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
Sunday, February 17, 2019
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
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