Guten Tag!
Today we began with a student presentation of "Meine Nächste Woche" and continued with a classic song, "Millionär" from Die Prinzen.
Our lesson and main activity was around the modal verbs again. We reviewed the pairings from the previous week, those being Können and Dürfen, Möchten and Wollen, and then plunged into new territory with Sollen and Müssen.
As an activity, we did some examples wherein the kids decided whether Sollen or Müssen was the more appropriate choice, and then as we have done every year, we made our own "10 Gebote" for the classroom. Each student made 10 gebote of their own, picked their top 4, and then we voted on a total of 10 for the classroom. These are now our official 'class commandments.'
I think my favorite was, "Du sollst nicht das Universum explodieren." That is definitely good advice.
We played a kahoot reviewing the modal verbs bisher, and then called it a day.
Student presentations of "Meine Nächste Woche" shall continue for the next three weeks. Each student knows precisely when they are expected to present.
Mit Vergnügen~
Saturday, February 3, 2018
Sunday, January 28, 2018
27. Januar '18 - Being Polite
Guten Tag everyone!
This Saturday we began by finishing out the student-lead "Meine Woche" presentations and preparing to begin next week with the latest installment, finishing out our unit on the future tense: "Meine Nächste Woche."
Our song for the day was "Prokrastination" by Mirellativegal, which was hilarious and well-received.
We began our unit on modal verbs, starting with "Wollen" and "Möchten" in the context of how to politely and idiomatically correctly make requests. This lead to much hilarity when the students were tasked with roleplaying out the rules they learned, demonstrating politeness and prolific rudeness as they saw fit.
Generally speaking, when used to make a request, "Wollen" (want) is considered impolite. When simply expressing desire, such as "oooh I want that," it's fine, but barking "I WANT!" is childish, whereas a polite and cultured individual makes requests with "Möchten" (would like).
This went far quicker than I'd imagined it would, so we were able to move onto the second set of modal verbs, "Können" (can) and "Dürfen" (may). The rules of usage for these are quite similar to English: use "may" when asking for permission, since "can" is stating that one is indeed physically capable of doing something.
And that was the day!
Mit Vergnügen.
This Saturday we began by finishing out the student-lead "Meine Woche" presentations and preparing to begin next week with the latest installment, finishing out our unit on the future tense: "Meine Nächste Woche."
Our song for the day was "Prokrastination" by Mirellativegal, which was hilarious and well-received.
We began our unit on modal verbs, starting with "Wollen" and "Möchten" in the context of how to politely and idiomatically correctly make requests. This lead to much hilarity when the students were tasked with roleplaying out the rules they learned, demonstrating politeness and prolific rudeness as they saw fit.
Generally speaking, when used to make a request, "Wollen" (want) is considered impolite. When simply expressing desire, such as "oooh I want that," it's fine, but barking "I WANT!" is childish, whereas a polite and cultured individual makes requests with "Möchten" (would like).
This went far quicker than I'd imagined it would, so we were able to move onto the second set of modal verbs, "Können" (can) and "Dürfen" (may). The rules of usage for these are quite similar to English: use "may" when asking for permission, since "can" is stating that one is indeed physically capable of doing something.
And that was the day!
Mit Vergnügen.
Sunday, January 21, 2018
20. Januar '18 - Karneval
Howdy howdy howdy,
Our Saturday was an interesting one, as always. We began our day with a pair of students doing "Meine Woche," and as always their PowerPoint skills put mine to shame because life is just unfair like that.
We went through our listening comprehension exercise, this week being "der Pony Pokey" from the German dubbed season 1 of My Little Pony.
The bulk of our time we spent doing a still deeper dive into the Future tense, its mechanics, meaning, and usage. As an exercise, we did what I call "The Hat of Prophecy," which is where we each wrote down several potential actions (e.g. "Pasta essen" or "König sein") on little bits of paper, drew out several, and had to match them with time statements, such as "in 100 Jahre..."
This ended up with such predictions for our individual futures as, "Ich werde in 20 Jahre ein Haus essen."
After lunch, we spent a good bit of time listening to our guest speakers, the Prinz and Prinzessin from the Rheinischer Verein, teaching the school all about Fasching.
Report cards were also handed out today, to the joy of everyone.
Mit Vergnügen.
Our Saturday was an interesting one, as always. We began our day with a pair of students doing "Meine Woche," and as always their PowerPoint skills put mine to shame because life is just unfair like that.
We went through our listening comprehension exercise, this week being "der Pony Pokey" from the German dubbed season 1 of My Little Pony.
The bulk of our time we spent doing a still deeper dive into the Future tense, its mechanics, meaning, and usage. As an exercise, we did what I call "The Hat of Prophecy," which is where we each wrote down several potential actions (e.g. "Pasta essen" or "König sein") on little bits of paper, drew out several, and had to match them with time statements, such as "in 100 Jahre..."
This ended up with such predictions for our individual futures as, "Ich werde in 20 Jahre ein Haus essen."
After lunch, we spent a good bit of time listening to our guest speakers, the Prinz and Prinzessin from the Rheinischer Verein, teaching the school all about Fasching.
Report cards were also handed out today, to the joy of everyone.
Mit Vergnügen.
Saturday, January 13, 2018
13.Jan '18 - Opfergaben
Guten Abend,
Today began slowly. For the first half hour it seemed we would only have 2 students in attendance, which made me sad. Then suddenly the class doubled in size, and all was well.
We had two "Meine Woche" presentations, and had "Ich hab 'nen Traum" ('I've Got a Dream' from 'Tangled') as our listening comprehension exercise.
Once we were settled in, as refresher as well as a necessary exercise, we went through some of the fundamentals of pronunciation, focusing on common errors I've been noticing during presentations. To do so, we went through the perennial classic... Züngenbrecher. We upped the ante a bit and added projectiles to it, because of course we did.
We finished out the lesson over comparative iron age religion, this time covering the Germanic end of things, including how we still see remnants of these myths even to this day, e.g. in the days of the week (Thor's Day Thursday, Odin's Day Wednesday, Tyr's Day Tuesday, Frigg's Day Friday), pop culture (the Marvel movies, for instance) and our own modern day myths (Santa is Odin).
We then began our lesson on the future tense, diving into its usage, the verb Werden, and how the lessons we learned with the past tense (e.g. word order/syntax) still apply here with this tense as well.
Next week onward, we will continue to have "Meine Woche" presentations from the students, so those who were informed that they are coming next will need to be prepared.
Mit Vergnügen.
Today began slowly. For the first half hour it seemed we would only have 2 students in attendance, which made me sad. Then suddenly the class doubled in size, and all was well.
We had two "Meine Woche" presentations, and had "Ich hab 'nen Traum" ('I've Got a Dream' from 'Tangled') as our listening comprehension exercise.
Once we were settled in, as refresher as well as a necessary exercise, we went through some of the fundamentals of pronunciation, focusing on common errors I've been noticing during presentations. To do so, we went through the perennial classic... Züngenbrecher. We upped the ante a bit and added projectiles to it, because of course we did.
We finished out the lesson over comparative iron age religion, this time covering the Germanic end of things, including how we still see remnants of these myths even to this day, e.g. in the days of the week (Thor's Day Thursday, Odin's Day Wednesday, Tyr's Day Tuesday, Frigg's Day Friday), pop culture (the Marvel movies, for instance) and our own modern day myths (Santa is Odin).
We then began our lesson on the future tense, diving into its usage, the verb Werden, and how the lessons we learned with the past tense (e.g. word order/syntax) still apply here with this tense as well.
Next week onward, we will continue to have "Meine Woche" presentations from the students, so those who were informed that they are coming next will need to be prepared.
Mit Vergnügen.
Sunday, January 7, 2018
6. Januar '18 - Wir sind wieder da!
And the new year begins, fresh with absolutely frigid temperatures and bitter, biting winds!
Despite the unpleasantness of the winter, we had a lovely class as normal, although attendance was rather sparse (4 students).
We went over Meine Feiertage, an extended version of Meine Woche that spanned the events of the holidays, watched a lovely video from Mirrellativegal known as "How to mildly annoy your cats," and continued our look of the comparative cultures of Imperial Rome and Iron Age Germania.
This time, we covered the religion and customs of Rome, to be continued with those of Germania next class period. This is also the lesson when we get rather academic at times, bringing us into such topics as syncretism and linguistic drift.
After a brief post-holiday refresher on the Perfect ("spoken past") tense, I presented their new assignment: Deine Woche. For the next few weeks, students will be presenting their weeks as opposed to simply listening to mine. Those present today have been given their assignment dates, and the rest I shall assign when next they are present in class.
Earlier I produced a handout over the Perfect that has been given to all who were present over the last month. If this has been lost or misplaced, I will be happy to supply another one.
Here is how Deine Woche works:
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mit Vergnügen.
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mit Vergnügen.
Saturday, December 16, 2017
16. Dez. '17 - DER KRAMPUS KOMMT
Guten Abend,
Today the Krampus came to carry us all away. Specifically, actually I was the only one to get carried off, come to think of it.
It began like any other day... we did Meine Woche, and then came the lesson over Krampus. We discussed who the Krampus is and how he differs from and intersects with Saint Nikolaus. Then, in lieu of the traditional and somewhat cliched, "Write Letters to Santa for Presents," we wrote letters to Krampus asking him to please not come and carry us away, because even though we're naughty there are other people in the class who are so much naughtier.
We had to pause for a while to practice the Weihnachtsprogramm, but after that and after lunch, we did a little planned exchange with the 8th graders.
The 8th grade had written letters to St. Nick to persuade him why they were the nicest in their class. We listened to them and then held a vote. Those who lost were carried way by Krampus, played by a student from our own 7th grade class.
We then read our letters about why, ok, we were naughty, but definitely not not the naughtiest, and then the one who was judged to be naughtiest (turned out to be me) got carried away by Krampus.
We wrapped up with "Schnappi das kleine Krokodil," a selection from a student, and then prepared for the Weihnachtsprogramm.
See you in January!
Today the Krampus came to carry us all away. Specifically, actually I was the only one to get carried off, come to think of it.
It began like any other day... we did Meine Woche, and then came the lesson over Krampus. We discussed who the Krampus is and how he differs from and intersects with Saint Nikolaus. Then, in lieu of the traditional and somewhat cliched, "Write Letters to Santa for Presents," we wrote letters to Krampus asking him to please not come and carry us away, because even though we're naughty there are other people in the class who are so much naughtier.
We had to pause for a while to practice the Weihnachtsprogramm, but after that and after lunch, we did a little planned exchange with the 8th graders.
The 8th grade had written letters to St. Nick to persuade him why they were the nicest in their class. We listened to them and then held a vote. Those who lost were carried way by Krampus, played by a student from our own 7th grade class.
We then read our letters about why, ok, we were naughty, but definitely not not the naughtiest, and then the one who was judged to be naughtiest (turned out to be me) got carried away by Krampus.
We wrapped up with "Schnappi das kleine Krokodil," a selection from a student, and then prepared for the Weihnachtsprogramm.
See you in January!
Saturday, December 2, 2017
2. Dezember '17 - die Eisenzeit beginnt
Grüße alle!
This week we began our presentations over the iron age germanic tribes, kicking off with the Vandals and the Visigoths, two of my personal favorites. We then (finally) transitioned into our comparative cultural-historical unit over Ancient Germania and the Roman Empire. It took a bit, but we managed to grasp precisely why we, in a German school, care about Imperial Rome: all we know about the ancient Germans is what the Romans wrote down, accounts written by Romans about their encounters with said ancient tribes, and understanding the perspectives of primary source givers is essential when using said primary sources.
Frankly I was just proud that 7th graders were able to have even a rudimentary grasp of hermeneutics and use phrases like "primary source."
So we began, and I daresay for years to come they shall remember the fact that Roman public toilets had an unfortunate habit of catching on fire and/or exploding, and that while Imperial Romans probably smelled far better than ancient Germans, that the latter wouldn't be catching any plagues from tainted aquaducts or bath houses.We covered "alltagsleben" or everyday life in both the Empire and Germania today, and next we shall cover comparative religion in the Iron Age, followed by warfare.
We also began using the student-provided videos for listening comprehension exercises. We did "Lass jetzt los," also known as "Let it Go" from Frozen. I will continue vetting the student contributions and playing the ones that are viable and appropriate.
Next week I, unfortunately, have to answer the call of duty for my day job and will be off doing everything but having fun in another state. Frau Bodigor will continue our unit on the past tense, and next week a few more students (who have been informed of this ) will present their tribes.
Mit Vergnügen.
This week we began our presentations over the iron age germanic tribes, kicking off with the Vandals and the Visigoths, two of my personal favorites. We then (finally) transitioned into our comparative cultural-historical unit over Ancient Germania and the Roman Empire. It took a bit, but we managed to grasp precisely why we, in a German school, care about Imperial Rome: all we know about the ancient Germans is what the Romans wrote down, accounts written by Romans about their encounters with said ancient tribes, and understanding the perspectives of primary source givers is essential when using said primary sources.
Frankly I was just proud that 7th graders were able to have even a rudimentary grasp of hermeneutics and use phrases like "primary source."
So we began, and I daresay for years to come they shall remember the fact that Roman public toilets had an unfortunate habit of catching on fire and/or exploding, and that while Imperial Romans probably smelled far better than ancient Germans, that the latter wouldn't be catching any plagues from tainted aquaducts or bath houses.We covered "alltagsleben" or everyday life in both the Empire and Germania today, and next we shall cover comparative religion in the Iron Age, followed by warfare.
We also began using the student-provided videos for listening comprehension exercises. We did "Lass jetzt los," also known as "Let it Go" from Frozen. I will continue vetting the student contributions and playing the ones that are viable and appropriate.
Next week I, unfortunately, have to answer the call of duty for my day job and will be off doing everything but having fun in another state. Frau Bodigor will continue our unit on the past tense, and next week a few more students (who have been informed of this ) will present their tribes.
Mit Vergnügen.
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