For the first class of the new year, we had surprisingly (but understandably) sparse attendance. It was just the girls and I, so we made the most of it and spent the day working on something that required honing but would not cause the rest of the class to fall behind: pronunciation.
We went through a list of tongue twisters or Züngenbrecher that I have on hand, and went over the individual phonemes of German that make them as difficult as they are.
These are the usual problem sounds for growing speakers, such as ü, ö, ei and ie, z, ß and ä.
We also threw shiny objects at each other and played "popcorn" before making and reciting our own Züngenbrecher and making one as a class.
And that's a wrap! Fun and speaking were had by all.
Mit Vergnügen~
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Saturday, December 20, 2014
20.Dez '14 - Heut' wird's gebacken
We made cookies. Oh, the cookies we made! Probably at least 3 dozen.
It was to my surprise and elation that all the 7th graders in attendance were able to bake, do dishes, and clean up the kitchen with minimal help, creating nigh-perfect cookies and leaving no mess behind.
The day began with a note written on the classroom board, "Laßt eure Sachen hier und wir treffen uns in der Küche." What waited in the kitchen area was a table with a heavy-duty mixer, cookie sheets, my wife's mobile baking kit (spatulas, scales, cups, measuring spoons...) and a bunch of ingredients.
The kids divided up their labor: some read the recipe steps, some stirred dry ingredients or manned the mixer, divvied out the different chips into bowls, watched the oven and set timers, did dishes, swept the floors...
I'd brought a few different kinds of chips so they could choose what they wanted. We ended up having cookies with caramel-filled chocolate chips.
By the time it was done, we'd been eating fresh-out-of-the-oven cookies for over an hour and so felt generous (and full) enough to start giving them away to parent volunteers, teachers, and some fellow students who helped us clean.
We then had the play rehearsal and singing practice. I'm in the play as the Wirt (Innkeeper) if you're coming tomorrow, so be sure to cheer extremely loudly when I take the stage for all of 40 seconds.
Frohe Weihnachten, and see you in a few weeks.
Mit Vergnügen
It was to my surprise and elation that all the 7th graders in attendance were able to bake, do dishes, and clean up the kitchen with minimal help, creating nigh-perfect cookies and leaving no mess behind.
The day began with a note written on the classroom board, "Laßt eure Sachen hier und wir treffen uns in der Küche." What waited in the kitchen area was a table with a heavy-duty mixer, cookie sheets, my wife's mobile baking kit (spatulas, scales, cups, measuring spoons...) and a bunch of ingredients.
The kids divided up their labor: some read the recipe steps, some stirred dry ingredients or manned the mixer, divvied out the different chips into bowls, watched the oven and set timers, did dishes, swept the floors...
I'd brought a few different kinds of chips so they could choose what they wanted. We ended up having cookies with caramel-filled chocolate chips.
By the time it was done, we'd been eating fresh-out-of-the-oven cookies for over an hour and so felt generous (and full) enough to start giving them away to parent volunteers, teachers, and some fellow students who helped us clean.
We then had the play rehearsal and singing practice. I'm in the play as the Wirt (Innkeeper) if you're coming tomorrow, so be sure to cheer extremely loudly when I take the stage for all of 40 seconds.
Frohe Weihnachten, and see you in a few weeks.
Mit Vergnügen
Sunday, December 14, 2014
13.Dez '14 - Jeopardy
Saturday, we had our lovely little vocabulary quiz, for which plenty of advanced warning was given, and then we played Jeopardy to review everything we have covered this semester. That took pretty much all day.
We had teams Olga versus Bärbel; Bärbel won by a relatively slim margin of some 3000 points.
After lunch, we ended the day on a jovial note by playing basketball as a class.
Next week, we will have an hour of singing practice and practice for the Christmas play, so those who are participating in the play (including me! I'm the Innkeeper, believe it or not) will need to take part in this.
Mit Vergnügen
We had teams Olga versus Bärbel; Bärbel won by a relatively slim margin of some 3000 points.
After lunch, we ended the day on a jovial note by playing basketball as a class.
Next week, we will have an hour of singing practice and practice for the Christmas play, so those who are participating in the play (including me! I'm the Innkeeper, believe it or not) will need to take part in this.
Mit Vergnügen
Saturday, December 6, 2014
6.Dez. '14 - Krieg
Today, we went to war.
It all started out so calmly with the song "Mein Fahrrad" by Die Prinzen.
We then took inventory or our handouts to make sure that everyone had everything needed for end-of-semester quizzes in the next few weeks.
Then out came "Krieg im Altentum: ein gutes Spiel," the strategy fighting game I made myself because it's fun. In short, using the legionnaires and teutonic warriors we'd made and decorated in past weeks, along with a point system of defense and offense, hit points and saves, the class divided into two groups to pit the Teutons against the Romans. It's a lot like a mix of Pokemon and DnD, as regards mechanics, and was a fun use of the vocabulary we'll have a quiz over next week as well as regular verb and dative case usage.
By 1 point, the Teutons ended up winning after a very long, drawn-out battle with many upsets and sudden reversals.
The vocabulary quiz next week will be over these words (and they're also on the handouts "Eisenzeit Kleider" and "Waffen.")
It all started out so calmly with the song "Mein Fahrrad" by Die Prinzen.
We then took inventory or our handouts to make sure that everyone had everything needed for end-of-semester quizzes in the next few weeks.
Then out came "Krieg im Altentum: ein gutes Spiel," the strategy fighting game I made myself because it's fun. In short, using the legionnaires and teutonic warriors we'd made and decorated in past weeks, along with a point system of defense and offense, hit points and saves, the class divided into two groups to pit the Teutons against the Romans. It's a lot like a mix of Pokemon and DnD, as regards mechanics, and was a fun use of the vocabulary we'll have a quiz over next week as well as regular verb and dative case usage.
By 1 point, the Teutons ended up winning after a very long, drawn-out battle with many upsets and sudden reversals.
The vocabulary quiz next week will be over these words (and they're also on the handouts "Eisenzeit Kleider" and "Waffen.")
- Sword - der Schwert
- Spear - der Speer
- Shield - der Schild (note that Das Schild is a sign, and Der Schild is the defensive device)
- Dagger - der Dolch (makes me giggle every time I order Dulce de Leche)
- Helmet - der Helm
- Body Armor - die Körperpanzerung
- Pants - die Hose
- Cloak/coat - der Mantel
- Sandals - die Sandalen
- Boots - die Stiefel
- Catapult - die Schleuder
- Skirt - der Rock
And they will be asked to identify what the following are on a diagram of a Roman: toga, tunic, sash, laurels.
Viel Glück!
Saturday, November 22, 2014
22.Nov '14 - Call us Legion
Guten Abend,
We opened class today with a dance off that lasted for 17 hours, the winning couple having received a Volkswagen Jetta and an all-expense paid 3-day trip to Honolulu.
Actually we did a song, "99 Luftballoons" by Nena, as it was requested every other time I played a song for them, so we went ahead and did it.
We went over the modal verbs we've covered so far, "wollen" and "können," using a dialogue about Roman arsenals wherein the class discussed what ordinances or armor would be required for different tasks of their own making, and we added "dürfen" to the mix as well, going over the differences in usage between "können" and "dürfen" (can vs. may).
Before the break, we also filled out labelled diagrams of a typical Roman legionnaire from the 1st century AD.
After the break, we made our own legionnaires to hang up on the wall as well.
We spent some time cleaning up the classroom at the end, and then we called it a day.
Please remember there is no class next week due to Thanksgiving.
Mit Vergnügen!
We opened class today with a dance off that lasted for 17 hours, the winning couple having received a Volkswagen Jetta and an all-expense paid 3-day trip to Honolulu.
Actually we did a song, "99 Luftballoons" by Nena, as it was requested every other time I played a song for them, so we went ahead and did it.
We went over the modal verbs we've covered so far, "wollen" and "können," using a dialogue about Roman arsenals wherein the class discussed what ordinances or armor would be required for different tasks of their own making, and we added "dürfen" to the mix as well, going over the differences in usage between "können" and "dürfen" (can vs. may).
Before the break, we also filled out labelled diagrams of a typical Roman legionnaire from the 1st century AD.
After the break, we made our own legionnaires to hang up on the wall as well.
We spent some time cleaning up the classroom at the end, and then we called it a day.
Please remember there is no class next week due to Thanksgiving.
Mit Vergnügen!
Saturday, November 15, 2014
15.Nov '14 - No I don't speak Spanish
But I can fake it.
Today was a good day, and it began with the re-take of the vocabulary quiz, which was also the first-take for a couple of students. It went substantially better this time.
We went over the modal verb "Können" and had with it a competition I called "Kochenquatschen" which is basically where each group of students drew 3 food words out of a hat, and they had to come up with a feasible (not necessarily palatable) dish from the results, and run up and write "wir können _____ kochen!" with it. My favorite was when tomatoes, rice, and beer became Spanish Rice with beer sauce. That actually sounds really good. Of course, we also had "roast beef and grapes smoothie" which I'd prefer not to think about.
After lunch, we made Romans, dressed them, and hung them up on the wall to match our set of Teutons. In a future class, we will make legionnaires as well, culminating eventually in our own remake of the Battle of Teutoburg at the end of the year.
The homework is as follows:
Describe a typical Roman citizen (plebeian or patrician) including their appearance and what they are wearing. Include clothing vocabulary from the "Eisenzeit Kleider" handout as well as the proper dative prepositions (e.g. a hat goes "auf" the Kopf but a tunic goes "an" the body).
Mit Vergnügen
Today was a good day, and it began with the re-take of the vocabulary quiz, which was also the first-take for a couple of students. It went substantially better this time.
We went over the modal verb "Können" and had with it a competition I called "Kochenquatschen" which is basically where each group of students drew 3 food words out of a hat, and they had to come up with a feasible (not necessarily palatable) dish from the results, and run up and write "wir können _____ kochen!" with it. My favorite was when tomatoes, rice, and beer became Spanish Rice with beer sauce. That actually sounds really good. Of course, we also had "roast beef and grapes smoothie" which I'd prefer not to think about.
After lunch, we made Romans, dressed them, and hung them up on the wall to match our set of Teutons. In a future class, we will make legionnaires as well, culminating eventually in our own remake of the Battle of Teutoburg at the end of the year.
The homework is as follows:
Describe a typical Roman citizen (plebeian or patrician) including their appearance and what they are wearing. Include clothing vocabulary from the "Eisenzeit Kleider" handout as well as the proper dative prepositions (e.g. a hat goes "auf" the Kopf but a tunic goes "an" the body).
Mit Vergnügen
Saturday, November 8, 2014
8.November '14 - Kleider Machen Leute
If you get the reference in the name of this post, then your German professors must have had the same assigned reading list as mine.
Today started out like any other day Actually, we had a quiz. This quiz did not go as well as I'd hoped; so, since only half the class was in attendance today in any case, I'm allowing for a retake next week. Those present today were sent home with their corrected quiz to use as study material.
Those who were not present today, so for whom next week would be the first time taking the quiz, for the sake of fairness you will have the option of having a second go if you aren't satisfied with how well you do next Saturday.
With that done, we continued with our song of the day, which was "Sie erfasst mein Herz" by Elis--an old favorite.
Our biggest activities were filling out an anatomy chart, learning the vocabulary for the teile of the körper (head, shoulders, knees, toes, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, chest, neck, hair, teeth, fingers, toes). Right after, we had a short lecture and filled out a comparative handout over clothing in Iron Age Germany and Imperial Rome. Then we made our own ancient Germans, complete with clothing, and hung them on the wall. Later we will do the same with Roman legionnaires, as you can still see on display from last year's class.
Cleanup took a while (FEATHERS EVERYWHERE!) and there was also candy.
Remember that the retake of the vocab quiz is next week!
Mit Vergnügen~
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