Applying learning

Following instructions for prepositional language (Part 1)

Numeracy

﻿Hello everyone, my name is Simon, and I'm going to be your teacher today. And it's really great that you've been able to join me today. This is lesson one, of unit five, all about position and direction. Let's go. What are we going to learn today? We're going to learn to respond to the prepositions, in, on and under. And to use these propositions to describe where objects are. Here is the key vocabulary we're going to use, in, under, then on. For this lesson, you will need, small items from around your home, including some containers. Now, I've got, a bowl, a fork, a spoon, and some toys. You'll also need simple cards, showing objects and the key words we talked about earlier. You could draw these, write them on a piece of paper or print them. Pause the video now, while you gather everything you need and then press play, when you're ready to start. And here is the structure of the lesson. You've got your resources, we'll start with adult led modelling of, on, in and under, then there'll be an adult led activity, where you respond to, on, in and under, and then an adult led activity to finish, where you use the terms, in, on and under. Let's start by looking at some of the key words, we're going to use today. So, let's start with, on. On. I can use this, by saying.. that the fork, is, on the lunchbox. The fork is on the box. And that is, on. Let's have a look at another one now. In. In. Let's try using a cup and I'm going to put something, in, the cup. Let's use this little police car. So, let's put that in there, the car is, in, the cup. The car, is in, the cup. Let's try another one. There's a lunchbox, there's the car. Where is the car? Can you say the sentence? Pause the video now, while you have a go. How did you do? Did you say, that the car was, in the lunchbox? Well done. There's one more word, we haven't looked at yet. And that is, under. Under. Let's use two more objects. Let's try a fork and a bowl. I'll put that on top of there. And now I can say, that the fork, is under, the bowl. The fork, is under, the bowl. Hang on a minute, there's another sentence I could use. Can you, say a sentence, using, on to describe what's happening here? Did you say it? So we could say, that the fork is under the bowl or we could also say, that the bowl is on, the fork. Well done. Let's have a go at an activity. So, I've got some objects around me over here from around my home, and I've got three piles of cards. And these two, are of pictures of objects. So I'm going to need those. And in the middle, I've put some of our key words. So, on, in and under and then they repeat. So, I don't know what's going to come up. And when I turn over, three of these cards, it's going to give me an instruction. And I'm going to see if I can follow that instruction. So let's have a go. So, the first card is a plate. A plate. So, we have a plate ready, there it is. The middle card says, under. So the plate, is going under, the fork. Plate under the fork. So, let's take the plate and the fork. I'll put that on there. And now I can see, that the plate, is under the fork. Okay, let's turn over three more cards and see if we can do it again. Right, this time, it's the plate again. So we need our plate back, and the preposition is, on. So the plate, on something. And it's going to be a lunchbox. So, the plate, on the lunchbox. So, there's my lunchbox, plate on lunchbox. It's on, the lunchbox. Okay, let's have a go at one more. Get your objects ready, because you can help me with this one. So, it is a toy car. So, we get the toy car ready, and we're going to put it, in something. The toy car is going, in the bowl. The bowl. Toy car, in the bowl. Pause the video now, while you arrange the toy car and the bowl and then unpause and we'll see if we got the same answer. Okay, how did you do? Let's see if you're right. So, the toy car needs to go, in the bowl. There's the toy car, put in the bowl. Did you do the same? Well done. Set out the activity, just as I've shown you, using object cards and preposition cards. Pick three at random, to make an instruction. And then follow the instruction. So, questions you might answer are, can you put the.. plate, for example, in the lunchbox? Can you put the fork under, the police car? Can you put a cup, on the plate? Pause the video now, while you have a go at this activity and then resume, when you're finished. Welcome back. You must be getting really good at responding to, in, on and under, as part of instructions. But now we're going to have a go, at saying and using those words. So, you can see here, I've arranged my items in front of me, and some of them are, in, and some of them are, under, other things, and some of them are, on, other things as well. And I'm going to play a version of hide and seek. So, I can see a lunchbox. There's my lunchbox, but how can I describe, where it is? Well, I could say that the lunchbox, is on, the cup. The lunchbox is on the cup. What else can I see? I can see a fork. Can you see the fork? What could you say, about where the fork is? Pause the video now and tell me, and then resume and we'll see if we got the same answer. What did you say? Did you tell me that the fork, is on the plate? The fork is on the plate. Okay then, if the fork is on the plate, where is the plate? Well, the plate, is under, the fork. Okay then, see if you can see the police car. Where is the police car? Hmm. See if you can tell me. I can see the police car. The police car, is in, the lunchbox. Brilliant. Okay, one more. I can see Lego bricks. Can you see the Lego bricks? See if you can tell me, where the Lego bricks are. Hmm. Well, I can see the Lego bricks, they're under, the bowl. The Lego bricks are, under the bowl. Brilliant. Arrange the objects that you've got, from around your home, on the table, and play hide and seek with a parent or carer. See if you can describe, where a particular item is. For example, you might be asked, can you see the bowl? Where is it? And you could answer using three key words, such as, the bowl is under the book. Pause the video now, while a go and then resume when you've finished. Welcome back. I hope you did really well. And as you can see, I've got some different objects here and I'm wondering, if you can tell me, where the jug is. Where is the jug? Pause the video now and tell me where the jug is. Well, I can see the jug, here it is, and I can see, that the jug is under, the boat. The jug is under the boat. Let's have one more. Can you see, the Lego bricks? Where, are the Lego bricks? Well, I can see them, and they're just here and they are in, the bowl. The Lego bricks in the bowl. This is unit five, lesson one. Following instructions for propositional language. And in particular, in, on, and under. Now, if you want to make this a bit easier, you could try using, just one of the prepositions to start with. You could explore objects by stacking and arranging with an adult modelling the use of language. To make it harder, you could try stacking three items, how many way, can you describe the arrangement? Could you add the word, between to describe the arrangement? For other ideas, you and a parent or carer could have matching items. You arrange yours and describe it, your parent or carer, will follow your instructions. At the end, you can compare your arrangement with theirs. How accurate where your instructions? Thank you, for all of your help and for working so hard today. Today, you've learned to use the words, on, under and in. That's very good. In unit five, lesson two, you'll be following instructions for preposition language and applying this understanding to real life activities. You can share your work with Oak National. If you'd like to, please ask your parent or carer to share your work, on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.

Following instructions for prepositional language (Part 1)

Following instructions for prepositional language (Part 1)

These resources will be removed by the end of the Spring Term 2026.

Lesson slides

Lesson details

Key learning points

Equipment

Licence

Lesson video

Worksheet