Welcome to the 7th grade of the Danube Swabians Weekend German School!
A few notes about how class is run:
- 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.
- Homework is an infrequent occurrence, hence any given assignment is that much more important to get done. Usually it is only either 'extra credit' or as make up for not having been in class.
- 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, contribute to a discussion, or participate in activities, I tally points for them for that day, with the goal being to get at least 5 marks per day. Doing the homework assignments provides equivalent participation points for those who were not in class.
- 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.
- We do a great deal that requires internet access, such as interactive games and research. Bringing a phone or tablet that can use the Wi Fi every day is highly recommended. I am not one of those teachers who confiscates phones, so long as they are not becoming a distraction.
We have begun the school year by getting to know one another a bit through some extremely creative and original games that of course I made up myself and didn't at all get off any teaching websites (that I'd be happy to share with you). On day one we played a game I call "Wie heißt du?" that is fun because it involves projectiles.
Each morning, we open the class up with a presentation I call "Meine Woche," wherein I describe in a German tirade all the interesting (or if it was a boring week, entirely fabricated) things that I have done this week, and the students summarize it back to me or answer questions. This is a so-called "ice breaker" as well as some listening comprehension.
After that, we go into listening comprehension exercises, wherein I play either a song, music video, or even podcast in German (typically off YouTube), and the students answer questions and talk about it. Week one it was a video from my favorite podcaster, Mirellativegal. This week, it was a new and creative take on the Cinderella story by one of my favorite bands, "Das Letzte Streichholz" by Oomph!
This week and last week we have been going over how to express preferences and likes using gern, lieber, and am liebsten either with "haben" (in the case of nouns) or with verbs (in the case of activities).
To practice this, we have gone around asking one another's preferences on different topics, and then presenting the results in poster form, and this past week we also did some elaborate role plays in class wherein groups of 3 discussed/argued about their made-up plans.
We also played a game of Kahoot over the topic.
We will be wrapping up that unit next week with a short assessment that will be done in class.
Mit Vergnügen
