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