Classroom Scavenger Hunt for Prepositions

Purpose:  to practice speaking and writing prepositions of place

Preparation Time:  5 minutes

Materials Needed:  two lists of items in the classroom (3-5 objects on each)

Procedure:

1. Write the sentence frame Excuse me, where is the _____? on the board.
2. As a class, practice asking the question about a few items in the room. As the class answers the questions, write the prepositions of place that they use (over, next to, under, across from, in, behind, etc.) on the board.
3. Put the learners into partners.
4. Give one partner a handout with a list of items for them to locate in the room (e.g. pencil sharpener, coffeepot, teacher’s desk, clock, etc.).
5. The partner with the list asks their partner where each of the items is, and their partner locates the item and describes its location.
6. The partners work together to write down the locations of the items on the list in their notebooks.
7. Have the partners switch roles and give the learner who located the items in the first round a new list so that they can ask the questions in the second round.

Modification: You can do the same activity using a photo or a picture of a scene. If you use a picture, either project it on the whiteboard and give one partner in each pair a list of items in the picture, or give one partner the list and the other partner a copy of the picture.