paper airplane out of a piece of colored copy paper.  You would have thought I told them they had won the lottery.  Once the airplanes were created (which, for some, was a lesson in and of itself), the students headed outside to fly them.  Once the plane landed, the student needed to write a prepositional phrase describing where the plane was. 
On the pavement
Under the bench
Near the leaf
Around the tree
In my hands
Below Sally's foot
Next to Carlos' leg

This went on for 10 of the most glorious minutes the students have had to date in my room.
When the time was over, we gathered together to share out some of the prepositional phrases that were written.  I allowed the students to write more on their plane that applied.

Writing a prepositional phrase poem about the flight of their paper airplane in fifth grade.We headed back inside and used those phrases to write a prepositional poem describing the journey of our paper airplanes.  Using this template here, the students wrote the poems using different prepositions to begin each line.  We peer edited and then published on a Google Doc.  

All in all, this was a great way to not only introduce prepositional phrases, but internalize them.  Our next step is to take out some of their old Paragraph of the Week paragraphs and add the newly learned material into them.

11 comments

  1. You did find a great idea! I can see where kids would love this!

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  2. You are a complete inspiration every time I open your blog! A thousand thank yous my dear!! :-)

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  3. I love this idea. It's engaging for kids and something they will remember!

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  4. Love this lesson! I incorporated it with my students this week and they were so excited to make paper airplanes, go outside fly them and share their phrases once back inside. It was a very exciting lesson! We will write our poems this week.

    Thanks for sharing!
    Shepherd's Shining Stars

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  5. I absolutely can not WAIT to do this lesson! Thanks so much for sharing. I pinned it and emailed a link to your post to my colleagues!
    Jan
    Laughter and Consistency

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  6. Thanks for sharing this activity! This will be a great way to teach both prepositions AND prepositional phrases, and will also provide an opportunity to get up and moving! I am trying this out in my class TODAY. :-)

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  7. What an awesome way to teach grammar! I can't wait to use it this week. Thank you for the template.

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  8. Is there any way you can send me the link to the prepositional poem template. The link is not working for me. Love this idea :)

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  9. This is great. Was searching for a much more interactive way of starting our prepositions journey.
    Will definitely use this

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