South Dakota ELA 1.L.1.h

ELA1st GradeLanguage

The Standard

1.L.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Use frequently occurring positional prepositions (e.g., under, around, over, beside).

South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students use words like under, over, beside, and around to tell where an object is or where it moves. They follow directions that use those words and give directions of their own.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can put a toy beside a box when asked, then say where they put it. They can tell a partner to move the toy around the box and check that the partner follows the path.
Common Misconceptions: Students may say beside when an object is behind something. They may use over for a toy sitting on a box, rather than one held above it.
How to Assess It: Show pictures of a ball under a chair and a ball beside a chair. Ask students to write one sentence telling where the ball is in each picture.

Lesson moves

Give pairs a toy and a box; have one student place the toy under, over, or beside the box while the other describes it.
Show a picture of a dog beside a table and ask, 'Is the dog beside or under the table? What shows you?'
Play Simon Says with a pencil and book, using directions such as 'Put the pencil under the book,' then let students lead.
At cleanup, ask students to tell a partner where their backpack is in relation to their desk before moving it.

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