“The cat is on the box.” Easy, right? Then you ask your class to find the preposition in “The squirrel sat between the sleepy owls,” and half the hands point at sat. Prepositions are small words with a big job, and kids mix them up with verbs and nouns all the time.
That’s why we made the Use the Prepositions Micro Lesson. Penny, one of our Funzy friends, runs a prepositions lesson inside a treehouse club, with rope bridges, a lookout and a sneaky squirrel. She reads every word out loud, so every child can follow along.
Below you’ll find what’s inside, a one-minute video tour, a mini-quiz your kids can try right now, and easy ways to use it in class or at home.
- One skill, start to finish: prepositions, the words that tell where something is or where it goes.
- Three short parts: Learn (with treehouse pictures), Practice (with hints that explain why), and a 5-question Quiz with stars at the end.
- Penny reads directions, sentences and answer choices aloud.
- Works on phones, tablets, Chromebooks, computers and interactive whiteboards.
- Included with a Have Fun Teaching membership. Assign it in HFT Classroom and quiz scores come right back to you.
What is a Micro Lesson?
A Micro Lesson is a short, complete lesson on one skill. It teaches first, lets kids try with support, and then checks what stuck. Every part is narrated, so a child can work through it on their own while you pull a small group.
Learn
Penny explains prepositions step by step. Kids tap a word and see a picture of it.
Practice
Kids answer a few questions. A wrong answer gets a friendly hint that explains why, then another try.
Quiz
Five questions in mixed styles, then a stars screen that celebrates the score.
HFT Classroom
Assign it to your class and every quiz score is sent back to you automatically.
Inside this prepositions lesson
The lesson starts with the big idea: a preposition tells where. Penny shows on, under and through with simple pictures, then moves into the treehouse. Kids tap words like across, through, into and between and see each one in action, like friends walking across a rope bridge.
Next comes a reading trick kids can use anywhere. Read the sentence back and ask, “Does this word tell where?” If the squirrel is under the ladder, under is the word that tells where it is.
Part 1 · LearnLearn with picturesTap a word and see where things are in the treehouse.
Part 2 · PracticePractice with hintsEvery wrong answer gets a hint that explains why.
Part 3 · Quiz5-question QuizTap, fill in and find the prepositions, then earn up to five stars.
For teachersScores in HFT ClassroomSee each student’s quiz score and their answers in words.
Practice keeps the support on. Kids pick the preposition from words like climbed, behind and ladder. Choose ladder and Penny doesn’t just say “try again.” She asks which word could tell where a squirrel is hiding.
The quiz mixes question styles so kids show what they know: tapping the preposition in a sentence, filling in a blank from a word bank, choosing the sentence that tells where, and finding both prepositions in one sentence. Then the stars come out.
See it in action (video)
This one-minute tour shows each part of the lesson, from the treehouse words to the stars screen.
Try it: a prepositions mini-quiz for kids
Read each sentence with your child or your class. Find the word that tells where, then tap to check the answer. No peeking!
1. The owl sleeps in the hollow tree. Which word tells where?
in — it tells where the owl is sleeping. (Bonus: sleeps is what the owl does, so it’s a verb.)
2. The kids climbed up the rope ladder. Which word tells where?
up — it tells where the kids climbed.
3. The ball rolled ___ the table. Pick one: under, jumped or sleepy.
under — it’s the only word that tells where the ball went. Jumped is an action and sleepy describes something.
4. The cat hopped off the couch and hid behind the door. Can you find TWO prepositions?
off and behind — each one tells where the cat went.
5. Challenge: put a pencil somewhere on your desk and say where it is. Did you use a preposition?
If you said something like “on my book” or “next to my cup,” you did! On and next to tell where.
How do you teach prepositions to 3rd graders?
Prepositions click when kids connect the word to a place they can see. Students start using everyday prepositions in first grade (Common Core L.1.1.i), and by fourth grade they form and use prepositional phrases. Third grade is the perfect time to make sure the basics are solid. Here’s a simple order that works, with or without the Micro Lesson.
Act it out
Put a toy on, under, behind and between things. Kids say where it is.
Picture it
Show one picture for each word. “Across” means side to side, “through” means in, then out.
Ask “where?”
A preposition answers the question “where?” If the word doesn’t tell where, it isn’t the one.
Read it back
Swap in a different preposition and read the sentence again. Does the picture in your head change?
Check it
A short quiz tells you who has it and who needs one more round of acting it out.
Practice it
Follow up with a worksheet or a game so the skill sticks.
Ways to use it in class and at home
Small-group rotation
One station runs the Micro Lesson on tablets while you work with a group at the table.
Whole-class mini-lesson
Put the Learn pages on the board and let kids act out each word as Penny says it.
Homework or homeschool
Every word is read aloud, so kids can do it at the kitchen table without a grown-up reading to them.
Quick check
Assign it in HFT Classroom before a grammar test and see who’s ready.
Members: assign it in HFT Classroom
With a Have Fun Teaching membership, Micro Lessons are included. Assign this prepositions lesson to your class, and students join with a class link and a picture, with no student emails. When they finish the quiz, you see each score and their answers in words. See how HFT Classroom works.
Practice prepositions with a worksheet and a game
The Micro Lesson teaches the skill. These two give kids more practice with the same idea, one on paper and one on a screen.
3rd · WorksheetUse the Prepositions WorksheetPick the preposition that completes each sentence.
3rd · GameUse the Prepositions GamePlay on any device and practice words that tell where.
You’ll find even more practice on the prepositions resources page.
More Micro Lessons
We’re building a whole library of Micro Lessons, one skill at a time, each with its own Funzy teacher.
Reading · Micro LessonIdentifying Cause and EffectWhat happened, and why? Learn, practice and a quiz.
Math · Micro LessonDetermining Place ValueHundreds, tens and ones with blocks kids can count.
Keep exploring
Get it included with a membership
Every Micro Lesson, plus 6,600+ resources
Members get every Micro Lesson, game, printable, song and video. Try it free for 3 days.
- The Use the Prepositions Micro Lesson, included
- Every printable, song and video, Preschool–6th
- Assign Micro Lessons and games in HFT Classroom
- Unlimited downloads, new resources added every week
Prepositions lesson: questions teachers ask
What grade is the Use the Prepositions Micro Lesson for?
It is made for 3rd grade. It’s also a great review for 2nd graders who know a few position words and a warm-up for 4th graders before they start building prepositional phrases. Penny reads everything aloud, so kids who are still growing as readers can follow along.
How long does a Micro Lesson take?
Most kids finish in one sitting. The lesson has three short Learn pages, a few Practice questions and a 5-question Quiz. Because Penny reads everything aloud and gives hints right away, kids keep moving instead of getting stuck, which makes it easy to fit into a center rotation or a homework night.
Is the Micro Lesson included in a Have Fun Teaching membership?
Yes. Micro Lessons are included with every Have Fun Teaching membership, along with games, printables, songs and videos. Members can start the lesson right away and assign it in HFT Classroom. You can open a free preview first, and memberships start with 3 free days.
How does HFT Classroom show me my students’ scores?
Assign the Micro Lesson to your class in HFT Classroom. Students join with a class link and a picture, with no student emails. When a student finishes the quiz, the score is sent back to you, and you can see each answer in words, so you know exactly which preposition questions need another look.
What devices does the Micro Lesson work on?
It runs in the web browser on phones, tablets, Chromebooks, laptops and interactive whiteboards, with nothing to install. The read-aloud voice works on every device, so kids can use headphones at a center or the whole class can listen together on the board.
Let Penny teach prepositions tomorrow.
Open the free preview tonight, or start the full lesson with your membership.
