It finally happened.
We did our annual re-enactment-ish/dramatic re-interpretation of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest. This took all day.
The final video will require some editing, but I will distribute this once it is finished and available. All in all I'd say it easily ranks in the top 3 of the 6 that we have done over the years.
Mit Vergnügen
Sunday, March 24, 2019
Sunday, March 17, 2019
16. März '19 - Preparation for Teutoburg
Today was an interesting one that started with forgotten assignments and ended with mass mayhem.
So in other words, it was perfectly normal for our class.
Due to a lack of prepared homework, we simply started with Meine Woche and then did our listening and translation exercise, using "Lasst uns froh und munter sein." It turns out that everyone has been singing this song since kindergarten without having any idea what it actually meant.
We then reviewed the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, discussed all the main actors of the event and what needed to happen, and set about preparing the script.
Once the dialogue is completed, we will begin rehearsing and then it shall be filmed, to be shared with all of you as a completed epic.
Mit Vergnügen
So in other words, it was perfectly normal for our class.
Due to a lack of prepared homework, we simply started with Meine Woche and then did our listening and translation exercise, using "Lasst uns froh und munter sein." It turns out that everyone has been singing this song since kindergarten without having any idea what it actually meant.
We then reviewed the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, discussed all the main actors of the event and what needed to happen, and set about preparing the script.
Once the dialogue is completed, we will begin rehearsing and then it shall be filmed, to be shared with all of you as a completed epic.
Mit Vergnügen
Saturday, March 9, 2019
9. März '19 - Teutoburg Art
We started off our day doing both listening comprehension and translation of Rammstein's "Ohne Dich," which went decently well since it's a rather simple, rather slow song.
We had a few students present their "People of Teutoburg" presentations, and we will have three more go next week.
Then we spent the majority of our time making our own smaller-scale, individual posters of the Teutoburger Schlacht, and went around the school getting votes as to the best.
Next week we will do a bit more work on some Teutoburg projects as well.
Mit Vergnügen
We had a few students present their "People of Teutoburg" presentations, and we will have three more go next week.
Then we spent the majority of our time making our own smaller-scale, individual posters of the Teutoburger Schlacht, and went around the school getting votes as to the best.
Next week we will do a bit more work on some Teutoburg projects as well.
Mit Vergnügen
Saturday, March 2, 2019
2.März '19 - Krapfen und Kämpfen
Guten Tag!
Today we started out with Meine Woche as usual, and then we did a reading and translation exercise with each student being assigned their own pair of Züngenbrecher to work through.
For our lesson we reviewed the future tense, and then after each student produced a nice pile of times, places, and verbs, we did "prophetic mad libs," where each of us blindly reached into the piles of words to produce our "future."
Examples that stood out:
"Ich werde in 5 Minuten in Mexiko explodieren."
"Ich werde in 100,000 Jahre in Australien lesen."
After the break, we read through a historical article over the Battle of Teutoburg forest. Each student read through it and answered questions about it before we discussed it as a class.
The homework is to make a short presentation over a major historical figure from this event: Arminius, Governor Varus, Chieftain Segestes, Emperor Augustus.
Next week we will also make our Teutoburgerschlacht Poster.
Mit Vergnügen
Today we started out with Meine Woche as usual, and then we did a reading and translation exercise with each student being assigned their own pair of Züngenbrecher to work through.
For our lesson we reviewed the future tense, and then after each student produced a nice pile of times, places, and verbs, we did "prophetic mad libs," where each of us blindly reached into the piles of words to produce our "future."
Examples that stood out:
"Ich werde in 5 Minuten in Mexiko explodieren."
"Ich werde in 100,000 Jahre in Australien lesen."
After the break, we read through a historical article over the Battle of Teutoburg forest. Each student read through it and answered questions about it before we discussed it as a class.
The homework is to make a short presentation over a major historical figure from this event: Arminius, Governor Varus, Chieftain Segestes, Emperor Augustus.
Next week we will also make our Teutoburgerschlacht Poster.
Mit Vergnügen
Sunday, February 17, 2019
16. Feb '19 - Princess Combat
Guten Tag!
Our day began with what is our new normal, a mixture of listening comprehension and translation/reading skills. We listened to and then translated "Mein Herz Brennt" by Rammstein. This went decently well, and we managed to complete the entire thing in about 40 minutes.
We then had the last two "Meine Woche" presentations.
Our unit on the past tense is now done, and starting next week we will begin learning about the future tense.
After lunch, we played our "Eisenzeit Krieg" wargame, but this time we added a level of complexity. After a few rounds with romans and germans, we switched it up and played the Pony Princesses of Equestria against each other. This was a substantially more complex version of the game with more rules, and it seemed to be a smash hit.
Enjoy the long weekend!
Mit Vergnügen
Our day began with what is our new normal, a mixture of listening comprehension and translation/reading skills. We listened to and then translated "Mein Herz Brennt" by Rammstein. This went decently well, and we managed to complete the entire thing in about 40 minutes.
We then had the last two "Meine Woche" presentations.
Our unit on the past tense is now done, and starting next week we will begin learning about the future tense.
After lunch, we played our "Eisenzeit Krieg" wargame, but this time we added a level of complexity. After a few rounds with romans and germans, we switched it up and played the Pony Princesses of Equestria against each other. This was a substantially more complex version of the game with more rules, and it seemed to be a smash hit.
Enjoy the long weekend!
Mit Vergnügen
Sunday, February 10, 2019
9.Februar '19 - Familie bis ins Mark
Guten Tag!
Today we did something different. Firstly, we opened with a Meine Woche from a student, and we will do so for a few more students next week as well.
Then, since it seems we need some help with our reading comprehension, we did a challenge. Instead of simply listening to a song and seeing what we could glean from it, I gave them the lyrics beforehand in entirety, this being to the song "Familie Bis ins Mark" from the german dub of My Little Pony. Each student was assigned a stanza to translate.
First, I gave them some translation strategies, such as:
Today we did something different. Firstly, we opened with a Meine Woche from a student, and we will do so for a few more students next week as well.
Then, since it seems we need some help with our reading comprehension, we did a challenge. Instead of simply listening to a song and seeing what we could glean from it, I gave them the lyrics beforehand in entirety, this being to the song "Familie Bis ins Mark" from the german dub of My Little Pony. Each student was assigned a stanza to translate.
First, I gave them some translation strategies, such as:
- Underline and mark all the nouns (always capitalized) to look up more easily
- Locate all the verbs, figure out their infinitive, and look those up.
- Figure out the tense of the sentence to help with its meaning (is there a haben, sein, or werden in the front? etc).
This ending up taking quite a while and doubled as a lesson on how to use a dictionary, which apparently was a new skill to learn.
Afterward, we discussed our findings and listened to the actual song.
The rest of our time we ended our previous unit on the past tense, and our lesson on Iron Age warfare, writing essay/stories over the adventures of either an ancient germanic warrior or a roman legionnaire. Those who did not finish this must do so before next weekend.
Mit Vergnügen
Sunday, February 3, 2019
2.Februar '19 - Tests and Melting
Guten Tag!
Now that we have all finally thawed out, and the world is one big melting mushy mess, we managed to meet again for school without the danger of ice and freezing to death.
We spent some time with student-lead presentations of "Meine Woche" to begin with, which went rather well, better than in some years past. Then after the usual hilarity, we flew right into a practice test.
We spent most of the day doing the level 1 listening/viewing and reading practice exams from the AATG. This was simply a benchmark and to get everyone acquainted with what to expect. We will take the level 1 again "for real" in March.
Scores ranged from the 40's to 70% on listening/viewing, and 30's to 60% on reading. From what I've been told, as discouraging as that may sound, for 6th and 7th grade that is actually fairly average.
We will continue to work on these skills.
Mit Vergnügen.
Now that we have all finally thawed out, and the world is one big melting mushy mess, we managed to meet again for school without the danger of ice and freezing to death.
We spent some time with student-lead presentations of "Meine Woche" to begin with, which went rather well, better than in some years past. Then after the usual hilarity, we flew right into a practice test.
We spent most of the day doing the level 1 listening/viewing and reading practice exams from the AATG. This was simply a benchmark and to get everyone acquainted with what to expect. We will take the level 1 again "for real" in March.
Scores ranged from the 40's to 70% on listening/viewing, and 30's to 60% on reading. From what I've been told, as discouraging as that may sound, for 6th and 7th grade that is actually fairly average.
We will continue to work on these skills.
Mit Vergnügen.
Sunday, January 27, 2019
26. Januar '19 - Wir sind wieder da!
Guten Morgen!
Today we finally got back into the swing of things after last week's unfortunate snow-based cancellation.
Our focus returned to our historical unit over Iron Age Germania, this covering the topic of warfare. We discussed the Roman military, its formation and tactics, and how this compared to the Germanic tribes of the time.
In short:technology, strategy and organization versus "go over there and hit that guy really really hard."
We then made our own either legionnaires or germanic warriors, and held a war game. "Eisenzeit Krieg" is a turn-based, dice-driven combat system (like D&D Very Lite) that I invented a few years back, and it's always a crowd pleaser. We had some real nail-biter combat rounds, culminating in the entire class engaging in a battle royale with only one survivor at the end.
Since we've been covering the past tense (perfect) in class lately, next week we will also start working on an assignment, "Meine Woche." Just like I've been doing in class, so too shall the kids start making presentations about their own weeks and what they've been up to.
Mit Vergnügen
Today we finally got back into the swing of things after last week's unfortunate snow-based cancellation.
Our focus returned to our historical unit over Iron Age Germania, this covering the topic of warfare. We discussed the Roman military, its formation and tactics, and how this compared to the Germanic tribes of the time.
In short:technology, strategy and organization versus "go over there and hit that guy really really hard."
We then made our own either legionnaires or germanic warriors, and held a war game. "Eisenzeit Krieg" is a turn-based, dice-driven combat system (like D&D Very Lite) that I invented a few years back, and it's always a crowd pleaser. We had some real nail-biter combat rounds, culminating in the entire class engaging in a battle royale with only one survivor at the end.
Since we've been covering the past tense (perfect) in class lately, next week we will also start working on an assignment, "Meine Woche." Just like I've been doing in class, so too shall the kids start making presentations about their own weeks and what they've been up to.
Mit Vergnügen
Saturday, January 5, 2019
5. Januar '19 - Neujahr und Weitermachen
Guten Tag!
Today began like any other day before the usual descent into chaos.
We went over Meine Woche as "Meine Feiertage," and our listening comprehension was "Der Perfekte Hengst," (the perfect stallion) from My Little Pony.
Our lesson revolved around the perfect, otherwise known as the "spoken past." It's the past tense that uses helping verbs haben and sein, to differentiate it from the preterit or "written past."
The assignment was fairly simple: give me 10 sentences about what you did over the holidays. This took quite a while.
For the last 15 minutes of class, we went outside and enjoyed what will probably be some of the last warmth and sunshine we'll see for quite some time.
Mit Vergnügen
Today began like any other day before the usual descent into chaos.
We went over Meine Woche as "Meine Feiertage," and our listening comprehension was "Der Perfekte Hengst," (the perfect stallion) from My Little Pony.
Our lesson revolved around the perfect, otherwise known as the "spoken past." It's the past tense that uses helping verbs haben and sein, to differentiate it from the preterit or "written past."
The assignment was fairly simple: give me 10 sentences about what you did over the holidays. This took quite a while.
For the last 15 minutes of class, we went outside and enjoyed what will probably be some of the last warmth and sunshine we'll see for quite some time.
Mit Vergnügen
Sunday, December 16, 2018
15. Dezember - Krampus kommt
Guten Abend!
This weekend we celebrated the Reason for the Season, der Krampus.
We began the day with a perennial classic, much to my elation and the boys' chagrin, "Lass jetzt Los" (Let it Go, from Frozen) and a summary of my week.
We then spent the majority of our time up until we had to participate somewhat in the preparations for the Weihnachtsprogramm learning about Krampus.
I managed to find a video explaining the highlights of the legend:
This weekend we celebrated the Reason for the Season, der Krampus.
We began the day with a perennial classic, much to my elation and the boys' chagrin, "Lass jetzt Los" (Let it Go, from Frozen) and a summary of my week.
We then spent the majority of our time up until we had to participate somewhat in the preparations for the Weihnachtsprogramm learning about Krampus.
I managed to find a video explaining the highlights of the legend:
- Accompanies Saint Nikolaus on Nikolaustag
- Nikolaus gives gifts to good children, Krampus takes away bad children and eats them
- Appearance like a satyr or neo-medieval demon
Because I'm a fan of history and anthropology, I explained why it is that legends like this come to pass, about how in previous centuries adherence to social norms and obedience to one's parents meant not just good social standing in a community, but potentially even life or death (e.g. "don't wander in the woods at night!" because hey there are wolves out there). Hence why we have cautionary tales and exaggerated legends to try and enforce good behavior.
We then had the choice: either write a letter to St. Nick telling him how good we've been and what we want for Christmas, or to Krampus saying how actually pretty good we've been and hey don't eat us. Most chose the latter.
We will meet again in the new year -- December 22nd and 29th are not school days.
Mit Vergnügen~
Saturday, December 8, 2018
8. Dezember '18 - Getting Modal
Guten Tag!
We began the day with Meine Woche as always, then did our listening comprehension with a classic, "Ich Will" by Rammstein.
This provided us a lovely segue into our review and continuation of the topic of modal verbs. We went over the pairings of Wollen and Möchten as well as Können and Dürfen.
We had some friendly competition with a Kahoot followed by team board races as well.
We ended the day with still more competition, playing soccer for the last 20 minutes until I was too exhausted to keep up with the kids any further.
Mit Vergnügen
We began the day with Meine Woche as always, then did our listening comprehension with a classic, "Ich Will" by Rammstein.
This provided us a lovely segue into our review and continuation of the topic of modal verbs. We went over the pairings of Wollen and Möchten as well as Können and Dürfen.
We had some friendly competition with a Kahoot followed by team board races as well.
We ended the day with still more competition, playing soccer for the last 20 minutes until I was too exhausted to keep up with the kids any further.
Mit Vergnügen
Sunday, November 11, 2018
10.Nov '18 - Eisenzeit beginnt
Guten Tag,
We began Saturday more or less with Meine Woche, then followed that up by going through a list of Züngenbrecher, what we'd call in English tongue twisters.
Our focus for the day was beginning our social-historical unit over Iron Age Germany. We do so through the lens of the Roman Empire, which is the only real source of historical data (aside from artifacts) that we have about Germany during this time period.
As there is no such thing as a fully unbiased or objective source, we include a study of Rome itself in this unit to help us better understand both the perspective of those who did the recording of ancient Germany's history, and to clarify the controversies and complexities of Rome and Germany's interactions.
It is one thing to say, for instance, that Rome was a hostile invader (from Germany's perspective) or that the Germanic tribes were "barbarians" (from Rome's perspective); it's quite another to understand why they thought that way, and what the variances of opinion were in both groups.
This unit will continue on and off throughout the year, culminating with our annual reenactment of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest.
We began Saturday more or less with Meine Woche, then followed that up by going through a list of Züngenbrecher, what we'd call in English tongue twisters.
Our focus for the day was beginning our social-historical unit over Iron Age Germany. We do so through the lens of the Roman Empire, which is the only real source of historical data (aside from artifacts) that we have about Germany during this time period.
As there is no such thing as a fully unbiased or objective source, we include a study of Rome itself in this unit to help us better understand both the perspective of those who did the recording of ancient Germany's history, and to clarify the controversies and complexities of Rome and Germany's interactions.
It is one thing to say, for instance, that Rome was a hostile invader (from Germany's perspective) or that the Germanic tribes were "barbarians" (from Rome's perspective); it's quite another to understand why they thought that way, and what the variances of opinion were in both groups.
This unit will continue on and off throughout the year, culminating with our annual reenactment of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest.
Saturday, November 3, 2018
3. November '18 - Noch was neues
Guten Tag!
We had another new addition to our class today. Finally! We are no longer just a rowdy gaggle of boys!
We began with Meine Woche as always, and our listening comprehension was "Millionär" by Die Prinzen.
Our lesson was an introduction to modal verbs, beginning with Wollen and Möchten. We discussed their exact meaning (want, would like) and how idiomatically they express varying degrees of politeness when used to make requests. "Would like" is considered proper whereas just blurting out that one "wants" something is considered childish and even rude.
Accompanying this we had an overall lesson over German syntax, using an acronym I came up with called "SHI/P" (Subject, Helper, Infinitive/Participle).
Our main activity was producing our own little dialogues in pairs; one student in each pair was a bratty child, the other the parent trying to instill some manners and decorum into the kid.
The comparative/superlative quizzes were also handed back.
Mit Vergnügen~
We had another new addition to our class today. Finally! We are no longer just a rowdy gaggle of boys!
We began with Meine Woche as always, and our listening comprehension was "Millionär" by Die Prinzen.
Our lesson was an introduction to modal verbs, beginning with Wollen and Möchten. We discussed their exact meaning (want, would like) and how idiomatically they express varying degrees of politeness when used to make requests. "Would like" is considered proper whereas just blurting out that one "wants" something is considered childish and even rude.
Accompanying this we had an overall lesson over German syntax, using an acronym I came up with called "SHI/P" (Subject, Helper, Infinitive/Participle).
Our main activity was producing our own little dialogues in pairs; one student in each pair was a bratty child, the other the parent trying to instill some manners and decorum into the kid.
The comparative/superlative quizzes were also handed back.
Mit Vergnügen~
Sunday, October 28, 2018
27. Oktober '18 - Etwas Neues
Guten Tag!
This Saturday was interesting. We had a new student come into the class today, and I hear tell that we will have another one coming.
We began the day with Meine Woche as usual, and went into one of my favorite songs, "Ich habe 'nen Traum" (I've Got a Dream, from Tangled).
After this, we had the Halloween Umzug which was, as usual, adorable.
The majority of our day was spent finishing out das Prinzessin Spiel. In pairs and one solo act, we made posters and campaign speeches, then went from class to class trying to win votes for who is the best pony princess of Equestria.
Surprisingly, greatly surprisingly, the winner was Princess of the Sun, Celestia. She never wins. It seems those boys were the most persuasive in their speeches.
Next week shall see a new grammar unit as well as the beginning of our historical-cultural studies.
Mit Vergnügen~
This Saturday was interesting. We had a new student come into the class today, and I hear tell that we will have another one coming.
We began the day with Meine Woche as usual, and went into one of my favorite songs, "Ich habe 'nen Traum" (I've Got a Dream, from Tangled).
After this, we had the Halloween Umzug which was, as usual, adorable.
The majority of our day was spent finishing out das Prinzessin Spiel. In pairs and one solo act, we made posters and campaign speeches, then went from class to class trying to win votes for who is the best pony princess of Equestria.
Surprisingly, greatly surprisingly, the winner was Princess of the Sun, Celestia. She never wins. It seems those boys were the most persuasive in their speeches.
Next week shall see a new grammar unit as well as the beginning of our historical-cultural studies.
Mit Vergnügen~
Saturday, October 20, 2018
20.Oktober ' 18 - Prinzessinnen und Fußball
Guten Tag!
Today began like any other day, at approximately 10:30.
We opened with Meine Woche, the highlights of this past week, and then we listened to a perennial classic, "Schnappi das kleine Krokodil." I'm proud to say we sang along, or rather, screamed along with the chorus. I'm fairly certain we were heard as far away as O'Hare.
Then came the surprise! A pop quiz over comparative adjectives. This was open-notes because I cannot emphasize enough the importance of not only taking notes, but taking good ones. This skill transfers throughout academia and, frankly, even into the business world. I will always reward good note taking.
This went fairly well. The errors were fairly minor, and had more to do with the overall grasp of syntax than with what we were actually testing over. Interestingly, forgetting to put a verb (any verb) into a sentence is a common one.
After the break, we went into a presentation that will tie into an activity next week, "Das Prinzessinspiel." Basically we learned all about the four Alicorn Princesses of Equestria (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) and their glorious magical powers. Next week we will hold a campaign and election to decide on who is the best princess of them all. This will end our unit on superlatives.
We ended the class with a game of soccer outside, where I learned that 10 minutes playing against a bunch of 11 and 12 year old boys is exhausting.
Mit Vergnügen
Today began like any other day, at approximately 10:30.
We opened with Meine Woche, the highlights of this past week, and then we listened to a perennial classic, "Schnappi das kleine Krokodil." I'm proud to say we sang along, or rather, screamed along with the chorus. I'm fairly certain we were heard as far away as O'Hare.
Then came the surprise! A pop quiz over comparative adjectives. This was open-notes because I cannot emphasize enough the importance of not only taking notes, but taking good ones. This skill transfers throughout academia and, frankly, even into the business world. I will always reward good note taking.
This went fairly well. The errors were fairly minor, and had more to do with the overall grasp of syntax than with what we were actually testing over. Interestingly, forgetting to put a verb (any verb) into a sentence is a common one.
After the break, we went into a presentation that will tie into an activity next week, "Das Prinzessinspiel." Basically we learned all about the four Alicorn Princesses of Equestria (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) and their glorious magical powers. Next week we will hold a campaign and election to decide on who is the best princess of them all. This will end our unit on superlatives.
We ended the class with a game of soccer outside, where I learned that 10 minutes playing against a bunch of 11 and 12 year old boys is exhausting.
Mit Vergnügen
Saturday, October 13, 2018
13. Okt '18 - Raum und Zeit
Guten Tag!
Today we started off late as most students didn't arrive until nearly 10:30. Then we went into "Meine Woche," as always and did our song of the day "Der Käse Song" by Michael Buchinger, an Austrian youtuber.
We quickly reviewed how to form superlative adjectives, did a Kahoot competition over this for possession of the various fun objects I have around the room (swords, helmets, etc) and then went into our project. This was "Deutsches Sprachraum 2," wherein they researched such questions as which German speaking country is the largest, most populated, richest, etc to practice formulating sentences with superlative statements.
Then we had a fire drill.
We had one more competition to see who would have possession of their choice of objects next class as well.
Mit Vergnügen
Today we started off late as most students didn't arrive until nearly 10:30. Then we went into "Meine Woche," as always and did our song of the day "Der Käse Song" by Michael Buchinger, an Austrian youtuber.
We quickly reviewed how to form superlative adjectives, did a Kahoot competition over this for possession of the various fun objects I have around the room (swords, helmets, etc) and then went into our project. This was "Deutsches Sprachraum 2," wherein they researched such questions as which German speaking country is the largest, most populated, richest, etc to practice formulating sentences with superlative statements.
Then we had a fire drill.
We had one more competition to see who would have possession of their choice of objects next class as well.
Mit Vergnügen
Saturday, October 6, 2018
6.Oktober '18 - Kein Vampir
Guten Tag!
Today we began with Meine Woche, whereupon I regaled the class with such lovely details as "I decorated my house for Halloween" and we went off on tangents only mildly related to the topic at hand.
Our listening for the day was "Kein Vampir bleibt mehr hier" from My Little Pony, the German version of the famous "Stop the Bats" song.
We reviewed comparative adjectives, and added superlative adjectives to the mix as well. We played two different Kahoots over this, and then completed with an exercise I call "Deutsches Sprachraum," wherein using their devices to do research, the children compared two different German-speaking countries of their choice with a preset group of questions.
Those who did not finish have to complete this for homework--it's very simple research.
Mit Vergnügen
Today we began with Meine Woche, whereupon I regaled the class with such lovely details as "I decorated my house for Halloween" and we went off on tangents only mildly related to the topic at hand.
Our listening for the day was "Kein Vampir bleibt mehr hier" from My Little Pony, the German version of the famous "Stop the Bats" song.
We reviewed comparative adjectives, and added superlative adjectives to the mix as well. We played two different Kahoots over this, and then completed with an exercise I call "Deutsches Sprachraum," wherein using their devices to do research, the children compared two different German-speaking countries of their choice with a preset group of questions.
Those who did not finish have to complete this for homework--it's very simple research.
Mit Vergnügen
Sunday, September 30, 2018
29. September '18 - Of Presidents and Poodles
Guten Tag alle!
Our class began with the smell of roasting pig wafting all throughout the school, and it was amazing. That aside, we started with "Dinge die Junge an Mädchen lieben," an "advice" video from Mirellativegal and Michael Buchinger. The conclusion: be cheese. Always be cheese.
Then we ran through Meine Woche.
We reviewed the preferences and favorites that we did in previous weeks with a short activity, wherein each student described themselves by their likes and dislikes, and the others had to guess who it was referring to afterward. That went by very quickly. Surprisingly quickly. Apparently "I like baseball" is particularly distinctive and unique of an aspect?
What we learned today was comparative adjectives, how to turn an adjective into "more" or "less" of something (e.g. big to bigger, small to smaller).
We compared ourselves to one another and to various celebrities as an exercise in this.
To wrap up the day, since there was apparently an abundance of both sleep deprivation and hyper wiggle-waggle energy in the class, we went outside and played frisbee for a good 15 minutes. This is where we learned another important lesson: we are all absolutely terrible at frisbee.
Mit Vergnügen
Our class began with the smell of roasting pig wafting all throughout the school, and it was amazing. That aside, we started with "Dinge die Junge an Mädchen lieben," an "advice" video from Mirellativegal and Michael Buchinger. The conclusion: be cheese. Always be cheese.
Then we ran through Meine Woche.
We reviewed the preferences and favorites that we did in previous weeks with a short activity, wherein each student described themselves by their likes and dislikes, and the others had to guess who it was referring to afterward. That went by very quickly. Surprisingly quickly. Apparently "I like baseball" is particularly distinctive and unique of an aspect?
What we learned today was comparative adjectives, how to turn an adjective into "more" or "less" of something (e.g. big to bigger, small to smaller).
We compared ourselves to one another and to various celebrities as an exercise in this.
To wrap up the day, since there was apparently an abundance of both sleep deprivation and hyper wiggle-waggle energy in the class, we went outside and played frisbee for a good 15 minutes. This is where we learned another important lesson: we are all absolutely terrible at frisbee.
Mit Vergnügen
Monday, September 24, 2018
22. September '18 - Hast du ihn gern?
Guten Abend!
This past Saturday was an interesting one.
We began as per usual, with an introduction into my week, "Meine Woche," with its accompanying question and answer session, followed by our listening comprehension exercise. This week it was "Das Letzte Streichholtz" by "Oomph!", a different take on the story of Cinderella.
We reviewed what we had learned last week about how to express preferences with haben and gern, lieber or am liebsten, and added the verbs "lieben" and "hassen" for their own slightly different, idiomatic meanings.
After practicing with this for a while, and after the break, we attempted an old classic game that I used to use with the lower grades, "Hast du mich gern?" The objective of which is to make your neighbor laugh by stating "Ich habe dich gern! Hast du mich gern?" and awaiting their answer. Non answers, failure to say "Nein," or laughing meant the askee lost, and the asker proceeded onward through the circle until someone managed to answer correctly without laughing.
It was chaotic. And fun.
We ended class with each student describing, in their own words and own unprompted opinions, what they thought Steve (the class pony) liked and disliked.
Mit Vergnügen~
This past Saturday was an interesting one.
We began as per usual, with an introduction into my week, "Meine Woche," with its accompanying question and answer session, followed by our listening comprehension exercise. This week it was "Das Letzte Streichholtz" by "Oomph!", a different take on the story of Cinderella.
We reviewed what we had learned last week about how to express preferences with haben and gern, lieber or am liebsten, and added the verbs "lieben" and "hassen" for their own slightly different, idiomatic meanings.
After practicing with this for a while, and after the break, we attempted an old classic game that I used to use with the lower grades, "Hast du mich gern?" The objective of which is to make your neighbor laugh by stating "Ich habe dich gern! Hast du mich gern?" and awaiting their answer. Non answers, failure to say "Nein," or laughing meant the askee lost, and the asker proceeded onward through the circle until someone managed to answer correctly without laughing.
It was chaotic. And fun.
We ended class with each student describing, in their own words and own unprompted opinions, what they thought Steve (the class pony) liked and disliked.
Mit Vergnügen~
Sunday, September 16, 2018
15. September '18 - Erster Schultag
Guten Abend!
The school year has begun. Please view this space weekly for updates on what we have gone over, as well as assignments, homework, and of course jokes about ponies.
The day opened with what is traditionally for the school year our first listening comprehension exercise, "Kochen Mit Kimberly," from my favorite German podcaster, Mirellativegal. We then went into a quick presentation whereupon I introduced myself to the class.
We then went over class expectations, the run of the room, and then started learning.
Our topic for the day was preferences. We talked about gern, lieber, and am liebsten, and how they are used (paired with "haben") to express like, preference, and favorite. This was then compared to "Lieblings" which can be affixed to a noun to make a favorite as well.
"Ich habe Snickers am liebsten" and "Snickers ist mein Lieblingscandy" being functionally the same, though the second one is category-specific.
We went around and did questionnaires with one another, asking about preferences and favorites, as practice.
After the break, we played kahoot over this topic, and also did some probing exercises to give me a better feel for the class' proficiency levels.
I don't assign homework if it can be avoided. Today was no exception.
That was our first week.
Mit Vergnügen!
The school year has begun. Please view this space weekly for updates on what we have gone over, as well as assignments, homework, and of course jokes about ponies.
The day opened with what is traditionally for the school year our first listening comprehension exercise, "Kochen Mit Kimberly," from my favorite German podcaster, Mirellativegal. We then went into a quick presentation whereupon I introduced myself to the class.
We then went over class expectations, the run of the room, and then started learning.
Our topic for the day was preferences. We talked about gern, lieber, and am liebsten, and how they are used (paired with "haben") to express like, preference, and favorite. This was then compared to "Lieblings" which can be affixed to a noun to make a favorite as well.
"Ich habe Snickers am liebsten" and "Snickers ist mein Lieblingscandy" being functionally the same, though the second one is category-specific.
We went around and did questionnaires with one another, asking about preferences and favorites, as practice.
After the break, we played kahoot over this topic, and also did some probing exercises to give me a better feel for the class' proficiency levels.
I don't assign homework if it can be avoided. Today was no exception.
That was our first week.
Mit Vergnügen!
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