Grüße!
Saturday was all manner of fun, as it was the 7th grade's day for taking the AATG exam. The primary purpose of this was to serve as a benchmark as well as to set the students' expectations for what they'll be seeing in 8th grade, that being when the exam will "count" for something.
Seemingly it went rather well.
Afterward, as a very welcome break, we had a historical talk with Frau Wiegert, who lead us through the Museum onsite and talked about all the various artifacts present and how they tied into the German lifestyle of years long-since past.
For further history, we also finished our Battle of Teutoburg Forest mural.
Next week I will not be present, but there will be an activity of great interest for the class to complete.
Mit Vergnügen
Sunday, April 15, 2018
Saturday, April 7, 2018
7.April '18 - Essay and a Test
Guten Tag,
Today was a bit different than planned. It turned out that only a couple of students did the presentation assignment over the various historical figures attached to the Battle of Teutoburg, so given the importance of this information, we took class time to make up for it. They were given a 1-page essay to complete over their assigned person.
This took a bit of time.
Afterward, we began our annual Teutoburgerschlacht mural, which we shall complete next week.
Next class, we have will be taking the Level 1 AATG Exam as a benchmark for next year. I recommend taking a practice test between now and then.
Mit Vergnügen~
Today was a bit different than planned. It turned out that only a couple of students did the presentation assignment over the various historical figures attached to the Battle of Teutoburg, so given the importance of this information, we took class time to make up for it. They were given a 1-page essay to complete over their assigned person.
This took a bit of time.
Afterward, we began our annual Teutoburgerschlacht mural, which we shall complete next week.
Next class, we have will be taking the Level 1 AATG Exam as a benchmark for next year. I recommend taking a practice test between now and then.
Mit Vergnügen~
Saturday, March 17, 2018
17. März '18 - Schlacht beginnt
Today began like any other day. We had German school until school was over.
After doing Meine Woche, we went over a song from the German dub of My Little Pony, "der Perfekte Hengst" (the perfect stallion).
Our lesson today revolved around the Battle of Teutoburg forest. We read popcorn-style as a class through a packet I put together, discussing the background, events, and historical consequences of this key event in German history. This tied together our previous lessons on the comparative military tactics, beliefs, and lifestyles of the Germanic tribes and of the Roman Empire.
This segued into our project, due next class period April 7th. Each student is assigned a historical figure, pivotal in the events at Teutoburg, to make a slide presentation over. This must be complete and ready to show next class.
Mit Vergnügen~
After doing Meine Woche, we went over a song from the German dub of My Little Pony, "der Perfekte Hengst" (the perfect stallion).
Our lesson today revolved around the Battle of Teutoburg forest. We read popcorn-style as a class through a packet I put together, discussing the background, events, and historical consequences of this key event in German history. This tied together our previous lessons on the comparative military tactics, beliefs, and lifestyles of the Germanic tribes and of the Roman Empire.
This segued into our project, due next class period April 7th. Each student is assigned a historical figure, pivotal in the events at Teutoburg, to make a slide presentation over. This must be complete and ready to show next class.
Mit Vergnügen~
Sunday, March 11, 2018
11. März '18 - Krieg schon ausgebrochen
Today we felt the ravages of war.
We began with a song, "Amerika" by Rammstein, which lead to a discussion about cultural diffusion, the perfect segue back into our unit on Imperial Rome and Ancient Germania.
We continued with a look at ancient warfare. We covered comparative battle strategies, equipment, and fighting styles. I'll admit, this is my favorite thing to talk about.
Afterward, we played a game of my own invention, "Eisenzeit Krieg: ein GUTES SPIEL!" Kids always get really into this one, so it was a good time. In short, with a series of dice rolls determining hit/miss, and pre-determined stats per unit, Germanic warriors and legionnaires face off in a battle royale. In the end, there were 2 Germanic victories to 3 Roman. To put that in perspective, the 1st century AD record was 24 Roman to 4 Germanic, so this was actually not too terribly far from the reality of things (total of 87 recorded battles from 1st century AD to 6th century).
The battle game also reinforces use of direct/indirect objects, as well as modal verbs and the future tense ((I left the construction of the battle statements ("Ich werde ihn mit dem Schild schlagen," "ich will den Speer an ihn werfen," etc.) up to the combatants)).
This unit will culminate with our study on the Battle of Teutoburgerwald, as well as the Fall of Rome, and if we have time, a play.
Mit Vergnügen~
We began with a song, "Amerika" by Rammstein, which lead to a discussion about cultural diffusion, the perfect segue back into our unit on Imperial Rome and Ancient Germania.
We continued with a look at ancient warfare. We covered comparative battle strategies, equipment, and fighting styles. I'll admit, this is my favorite thing to talk about.
Afterward, we played a game of my own invention, "Eisenzeit Krieg: ein GUTES SPIEL!" Kids always get really into this one, so it was a good time. In short, with a series of dice rolls determining hit/miss, and pre-determined stats per unit, Germanic warriors and legionnaires face off in a battle royale. In the end, there were 2 Germanic victories to 3 Roman. To put that in perspective, the 1st century AD record was 24 Roman to 4 Germanic, so this was actually not too terribly far from the reality of things (total of 87 recorded battles from 1st century AD to 6th century).
The battle game also reinforces use of direct/indirect objects, as well as modal verbs and the future tense ((I left the construction of the battle statements ("Ich werde ihn mit dem Schild schlagen," "ich will den Speer an ihn werfen," etc.) up to the combatants)).
This unit will culminate with our study on the Battle of Teutoburgerwald, as well as the Fall of Rome, and if we have time, a play.
Mit Vergnügen~
Saturday, March 3, 2018
3.März '18 - Krieg bricht bald aus
Guten Tag!
Today we began with a video, "Dinge, die Jungs an Mädchen lieben" a work of satire by Mirellativegal and Michael Büchinger (the answer was: 'be cheese').
We went from there into a vocabulary lesson over weaponry, armor, and basic anatomy. We used this newfound knowledge to make our own either legionnaires or germanic warriors, whose appearance we then described using dative prepositions (e.g. "Er hat die Rüstung auf der Brust und den Helm auf dem Kopf").
We then did a deeper dive into the dative case and talked about both direct and indirect objects (the former using accusative, latter using dative) and how these fit into different roles in a sentence.
Class ended with us playing our boardgames from the last week, the finished fruits of our labor.
Next week we will begin talking about the comparative military strategies of Iron Age Rome and the ancient Teutonic tribes... on the road to Teutoburg.
Mit Vergnügen~
Today we began with a video, "Dinge, die Jungs an Mädchen lieben" a work of satire by Mirellativegal and Michael Büchinger (the answer was: 'be cheese').
We went from there into a vocabulary lesson over weaponry, armor, and basic anatomy. We used this newfound knowledge to make our own either legionnaires or germanic warriors, whose appearance we then described using dative prepositions (e.g. "Er hat die Rüstung auf der Brust und den Helm auf dem Kopf").
We then did a deeper dive into the dative case and talked about both direct and indirect objects (the former using accusative, latter using dative) and how these fit into different roles in a sentence.
Class ended with us playing our boardgames from the last week, the finished fruits of our labor.
Next week we will begin talking about the comparative military strategies of Iron Age Rome and the ancient Teutonic tribes... on the road to Teutoburg.
Mit Vergnügen~
Saturday, February 24, 2018
24.Februar - Board Games to Oblivion
There are some times when the imagination of a child is a wondrous thing. There are other times when it is perplexing and even startling. Today was one such time, as we spent the class period inventing our own board games.
These games ran the gamut from playing with numbers, to gathering money, to avoiding elaborate death traps and a grisly demise. They were truly noteworthy, and honestly in some cases, if they were to hit the market, I'd buy a copy.
The games were written entirely in German (naturally), using recently-acquired grammatical skills. The class paired with the 8th graders to complete this project, working in trios to completion.
Later on, we shall play the finished products.
Mit Vergnügen.
These games ran the gamut from playing with numbers, to gathering money, to avoiding elaborate death traps and a grisly demise. They were truly noteworthy, and honestly in some cases, if they were to hit the market, I'd buy a copy.
The games were written entirely in German (naturally), using recently-acquired grammatical skills. The class paired with the 8th graders to complete this project, working in trios to completion.
Later on, we shall play the finished products.
Mit Vergnügen.
Saturday, February 17, 2018
17. Februar '18 - Einhörnerjagd
Today we hunted unicorns.
It started off like any other day: we listened to a bunch of hilarious riddles and did our best to solve them, and then did several student "Meine Nächste Woche" presentations.
As a review of the dative case (when used in prepositional phrases), we had a scavenger hunt; specifically, the class had to track down 10 little plastic unicorns that I had hidden throughout the school, using only the riddles I gave them as their guides. Once found, they confirmed the location with me, wrote down their finishing time, and had to write out exactly where they were (e.g. "Das Einhorn war in dem Kühlschrank.").
Afterward, we had a quiz over the dative case.
Next week we will do a combined activity with the 8th grade class.
MitVergnügen~
It started off like any other day: we listened to a bunch of hilarious riddles and did our best to solve them, and then did several student "Meine Nächste Woche" presentations.
As a review of the dative case (when used in prepositional phrases), we had a scavenger hunt; specifically, the class had to track down 10 little plastic unicorns that I had hidden throughout the school, using only the riddles I gave them as their guides. Once found, they confirmed the location with me, wrote down their finishing time, and had to write out exactly where they were (e.g. "Das Einhorn war in dem Kühlschrank.").
Afterward, we had a quiz over the dative case.
Next week we will do a combined activity with the 8th grade class.
MitVergnügen~
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