3.Dez '16 - The Empire begins

Guten Morgen,

This past Saturday heralded the beginning of both the student-led "Meine Woche" presentations and also our largest historical study unit of the year, the Roman Empire and Iron Age Germania.

The Meine Woche presentations from this week went well, and kudos to those who took one for the team and went first. That's never easy, and they rose to the occasion.

Here is what we have coming up:


December 10th: Samantha, Ethan, Will, Anna U, Abby
December 17th: Peter, Paige, Grace, Anna L

In short, using the past tense, give me at least 5 slides covering your experiences over the week. These may be things you did, things you saw, or things you otherwise experienced. These should be real and not just fantastical fabrications. Saying nonsense in German is easy; speaking about real life is the real challenge. The slides must also include pictures.

A presentation should last at least 5 minutes. Saying a single sentence and then moving on to the next slide is not enough, nor is simply reading the title aloud and moving on. Each slide should be a short story on its own, in other words. Much like I do mine.

Example: A slide that says "Ich habe Pizza gekocht." Should not just be a picture of pizza, you pointing to the title, and then moving on. It should be more like, "Am Freitag habe ich pizza gekocht. Es war sehr lecker! Ich habe Kochen lieber als Bestellen denn Restaurant Pizza ist zu fettig. Mein Pizza hat Pepperoni und viel viel viel Käse. Mutters Pizza hat Zwiebel. Ich hasse Zwiebel..."


Note cards may be used during the presentation if it helps.


Please let me know if this will not work for any reason--we can shuffle around as needed so long as these get done before Christmas.

Our listening comprehension was a new find, "How to mildly annoy your cats" which can be found for your viewing pleasure here.

We later played Perfect FRED. This is basically BINGO, but I couldn't think of 25 regular verbs in the past tense off the top of my head, whereas 16 was doable, so we did FRED (4x4 cards) instead. It's "Perfect" because it was over the perfect tense. The cards had infinitives, and I called out the past participles. Upon achieving a FRED, the students had to use them in a sentence (e.g. "Ich habe gekocht") to prove they had the right spaces.

And finally, we spent a good deal of time talking about Every Day Life in both 1st century Rome and 1st century Germania (what little we know about the former) and comparing the two. We covered diet, housing, and technology. Next time we talk about clothing, economics and religion (e.g. Odin, Thor, Loki vs Jupiter/Zeus, Mercury/Hermes, Pluto/Hades, etc).

Enjoy the snowy day!

Enjoy the Break... and "Deine Woche"

Guten Tag,

This upcoming weekend is our break for Thanksgiving. There will be no class on November 26th. If you show up to school, you will be alone and rather bored.

On Saturday we assigned the "Meine Woche" presentations for the remaining weeks of the school year. In short, instead of me presenting my own week's experiences, it is now the students doing so.

The assignments are as follows: Updated on 11/29

December 3rd: Andrew, Sarah, Emily, 
December 10th: Samantha, Ethan, Will, Anna U, Abby
December 17th: Peter, Paige, Grace, Anna L


If you/your child will not be present on your/their assigned weekend, let me know so I can re-assign dates. Showing up unprepared or simply not giving the presentation is not an option. This is 50% of the averaged "Sprechen" and "Fleiss" grades for this semester.

In short, using the past tense, give me at least 5 slides covering your experiences over the week. These may be things you did, things you saw, or things you otherwise experienced. These should be real and not just fantastical fabrications. Saying nonsense in German is easy; speaking about real life is the real challenge. The slides must also include pictures.

A presentation should last at least 5 minutes. Saying a single sentence and then moving on to the next slide is not enough, nor is simply reading the title aloud and moving on. Each slide should be a short story on its own, in other words. Much like I do mine.

Example: A slide that says "Ich habe Pizza gekocht." Should not just be a picture of pizza, you pointing to the title, and then moving on. It should be more like, "Am Freitag habe ich pizza gekocht. Es war sehr lecker! Ich habe Kochen lieber als Bestellen denn Restaurant Pizza ist zu fettig. Mein Pizza hat Pepperoni und viel viel viel Käse. Mutters Pizza hat Zwiebel. Ich hasse Zwiebel..."

Note cards may be used during the presentation if it helps.

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Over the last 2 class periods, we have gone over the Perfect (also known as "spoken past" or "present perfect") tense and are ready to begin using it in assignments such as the above-listed and onward. I produced a handout that has been given to all who were present one of the last 2 weeks. Anyone who was absent may request a copy, and I will be happy to distribute.

12.Nov - Stammen

Guten Tag,


Our day began as it normally does, with a musical interlude, this time courtesy of Schnappi das kleine Krokodil.

Once we went over Meine Woche, we took a little bit of time to polish up and finish up the tribal presentations. Then, we went forth, for victory! They went rather well, especially considering it involved coordination between students outside of school hours.

Our main lesson for the day was a brief introduction over the perfect (past tense), which we will be again covering in detail in weeks to come.

I have a handout over the perfect that I will be distributing with this week's email to help those who were absent.

Mit Vergnügen~

5.November - Stammen

Guten Tag!

Today was began our history unit. The students spent the majority of class in groups researching their assigned Iron Age germanic tribe.
The groups we covered were the following from the first century AD, their records having been created by Roman historians Pliny (elder) and Tacitus:

• Vandals
• Irminones
• Ingaevones
• Istvaeones

Next week, the groups from today will present to the class about their tribe of choice. 

Those not present today should, as solo work, cover the remaining tribe we didn't use, the Bastarnae. 

Questions to answer include (auf Deutsch): 

• Where does the name of the tribe come from and who wrote their history?
• What (modern day) countries did they live in during the first century AD? Where did they expand to afterward?
• What modern languages (if any) come from this group?
• Did they have any sub tribes? What are they called?
• What is one thing you find interesting about them? 

We also did one of my favorite songs, selected by a student: "Ich habe 'nen Traum" from Tangled, and went over Meine Woche. 

Mit Vergnügen

30.Okt - The Princess Games

It happened. The Princess Games 2016 have come and gone!

Our winner was (as always), Princess Luna, Princess of the Night, Co-Sovereign of Canterlot Castle.

Class began with each group putting the finishing touches on their campaign presentations from last week, and then we went from class to class.

After the speeches were made and presentations given, the breakdown from across the school (including Frau Rill and the parents who were volunteering this week) was as follows:

• Luna: 5 classes
• Twilight Sparkle: 2 classes
• Celestia: 0 classes

As usual, it went overwhelmingly in Luna's favor. Maybe we should look into term limits for Pony Princesses, going forward.

We then did "Meine Woche" and the first of our student-provided listening comprehension exercises, "Lass jetzt Los" (Let it Go, from Frozen). And of course, it was stuck in everyone's head for the next 17 years as a result. 

Finally, we did our quiz over comparatives and superlatives. I am giving those who were absent the option to either

A) do the quiz at home with parental supervision (I'll email you a PDF copy)

B) do it the next time they attend German school.

Please let me know your preference. 

Next week, we begin a new unit. Please bring mobile devices capable of wifi for research. These may be phones, tablets, or laptops. 

Mit Vergnügen~

22.Okt '16 - PrinzessInnen Spiel

Guten Tag,

Today we talked about princesses.

We began with two Kahoot games, reviewing both all that we learned about the different German-speaking countries in the world and also the comparatives and superlatives that we spent the last 4 weeks going over.

There will be a quiz over comparative and superlative adjectives next week, wrapping up the unit.

We also watched one of my favorite videos, 10 Tipps für faule Menschen.

Our big activity, after a review of superlatives, was the Princess Games, whereupon we talked (in superlative, descriptive language) about each of the 4 pony princesses from My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Cadence, Luna, and Celestia and what makes each of them special.

Then we were randomly divided up into groups with the task of campaigning for "best princess." Each group is making a poster and a list of reasons why their princess is the best. Next week, we will go classroom to classroom to campaign, and the winning pony will be Prettiest Pony Princess Prancing in the Paddock.

Group members should be finishing their assigned tasks for the Princess Games as well as preparing for next week's quiz.

Those not present should prepare for next week's quiz. Those not present next week; I will share the questions here after the quiz has been taken in class.


Mit Vergnügen

15.Okt - Sprachraum 2.Teil, Geister, Schweine

Guten Tag,

Today was a great deal like other Saturdays. We had a significant number of absences, so thank you to those who alerted me to this beforehand! It saved a small part of the rainforest as I didn't print extra copies that would've been unnecessary.

Also, a big stack of graded papers was given back today. If your child came home with no papers at all, then be suspicious.

Our song for the day was "Sei ein Mann" from the German dub of Disney's Mulan, a perennial classic (just wait until we do Frozen).

We did Meine Woche, which had an interesting story about a "haunted bathroom," that I'm sure your kids will share, as well as the saga of the missing tape.

Our lesson was over the Superlative, continuing off the Comparative that we had been covering over the last few weeks.

We discussed how superlative statements are, in essence, "the most something of all," e.g. "the biggest," "the strongest," "the prettiest," "the smallest."

Much like with comparatives, an adjective with only one main vowel is given an umlaut (ö, ä, ü).
For superlatives, also add an -ste at the end unless the adjective ends in s, z or ß
So we have, for instance:
größte (groß with an ¨, -te at the end since it already has an ß)
stärkste (stark with an ¨, and -ste at the end)
kleinste (klein with an -ste at the end)

A superlative noun (e.g. "The Prettiest," "The Strongest") is just the superlative adjective with the appropriate article and ending.
Der Beste (the best of all)
Der Kleinste (the smallest of all)

Alternatively, to say something is the most ____, use the phrase am ____sten.
"Ich bin am kleinsten" (I'm the smallest)
"Du bist am doofsten" (you're the dumbest)

Lastly, superlatives can simply be used like any other adjective, stuck in front of a word.
"Ich bin der schönste Pony in der Park" (I am the prettiest pony in the park)
"Sie ist die reichste Prinzessin in dem Land" (she is the richest princess in the land)


To use this, we did part two of "Deutsches Sprachraum" and researched how each German speaking country stands out from the rest (e.g. the richest, the biggest, etc).

We also held an election, with winners in the 3 categories: Verrückste, Schönste, Klügste
Among the winners, we then held a runoff for the title of Klassenprinzessin. The winner was (literally) showered with votes.

For those who were absent, do the following and turn it in the next time you are in class:
Write out (to be read aloud in class) 10 ways in which you are the most SOMETHING of everyone in the class. 

• Adjectives may each be used only once. 
• Use all 3 methods of superlative formation that I wrote earlier (as nouns, am__sten, as adjectives)

Mit Vergnügen

8.Okt - Deutsches Sprachraum

Today began like any other day, with a period of sunlight after a period of darkness.

We did "Meine Woche" as always, and then used a favorite song of mine, "Kein Vampir bleibt mehr hier" from My Little Pony.

After a review of the comparatives, we went into a group research assignment. In partners, students compared two German speaking countries.

This took the rest of class.

For those not present, the assignment was as follows:

Pick any two from this list of countries to compare. Look up information about your chosen two countries to answer the questions below:

Deutschland

Österreich

die Schweiz

Belgien

Liechtenstein

Luxemburg

Slowakei

Brasilien

1. Was sind die 2 Länder, die ihr vergleicht?
2.  Ist Deutsch die Hauptsprache oder eine Amtssprache?  
3. Welche andere Sprachen sprechen Leute in diesen Länder?
4. Welches Land ist größer? (Land)
5. Welches Land hat mehr Deutschsprecher?
6. Welches Land ist reicher? (GDP, GNP, average income)
7. In welchem Land sind Leute klüger? (Education level, average IQ)
8. Welches Land hat besseres Essen? Warum? (opinion)
9. Was ist etwas interessant über jedes Land? (opinion)
10.   Welches Land ist dein Lieblingsland und warum? (opinion)

The homework is to choose a German song (with video), podcast, or video for us to use at the beginning of class time. It should be no more than 5 minutes, school-appropriate, and you must explain auf Deutsch why you chose this one. 

1.Okt - Comparing

The class began like any other class, with German words. It also continued and eventually ended that way.

To be more specific, we began with "Meine Woche," and then had the quiz over favorites as had been promised.

Our listening comprehension was suitably silly to regain our energy after the quiz, namely "Der Käse Song" from my favorite Austrian, Michael Buchinger on YouTube. Those old timers in the audience will quickly realize it's a parody of a song from 1990. I'll leave it at that to let it be an age test for you.

Our lesson was beginning a unit on comparatives and superlatives, today being our initial foray into "Comparatives." We talked about how to form comparative adjectives,which I have broken down into a few general steps (bearing in mind there are plenty of irregulars out there):

For "More"

• Take a normal adjective and add an -er to the end
• If the adjective has one vowel (like "stark" or "groß") then add an umlaut
• use "als" to mean "than" in a comparative phrase

Ich bin groß becomes Ich bin größer als  (I'm big... I'm bigger than...) 

For "Less"

• nicht so {adjective} wie

Ich bin groß... Ich bin nicht so groß wie... (I'm big... I'm not as big as...) 

For examples, each student was semi-randomly assigned a celebrity to whom they would compare themselves in six ways. My favorites were "Ich bin nicht so reich wie Taylor Swift" and "Ich bin nicht so blau wie Snuggles."

To eat up our energy before lunch, we also had a game of DANGER ADJECTIVES which is a name I made up on the spot but think is pretty good. Basically we'd toss the sparkly koosh ball at one another in a circle while calling out a descriptor of that person.
Example: "Größer!" (small person throws ball at taller person)

After the break, we attempted a revamp of something I've tried in previous years that, well, has never gone quite as planned. I lowered the ante a bit, so instead of composing raps they simply had to make haikus. This went far better and won them sufficient bragging rights such that we marched into the 8th grade classroom and said "Wir sind besser!" in unison. It turned out the class wasn't there at the time, but at least we had the fun of confusing Frau Carlander. 

For next week, please bring a wi-fi capable device. 

24. Sep - Prokrastination

It's ironic that the title is procrastination and yet I'm doing this blog entry early.

We opened the class as usual with "Meine Woche." The highlight of the week was going to Brookfield Zoo and having pizza. Also there was giant, killer broccoli.

Volunteers presented their homework, and received points for doing so, and those who were absent but did the alternate assignment for the week likewise were given credit.

Our listening comprehension this week was the new song "Prokrastination" from Mirrellativegal.

We went over gern, lieber and am liebsten again for the final time, adding onto it not only how to express preference of things (using haben), but also of activities (using these words in conjunction with a verb). We touched on idiomatic use of lieben and hassen, how while these are commonly used in English, it is odd and improper to use them quite so casually in german, e.g. "ich liebe Käse" is going a little bit overboard.

We played kahoot, and it went smashingly.

Our main activity was a dialogue: in groups of 3, the students made roleplays of social interaction where they expressed their preferences and thoughts toward each other. There was much faux drama, and hilarity ensued.

Next week we wrap up "preferences" and will be heading into comparatives, followed by superlatives.

Homework ought to be reviewing of the notes from the past two classes to prepare for an itty bitty assessment next week.

For those absent, write out (and perform next week) a 3 person dialogue wherein 3 characters discuss their own preferences using gern, lieber and am liebsten, much as we did in class. This may be talking about things or (as we did) be made about characters so that it's nice and dramatic. Please make it no less than 15 complete sentences.

Mit Vergnügen

17.Sep - Erster Schultag des Jahres

Guten Tag!

Willkommen in diesem neuen Schuljahr! This class is my favorite class, as it is the only class I teach, and accordingly it is the best (and worst) class of my entire annual repertoire.
Welcome to the 7th grade of the Danube Swabians Weekend German School!

A few notes about how class is run:

1. This blog is updated (and linked via email) weekly on either Saturday or Sunday following, depending on circumstances. Herein shall be outlined all pertinent class activities, topics covered, and most importantly, the occasional homework assignment. 
2. Homework is an infrequent occurrence, hence any given assignment is that much more important to get done. I do not accept assignments later than the 2nd week after it is assigned (or after a student returns from an absence). 
3. In-class participation is graded as "Fleiss" each semester. Participation is tracked by each student individually via a Mitmachen Tabelle that I provided; each time they answer a question or contribute to a discussion, they may tally a point for themselves for that day, with the goal being to get at least 5 marks per day. 
4. The vast majority of our work is in-class research, group projects, and creative activities. Accordingly, while we cover a great deal of material, it is less academic and more kinesthetic. Posting assignments to be done at home is challenging in that so much of what we do requires the classroom setting, so please attend as often as possible. 
5. What I have done before to encourage absentee students to keep up with the content is to share the topics covered in class via this medium and then list recommended alternative activities or assignments to be completed at home. Should these not be done by absent students, then there is no direct penalty incurred, but they lose the opportunity for participation points, leave me with little to nothing to grade their performance on, and run the very real risk of lagging behind in content. So in the name of keeping pace with the class, and helping me list non-arbitrary or fabricated grades each semester, please do the alternative assignments in the event of absence.
6. We do a great deal that requires internet access, such as interactive games and research. When I advise that a wi-fi accessible device shall be needed, please endeavor to bring one. 

That being established, here is the run of our first day: 

It all began on a dark and stormy night, many years ago... skip forward, and this past school day was bright, sunny and cool. 

We started our time together with some brief introductory activities, such as playing a name memory game by tossing a ball around in a circle; repeat process with phrases "ich heiß..." and "du heißt..." both as a warm-up and for the sake of Herr Walker's sanity going forward. 

I then performed a "getting to know the teacher" presentation all about me, my time at the school, and my family. This segued into what shall be a weekly occurrence, a presentation of "Meine Woche." 

In essence, I present a slideshow about what I did that week auf Deutsch, the children take brief notes for themselves, and then either answer my questions afterward or posit questions of their own (for Mitmachen points and for listening comprehension and speaking practice). 

As is another weekly occurrence, we then had our Hörverständnis activity. These are normally either German podcasts, performing artists, songs, or TV/movie clips that are presented with accompanying question sheets to check comprehension. This week's was "Kochen mit Kimberly" from my favorite german podcaster, Mirellativegal. 

We next went into a lesson over this week's topic, Favorites. We covered proper usage of "gern," "lieber," and "am liebsten." 

As an example activity, each student made their own questionnaires and went around the room gathering answers. I provided a basic template, e.g. "Hast du _____ oder _____ lieber?" that they completed and then asked one another. The results were presented, and hilarity ensued, especially when they were asked to illustrate these results in poster form. 

The homework for the week was as follows:

über Snuggles!

Snuggles is the blue and pink pony mascot of our classroom. 

Use your own imagination (e.g. "make it up") to answer these questions in full sentences about Snuggles and her life. 

• Was hat Snuggles gern?
• Was isst Snuggles am liebsten?
• Was spielt Snuggles am liebsten?
• Wer ist Snuggles Lieblingsperson und warum? 

All answers to this and similar assignments should be rated G to PG. 

Recommended activities for absent students
Introduce yourself to Herr Walker. Write down answers to the following questions in full-sentences auf Deutsch. 

• Wie heißt du?
• Wie heißt deine Familie?
• Was machst du am liebsten in der Schule? Und in deiner Freizeit? 
• Hast du Ponys gern? Wenn nicht, warum nicht? 
• Was hast du lieber: essen oder schlafen? 
• Isst du lieber Spinner oder Sardinen? 
• Wie schmeckt eine Mischung von Sardinen, Nutella und Zimt? Gut oder nicht gut? 

Mit Vergnügen~

7.Mai - Presentations in Jeopardy

Today was rampant chaos.

Group presentations were done today over all the grammatical topics we have covered this school year. Each group or pair had visual aids, exercises and examples.

We finished up the "Meine Woche" presentations as well.

The day was brought to a close with a rousing game of Jeopardy covering, again, all that we have gone over grammatically and historically over the course of the year.

Those who were absent this week will need to present next time.

Mit Vergnügen

Demonstratively - 30.4 '16

Guten Tag,

Today we had a week presentation, followed by the 8th graders present regaling the rest of the class with practice of their end of the year speeches, accompanied by questions to ensure listening comprehension.

Later in the class, the 7th graders made their own speech drafts in much the same format and read them aloud as further speaking practice.

Our lesson for the day was over demonstrative pronouns, the use of the article in place of an antecedent word (e.g. "Der Hund schreibt einen Blogeintrag. Der ist ja so ein guter Schreiber!")

As outlined in the email entry, next week will be when the class does, in pairs, presentations reviewing what we have covered this school year.

Mit Vergnügen

16.April'16 - Die Merowinger

After the usual presentations of "Meine Woche," and a lovely podcast over "Tips für überraschungsbesuche," we had a lesson over the Merovingian dynasty or "Die Merowinger" and the beginning of the Frankish kingdoms.
As this is essential to understanding how Western Europe transitioned from a mix of roving tribes and Roman outposts to feudal kingdoms, we shall complete this unit next time and end the year with the Carolingian kingdoms and Charlemagne.

We also reviewed the genitive case and prepositions with a game, cleaned up the classroom in preparation for the visiting groups, and wrapped up with Red Rover outside to let off some steam.

Also, there were muffins.

Mit Vergnügen~

9.April '16 - Tests and Testing

Guten Tag!

Today, the 7th graders busied themselves for the first half of class doing their benchmark AATG proficiency exam to prepare them for the "real" one next year.

The 8th graders prepared their graduation speeches and presentation.

For the second half of class, we reviewed the genitive case and conducted experiments in abject insanity (Mad Libs).

2.April - Round and Round and Round We Go

The day began normally...

We started off by having a "Meine Woche" presentation from one of the students and then from me.
We then did a YouTube video about "Wie man eine Party sabotieren kann," which taught us such strategies for party ruining as "Sing a Disney villain song about the host" and "Faint whenever people stop paying attention to you" as well as my personal favorite, "Turn off the power and shove people into the cake when it's dark."

We continued our study of the dative case by going over "zu" and "nach" and how to give directions or state an intended course using them, including the common phrases "zu Hause" and "nach Haus."
We then took turns doing a blind obstacle course. The class stood in a line, and the leader (as well as a varying number of others) had to walk around the school in accordance with the directions given by someone else in line. No casualties.

We also began learning the Genitive case.

Next week will be a (benchmark) AATG exam for the 7th graders.

Mit Vergnügen

19.März - Fleisch, Freunde, und Feinde

The day began normally...

We had two "Meine Woche" presentations, followed by a lesson over the two-way nature of prepositions (accusative versus dative).

Then we had our murder mystery Roman banquet, as planned. My fear that not enough people would bring food was not realized--we had so much food that a substantial portion was leftover! The school purchased pizza as a contribution to the party as well.

Our KellnerInnen did an excellent job, and our killer claimed 5 victims before being found out after dessert.

There were poems, toasts, and a song as assigned. Also, togas.

We ended the day on a low-key note by doing 6-panel comics to practice our preposition use.

Mit Vergnügen

12.März '16 - Preparations

Today began like any other day, with a student presenting her week to the class and regaling us with the details.

We engaged in a review of dative prepositions and learned the declensions (definite) for the dative case as well as how to use them. Much dancing was involved.

Each student also did a picture and description of their own rooms and where everything in them is.

Next week shall be our Roman banquet, celebrating and commemorating the end of our Roman Empire unit before we move into the middle ages. Each student present today volunteered to bring something for the banquet. We also made "character cards" so that each will know the person they are supposed to be role playing for the duration.

All present are required to wear a toga.

This should be fun.

-Mit Vergnügen

5.März '16 - Einhornjagd

Today we hunted unicorns.


It all began with "Ich hab 'nen Traum" (I have a dream) from Disney's "Tangled," my favorite Disney song of all time and a far better movie than "Frozen."

Three students presented their "Meine Woche" this time as well.

Then we had some geopolitics in the form of a lesson and discussion over the Fall of Rome.

After lunch, the groups who did not yet record their Teutoburg skits were given their final opportunity to do so.

We finished off the day with a review of prepositions in the form of a Unicorn Hunt. Three groups of students had to find the right color of unicorn; we had 23 total hidden throughout the school by the faculty and I earlier in the day.

Mit Vergnügen

27.Februar '16 - Future

We began our day with a classic song, "Sei ein Mann" from Disney's Mulan.
Du musst so schnell sein wie wildes Wasser! Du musst so stark sein wie ein Taifun!
Du musst so heiß sein wie Höllenfeuer, geheimnisvoll zugleich so wie der Mond!

usw...


After a review of the future tense, we made cartoons illustrating our "predictions" (or outright fantasies) of where we will be in 5, 10, and 20 years.

After the break, we had a talk from Fr. Wiegert in the Museum room all about how life used to be for the Danube-Swabian settlers.

One more group recorded their Teutoburg skit, and we called it a day.

Next week will be the last week I accept Teutoburg recordings.

Mit Vergnügen

13.Februar '16 - Lights, Camera...

We spent the bulk of our time today preparing to perform the Teutoburg presentations next class period. Roughly half the class was absent, so only one group had sufficient members to record their final product.

After the preparations and rehearsals, we went over the Modal Verb quizzes from last week (handed out today) and went into a lesson on the Future tense. This became an interesting game of Mad Libs that involved a surprising number of turtles.

Those groups whose members will be present next week will be expected to record their scripts under Frau Lussem's tutelage. Those with significant numbers absent will need to arrange amongst themselves when they can record.

Mit Vergnügen~

6.Februar '16 - Quiz and the precursor to violence

We opened our class time with a perennial classic song that is often used for review of modal verbs, "Ich Will" by everyone's favorite group, Rammstein.

We engaged in further review and oiling of the brain gears by doing a kahoot that I fashioned over modal verbs.

Then we had the quiz, which went rather well, altogether, and lasted until lunch.

After the break, as discussed last week, we divided up into groups once again and began making the scripts for the group productions of the Battle of Teutoburg.

By next week, the scripts should be done. Groups should be ready to rehearse and (hopefully) record their productions next week as their big project for this quarter.

The groups that were present in class have divided up the remaining work, and each member should know their responsibilities. Those who were not present, I will reach out to to ensure they know what is expected of them on their return to class.

Mit Vergnügen

30.Januar '16 - Teutoburg and Princess Elsa

We opened today with a song that everyone knows and loves, knows and hates, or something in-between, "Lass jetzt Los" from Die Eiskönigin.

As opposed to going over my week, from here for months onward we will have students summarizing their weeks at the beginning of class. The assignment was explained and the first 3 weeks assigned.

Our grammar lesson consisted of finishing up the modal verbs with sollen and müssen. We will quiz on the modal verbs next week.

Our cultural lesson wrapped up our Iron Age Germania and Imperial Rome unit with a discussion over comparative military abilities and strategy, culminating in the story of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest.

Next week, the 3 groups of students into which we divided will be crafting, and later performing (recorded for posterity), their own plays depicting the events leading up to the historical Battle of Teutoburg

Mit Vergnügen

23.Januar '16 - Religion in der Eisenzeit

We started the day out like any other day, with riddles and brain teasers and actually that's vastly different from most days.

Instead of a song or a podcast, we did 11 riddles in German as our opening listening activity.

After a lesson over the modal verbs können (can) and dürfen (may), we split up into pairs and created dialogues, wherein there were children and parents discussing what was, and was not, allowed, all while being sticklers for grammar and proper usage. :)

After lunch, we had our lesson comparing Imperial Roman and Germanic tribal religion and ritualism. This was a rather in-depth topic, including the theme of synchretism (forced adoption/integration of one set of beliefs into those of another, subordinate culture) and the effects these religions still have on us today (days of the week, the planets, etc).

Next week we shall go into the comparative militaries, discuss the Battle of Teutoburg and its relevance to this day, and then move on to a different time period altogether.

Mit Vergnügen

16.Jan' 16 - When in Rome

A class divided cannot stand. That's ok though; we were sitting in any case.

Before we had to separate the grade levels, we went over my week (as per usual) and watched  and discussed a German video.

Then, the 8th graders had the joyous, uproarious, hilarious opportunity to sit and take the AATG exam for most of the day, and I'm certain they had a ball doing so.

As for the 7th graders, who did not have the privilege of engaging in this joyous activity on Saturday, we took this opportunity to go over some material that would have been highly familiar to the 8th graders (and thus boring for them) but was brand new and exciting for the rest of the class.

Unlike last year, where we very gradually went over Germanic tribes and their interactions with Imperial Rome, this year that is only part of a greater historical-cultural unit. In previous weeks, we learned about the Iron Age Germanic tribes. This week, we had an in-depth lesson over comparing their lifestyle to that of Imperial Romans.

This will culminate within the next two weeks in a discussion over why or why not the tribes desired to join the invading Romans, and finally we will cover my favorite part, the Battle of Teutoburg (the mural in the back of the classroom).
From there we will move on to further Germanic history, including (if all goes well) the teutonic kingdoms and the Holy Roman Empire.

I have been asked before "Why are we doing social studies?" To answer, as was drilled into me during undergrad and grad school until I practically started saying it in my sleep, "Language cannot be taught in a vacuum." I feel this cultural orientation is essential as a part of learning German; specifically, the parts we are covering in class are the bits that tend to be glossed over or left out entirely in "real school."

We also began covering modal verbs, beginning with wollen and möchten and their usage differentiation.

After the lesson ended, and the class was re-united, we had a much-deserved break and played some classic games such as "Stazimann" and "Wer hat den Schlüssel?" since 2 hours of testing and learning deserves a reward.


The homework...
Produce for me a minimum 20 sentences describing your personal preference: to live as a Germanic tribesman, or to live as a Roman citizen, and why, using specific examples from class.

9.Januar '16 - Totales Gefahr

"Jeopardy" just doesn't translate well.

Well, that is what we did today!

We opened with a classic song from a classic show, specifically this one here. Soon afterward, we went through the traditional "Meine Woche" exercise, and of course there was plenty to discuss given all the events of the holidays.

For the majority of our time, as a comprehensive review, we played Jeopardy with 3 teams competing, pitting their knowledge of German against one another across all manner of topics and themes. We had "Rose flaumige Einhörner tanzen auf Regenbogen," "Fingernagel," and "Regentropfschildkröter." Fingernagel won rather handily.

We ended the day with a rousing game of "Wo ist mein Schuh?" a perennial classic.

Next week the 8th graders will be taking their AATG exam. Frau Rill will proctor while I take care of the 7th graders.