Celina Frausto

Eng. 487-02
Dr. Fantuzzi
4 December 2016
RATIONALE

I chose to do my book on prepositions of place because the latter was my biggest

grammar mistake when I first started writing english essays. I was in ELD classes eight years

ago. I came to the U.S. when I was twelve years old. Thus, the grammar mistake that my english

teachers corrected the most was prepositions of place. I had the most trouble learning the

difference between in and on. I would always get those two prepositions confused. I didn’t know

how to distinguish them because when I translated them, the translation was the same for both. In

spanish, in and on, had the same translation. Hence, whenever I had to use the word in or on, I

would just write the one that would come to my mind first. I didn’t know that there were some

rules or different definitions in english for the prepositions in and on. I just knew that in and on

meant “en” in spanish.

Also, my ELD teacher never told me the difference between in and on. She would just

correct my mistake, and by correcting my mistake, she was making a mistake too because as

Coelho said, “ it can be overwhelming for a student, who may have little understanding of why a

particular item has been corrected or circled” (87). In other words, she didn’t realized that it was

overwhelming for me to see many red marks on my papers without a supportive feedback.

Coelho also said that “ supportive feedback is more helpful than overt correction” (87). In

essence, my ELD teacher was not giving me any supportive feedback because she was just

correcting my paper. However, one of my other english teachers did. He gave me supportive

feedback when he explained to me the difference between in and on. He saw that I was making
this particular mistake, over and over again, so he thought that it was better to explain to me the

difference between in and on. It was until then that I learned that “on” is used to show that

something is in a position above something else and touching it, and “in” means inside.

Therefore, the reason for doing my book on prepositions of place is that I would like to

make children aware of the differences between in and on, so that they would not make the same

mistakes that I did. I would also like to introduce them to the prepositions of place at an early age

so by the time they are 10 years old, they can have an idea of what prepositions are. According to

Coelho, “by the time children are nine or 10 years old, most children should learn and understand

basic terms, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions;” (87). Thus, if I introduce

my students to prepositions at an early age, it will be easier for them to understand prepositions

at age 10. Also, as a future teacher, I would like to use this book to introduce my students to

prepositions because my book, ​Where is Penelope?, ​shows a repetitive pattern, and as Coelho

said, “repetition of a grammatical structure in a meaningful context helps learners recognize and

understand the pattern” (87). Hence, my book will be a good way to introduce students to

prepositions.

Lastly, I chose to do my book on a school setting because it reminded me of when I was

having this particular grammar mistake eight years ago, and overall, I hope that this book helps

students understand prepositions of place.

Works Cited

Coelho, Elizabeth, and Dyanne Rivers. ​Adding English: A Guide to Teaching in Multilingual

Classrooms​. Toronto: Pippin, 2004. Print.