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She walked 2,000 miles in sneakers: prepositions of movement on a hiking trail

Prepositions of movement such as along, over and through are the grammar of this A2 ESL lesson plan on the Appalachian Trail.

Grammar
Ten prepositions of movement after past verbs, such as along, through, into and past (She walked along the trail.), with across set against through.
Topic
Hiking in the eastern US, where Emma Gatewood walked about 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine in 1955, with words such as blaze, shelter, stream and trail magic.
Activities
A trail notice is the reading, a voice message and a hike with a volunteer are the listenings, and self-checking drills, a chat about a walk and open boxes of trail stories follow.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Ready, set, hike!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: on the trailVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: Grandma Gatewood

    • Look at the photo: a hiker's things in 1955PictureUnlock
    • Read the trail noticeReal-life documentTry it
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: follow the white blazes

    • Listen to Grandpa's challengeListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Listen to Marco and HazelListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: along, over, through

    • Study the scheme: along, over, throughGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the right wordChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: past verb + wordFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: which way?Fill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the right sentenceQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: trail stories

    • Choose the right replies: a walk in natureChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: trail storiesOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: a viewer's commentDrag and dropUnlock
    • Sort the words into the correct columns: across or through?Sort into columnsUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: verb + wordFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the right sentence: on the trailQuizUnlock
    • Read Marco's post and choose the right wordChoose the optionUnlock

29 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Hiking vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • blaze
  • bridge
  • shelter
  • stream
  • backpack
  • trail magic
  • dulcimer

Grammar: prepositions of movement

Prepositions of movement, also called prepositions of direction or motion, show which way someone goes: along the river, over the bridge, through the forest. Following a trail of about 2,000 miles, learners add ten of these words to past verbs they know, picture each as an arrow, and sort out the pairs that get mixed up most.

She walked along the trail. He climbed over the rocks.

These little words show the way you move. Put them after a verb: walk along, drive through, climb over.

Ten words, ten arrows

Each word has an arrow and a short meaning. Along follows a long line such as a road or a river; up and down change height; into and out of cross from outside to inside and back. Past goes by something with no stop, and around makes a circle.

WordThe wayExample
along → → →next to a long line: a road, a river, a trailWe walked along the river.
over ↗ ↘from one side to the other, above itBiscuit jumped over the log.
across ⟷from one side to the other of a flat thingNora walked across the road.
through → ▢ →in one side and out the otherWe drove through the forest.
up ↑to a higher placeEmma climbed up the mountain.
down ↓to a lower placeWe walked down the hill.
into → ▢from outside to insideBiscuit ran into the tent.
out of ▢ →from inside to outsideMarco climbed out of the river.
past → • →by something, with no stopWe drove past the farm.
around ↻in a circleWe walked around the lake.

Past verb + preposition + place

The preposition goes straight after the verb, and the place comes last: She walked along the trail. We drove through the forest. Any verb of moving can take these words: ran into, jumped over, climbed up, drove past.

Past verb + word + place

walked / drove / climbed / ranalong / over / through / intothe trail / the forest / the rocks

She walked along the trail.

We drove through the forest.

I, you, he, she, it, we, they climbed over the rocks. (one past form for every person)

On the trail

  • In 1955, Emma walked through 14 states.
  • Hikers follow the white blazes along the trail.
  • Marco and Hazel went over a bridge.
  • Biscuit ran into the forest with a cookie!

Across or through?

Across goes from one side of a flat thing to the other: across the road, across the street, across the bridge. Through means passing inside it, in one side and out the other: through the forest, through the tunnel, through the door.

across ⟷ a flat thing, side to side

  • across the road
  • across the street
  • across the bridge

through → ▢ → inside it, in and out

  • through the forest
  • through the tunnel
  • through the door

On or along? In or into?

On the trail and in the tent say where someone is; along and into say how they move: We were on the trail all day. We walked along the river. On the river would put you on the water.

on or along? in or into?

on the trail = where you are: We were on the trail all day. along = how you move, next to the line: We walked along the river. in the tent = inside: Biscuit slept in the tent. into = from outside to inside: Biscuit ran into the tent.

Common mistakes

  • We walked through the bridge.

    We walked over the bridge. / We walked across the bridge.

    a bridge: over or across

  • We drove across the tunnel.

    We drove through the tunnel.

    you are inside a tunnel: through

  • Biscuit walked on the river.

    Biscuit walked along the river.

    on the river = on the water! 😄

  • We walked passed the shelter.

    We walked past the shelter.

    past (the way), not passed (the verb pass)

More lessons on this grammar: Prepositions lessons and exercises

Try the prepositions of movement exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 16 auto-checked exercises
  • 4 games
  • 1 real-life document
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • say which way someone went with a past verb and a preposition: We walked along the river. The train went through the tunnel.
  • choose across for a flat thing and through for going inside: across the street, through the forest
  • use on and in for where someone is, along and into for how they move: The dog slept in the tent. The dog ran into the tent.
  • tell a short trail story: We walked over a bridge too. Then we went through a forest.

Lesson 4 closes Amazing journeys, the first unit of English A2.1 · Then and Now. It puts the past verbs of lessons 1 and 2 (walked, climbed, went, drove) on the move and builds on the prepositions of place from lesson 11 of English A1.2 · Out and About, such as behind and across from. The next unit, American firsts, opens in lesson 5 with was and were in full. The trail itself goes through forests, across big rivers and up a mountain, so the setting asks for a preposition at every step.

The warm-up is a spin wheel about walks and nature, then ten word cards with pictures and audio, from hike and follow to shelter and dulcimer. Students read a trail club's notice about Emma "Grandma" Gatewood, who hiked the whole Appalachian Trail alone in 1955, in canvas sneakers. They then listen to Grandpa's voice message with the day's challenge and to Marco's hike with a trail volunteer, both AI-voiced. The grammar chapter adds four self-checking exercises to the scheme, among them a table that matches each arrow with its preposition. Last, students tell Nora about a walk in nature in a chat and open boxes of trail stories.

Eight self-checking exercises make up the homework: a word match, an anagram, a viewer's comment to complete, a sort of places by across or through, a gap-fill of verb + preposition, a word-order drill, a sentence quiz and a channel post with the right prepositions to choose.

Grammar:
prepositions of movement · along, over, through, across · into, out of, past, around · past verb + preposition
Topic:
the Appalachian Trail · Emma Gatewood · hiking · trail names · trail magic · Grandpa's Map

Teaching tips

  • Ask what students would pack for a long hike, then compare with the bag in the trail notice: a notebook, some clothes, light food and a shower curtain for rain, but no tent.
  • Draw the hike on the board before the second listening: a river, a bridge, a forest and a shelter. Students trace the route as they listen, then retell it: along the river, over a bridge, through the forest.
  • Show across and through with a pen: slide it across a desk, then push it through a ring made with your fingers, and students name each move.
  • Hand out trail names before the chat: each student picks a nickname from something they love, as hikers do when they sign shelter logbooks, and uses it in the chat and the boxes.

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The whole course: English A2.1 · Then and Now

32 lessons for adults at A2 in simple American English, from the past simple to going to, should and might. Eight units tell stories of journeys, American firsts, food, places, sports, music, neighbors and dreams. Pictures and definitions replace translations, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Amazing journeys

    the past simple, regular and irregular verbs, negatives, prepositions of movement

    1. Lesson 1Around the world in 72 daysThe past simple of regular verbs
    2. Lesson 2The first drive across AmericaIrregular verbs in the past simple
    3. Lesson 3Get your kicks on Route 66Past simple negatives with didn't
    4. Lesson 4 · you're hereShe walked 2,000 miles in sneakersPrepositions of movement

  2. Unit 2 American firsts

    was and were, past questions and short answers, ago and in, could for past ability

    1. Lesson 5The first American woman in spaceWas, were, there was and there were
    2. Lesson 6A real bug in the computerPast simple questions with did
    3. Lesson 7“Mr. Watson, come here”Wh- questions in the past simple
    4. Lesson 8Twelve seconds in the airCould and couldn't for past ability

  3. Unit 3 American food

    countable and uncountable nouns, comparatives, ordering food, a few and a little

    1. Lesson 9The first chocolate chip cookieCountable and uncountable nouns in a recipe
    2. Lesson 10Is a jalapeño hotter than a habanero?Comparatives of short adjectives
    3. Lesson 11Two eggs, sunny side up!Offers and orders with would like
    4. Lesson 12Cooking for twenty on ThanksgivingA few, a little and a lot of

  4. Unit 4 City or country?

    comparatives with more and less, superlatives, as … as, too and enough

    1. Lesson 13The island with no carsComparatives with more and less, plus better, worse and farther
    2. Lesson 14America's extremesSuperlatives with the + -est, the most and the least
    3. Lesson 15San Francisco or Yosemite? You choose!As … as for the same, not as … as for less
    4. Lesson 16A park on an old railroadToo, enough and not … enough

  5. Unit 5 Game on

    play, go and do with sports, going to, adverbs of manner, reflexive pronouns

    1. Lesson 17Basketball started with peach baskets?Play, go and do with sports
    2. Lesson 18What's going to happen at LA 2028?Be going to for plans and predictions
    3. Lesson 19Pickleball: a game from a backyardAdverbs of manner
    4. Lesson 20Be brave and tryReflexive pronouns and each other

  6. Unit 6 Music and nights out

    love, enjoy and hate + -ing, the present continuous for plans, suggestions, to for purpose

    1. Lesson 21Where jazz was bornGerunds after love, like, enjoy, hate and don't mind
    2. Lesson 22Music on every streetThe present continuous for future arrangements
    3. Lesson 23A night on BroadwaySuggestions with Let's, Why don't we and How about
    4. Lesson 24An orchestra for every kidThe infinitive of purpose and to or for

  7. Unit 7 Neighbors and community

    much and many, should, something and everyone, because and so

    1. Lesson 25Everybody cleans up!Much and many with nouns you can and can't count
    2. Lesson 26Good neighbors shovel snowShould and shouldn't + the base verb
    3. Lesson 27Take a book, leave a bookIndefinite pronouns with some-, any-, no- and every-
    4. Lesson 28A bench for making friendsBecause for reasons, so for results

  8. Unit 8 Plans and dreams

    verb + to, the present continuous vs going to, might, when, before and after

    1. Lesson 29Never give up: from farm fields to spaceVerb + to + the base form
    2. Lesson 30Across America by trainGoing to and the present continuous for the future
    3. Lesson 31Open in the year 6939Might and might not for possibility
    4. Lesson 32A college graduate at 95Time clauses with when, before and after

Questions about this lesson

What are prepositions of movement?
Prepositions of movement are words that show the direction someone or something moves: along, over, across, through, up, down, into, out of, past and around. They follow a verb of moving and come before a place: We walked along the river. The train went through the tunnel. The A2 lesson She walked 2,000 miles in sneakers on edio.ai teaches all ten, each with an arrow.
Are prepositions of direction the same as prepositions of movement?
Yes, in most grammar books: direction, movement and motion name one group. These words say where someone goes, not where they are: to, toward, along, across, through, into. Compare a preposition of place with one of direction: The shelter is across from the stream, but We walked across the stream. A few words do both jobs: over the bridge can mean above it or from one side to the other.
How do you use prepositions of motion in a sentence?
Put the preposition of motion right after the verb and before the place: She walked along the trail. We drove past the farm. The verb says how someone moves (walk, run, climb, drive), and the preposition says which way. The gap-fills of the A2 lesson She walked 2,000 miles in sneakers on edio.ai give both as clues, as in (run, into).
Is it "along" or "a long"?
Write along as one word for moving next to a line: We walked along the river. A long, two words, is a + the adjective long, before a noun: a long walk, a long trail. Both can meet in one sentence: We took a long walk along the river. A quick test: if a very long makes sense, write two words.
What's the difference between across and through?
Across goes over a flat thing; through goes inside. You walk across a road, a street or a bridge, from one side to the other, but through a forest, a tunnel or a door, in one side and out the other. So it's We drove through the tunnel, not across the tunnel. In the A2 lesson She walked 2,000 miles in sneakers on edio.ai, students sort places such as the beach and the gate into the two columns.
Is it "walked past" or "walked passed"?
It's walked past, because past shows the way: We walked past the shelter. Passed is the past form of the verb pass, so it stands alone without walked: We passed the shelter. The two words sound alike, which is why the spelling slips. Never put both verbs together: walked passed has two past forms in a row.
What's the difference between in and into?
In says where something is; into shows movement inside: The dog slept in the tent. The dog ran into the tent. Use into after verbs like run, walk, jump and go for a move from outside to inside, and out of for the way back: He climbed out of the river. In casual speech, in often replaces into after such verbs (jump in the lake), but into is always clear.
What words do you need to talk about hiking?
For hiking, you need words for the trail, the gear and the stops: you hike and follow the blazes, paint marks on trees; you carry a backpack; you cross a stream or a bridge; and you sleep in a shelter, a small wooden house on the trail. When you get to the top or the end, you reach it. A surprise gift from a stranger is trail magic, and hikers' nicknames are trail names.
How do I teach prepositions of movement to A2 students?
Show each preposition as an arrow or a gesture before any rule, then attach it to a verb students know: walked along, ran into, climbed up. A route makes the practice real, because every step needs a new word: along the river, over a bridge, through the forest. She walked 2,000 miles in sneakers, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, follows a hike like this in a listening and then in four drills.
What's a good game for practicing prepositions of movement?
A show-the-way game is a good one for prepositions of movement: one student says a sentence with into, out of, up or down, and the class shows the movement with their hands. For a twist, the speaker mimes and the class guesses the sentence: You climbed over a rock! This lesson's open boxes end with that game, after prompts such as Up a hill or a mountain: I climbed up …
What's good homework for practicing prepositions of movement?
Good homework mixes word choice with a short story: students pick across or through for a list of places, complete verb + preposition gaps (jumped over, drove around), and then choose the right words in a hiker's post: First, we walked along the river. In She walked 2,000 miles in sneakers, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, all eight homework exercises check themselves, so students see each mistake at once.
Are there interactive exercises for prepositions of movement?
Yes: typed drills that correct each answer on the spot suit these words. No account is needed to try four parts of the A2 lesson She walked 2,000 miles in sneakers on edio.ai here: a trail club's notice about Emma Gatewood's hike, a voice message with a hiking challenge, a gap-fill of verb + preposition (ran into, went over, jumped out of) and a chat about a walk in nature. The other exercises are locked.
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