Schoolhouse Rock: Busy Prepositions
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This is the last of the Grammar Rock lessons from the Schoolhouse Rock animation short films series that will be featured on this website, and it is called “Busy Prepositions.” After this, we will study early American history using the fun and easy songs from the America Rock series.
But, for now, let’s finish one final lesson about grammar, focusing on prepositions. Prepositions are the parts of speech that connect most of the other words in a sentence to form little phrases in the sentence. They usually place the nouns in a timeframe, at a location, and with or without other nouns, all with respect to the other nouns in the sentence.
Watch and sing along with the lyrics provided below:
Like a butterfly, or a like bee,
Like an ant, as busy as can be,
These little words we call the “Busy P’s:”
(PREPOSITIONS.)
Nine or ten of them
Do most all of the work:
(OF, ON, TO, WITH, IN, FROM,
BY, FOR, AT, OVER, ACROSS)
And many others do their job,
Which is simply to connect
Their noun or pronoun object
To some other word in the sentence.
Busy P’s, if you please.
(On the top is where you are!)
ON the top relates to where.
(With a friend you’ll travel far!)
WITH a friend you’ll go.
(If you try you know that you can fly
Over the rainbow!)
OVER the rainbow is where you can fly.
Busy Prepositions,
Always on the go.
Like a bunch of busy bees,
Floating pollen ON the breeze.
Buzzing OVER the meadows,
BEYOND the forest,
THROUGH the trees,
INTO the beehive.
Busy, Busy P’s.
(INTO, BEYOND, OVER, ON, THROUGH!)
Busy Prepositions, always OUT IN front,
ON the edges, IN the crack.
AROUND the corner, FROM the back.
IN BETWEEN the action.
Stating clearly to your satisfaction,
The location and direction.
Prepositions give specific information.
(Though little words they are,
They never stand alone.)
Gathering words behind them,
You soon will see how they have grown
Into a parade, a prepositional phrase,
With a noun, or at least a pronoun, bringing up the rear,
A little phrase of two or three or four or more words.
(Prepositions! Attention! Forward! March!)
Busy Prepositions, always on the march.
Like a horde of solider ants,
Inching bravely forward on the slimmest chance
That they might better their positions.
Busy, Busy Prepositions.
(IN the air, ON the ground, everywhere.)
The sun sank lower in the west.
IN the west it sank.
(And it will rise in the morning,
And will bring the light of day.)
We say the sun comes up in the east every day!
(IN the east it rises.)
Busy Prepositions,
Busy, busy, busy!
(On the top is where you are!)
ON the top.
(If you try you know that you can fly!)
Fly where?
(OVER the rainbow.)
CONCLUSION
Other prepositions include: about; above; after; against; along; among; before; behind; below; beneath; beside; but; despite; down; during; except; inside; like; near; off; onto; outside; past; since; throughout; till; toward; up; and without.
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