• identify prepositions in a text and discuss their role in writing, based upon a shared reading experience.
• apply their understanding of prepositions to a poetry writing experience.
• publish their work using a combination of image and text.
• demonstrate mastery of advanced conventions in preposition use.

• Behind the Mask, by Ruth Heller
• Prepositions Handout
• Preposition Poetry Guidelines
• Writers Notebook
• Multigenre Mapper
• Flip Book
• Preposition Project Rubric

• Read Behind the Mask (Grosset & Dunlap, 1995) before meeting with students so that you are prepared to read the book aloud and discuss the text with the class.
• Brainstorm a list of possible prompting questions to invigorate the discussion if necessary.
• Make copies of the Prepositions Handout and the Preposition Poetry Guidelines.
• Write your own sample poem meeting the expectations in the Preposition Poetry Guidelines.
• If possible, make arrangements for students to meet in a computer lab or classroom for Sessions Two and Three. Prepare the computers by making bookmarks to the two student interactives used in the lesson: Multigenre Mapper and Flip Book.
• Test the Multigenre Mapper and the Flip Book tool on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tools and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page.

1. Read Behind the Mask by Ruth Heller to the class, allowing for student participation. Encourage students to play with the language of the text as you share the picture book.
2. When you finish reading the book, ask students to share what they noticed about the book. Answers will vary from bright colorful illustrations to variations in font. Note their answers on the board or chart paper for reference as you discuss the text.
3. Once students have identified such features as the use of very descriptive words or the variety in text font, shift to questions about how prepositions work in the text.
4. Choose your entry point depending on student prior knowledge. Review the function of prepositions if needed. Consult Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab entry on prepositions for background if necessary.
5. Pass out copies of the Prepositions Handout to help students identify the prepositions in the picture book.
6. Point out that this book is a guide for how to use some confusing prepositions correctly.
7. Look back at the second half of the book and review the more advance guidelines with students.

1. Share the sample poem you have written (see preparation section above) that follows the guidelines from the handout.
2. Pass out copies of the Preposition Poetry Guidelines.
3. Review how your sample poem matches the Preposition Poetry Guidelines.
4. Pass out the Preposition Project Rubric and discuss the expectations for the project that students will complete.
5. Invite students to create their own preposition poem in their writer’s notebook.
6. Depending upon experience level of students and needed accommodations, students can work in partners or independently.

1. Explain that the class will return to the poems written in the previous session and publish them in a style based on Behind the Mask.
2. Briefly review a few key images and sections of text from the book.
3. Ask students to think about how they can make all or part of their poem come to life in a similar fashion. Encourage students to share and discuss their ideas.
4. Introduce the ReadWriteThink interactive Multigenre Mapper.
5. Demonstrate how to include details in the different portions of the tool:
   
   
   • Write the title of the poem in Blank A.
   • Write the student’s name in Blank B.
   • Write the text of the poem in Blank C.
   • Illustrate the poem in the drawing box.
     
     
6. Remind students that their illustrations should show what one or more preposition(s) in their poem is/are doing.
7. Suggest that students use the Preposition Project Rubric to evaluate their poems before printing the final copies.

1. Arrange students in pairs, and explain that each pair will make a study guide for the 5 guidelines at the end of the Preposition Poetry Guidelines, using the Flip Book to publish their work.
2. Review the expectations for the project using the Preposition Project Rubric.
3. Demonstrate the Flip Book and/or share a blank flip book, so that students understand the format they will use for their final drafts.
4. Ask student pairs to devote a page in their Flip Book study guide to each of preposition guideline.
5. Review the layouts available in the Flip Book. For each guideline, ask students to include the rule, a written example clarifying the rule, and an image that relates to the example.
6. Have students print their study guides at the end of the session, and share them with classmates in preparation for assessment or use in a larger written assignment.

Prepositions for Time, Place, and Introducing Objects
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/594/01/
and
Prepositions of Direction
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/594/02/

These two pages from the Purdue OWL provide in-depth explanations of different families of prepositions and provide examples targeted at English language learners who may find the subtle meanings harder to understand. The resource can be used for the teacher’s reference or as needed in class.

• As students work on their poems, watch for indications that they understand the grammatical form and function of prepositions. Note how students work together, rely on their own knowledge, and consult to reference information in the classroom.
  
  
• Respond to students’ poems using the Preposition Project Rubric as a guide.
  
  

NCTE/IRA Standards

3 - Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

4 - Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.

5 - Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

6 - Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.