Guten Tag,
We began Saturday more or less with Meine Woche, then followed that up by going through a list of Züngenbrecher, what we'd call in English tongue twisters.
Our focus for the day was beginning our social-historical unit over Iron Age Germany. We do so through the lens of the Roman Empire, which is the only real source of historical data (aside from artifacts) that we have about Germany during this time period.
As there is no such thing as a fully unbiased or objective source, we include a study of Rome itself in this unit to help us better understand both the perspective of those who did the recording of ancient Germany's history, and to clarify the controversies and complexities of Rome and Germany's interactions.
It is one thing to say, for instance, that Rome was a hostile invader (from Germany's perspective) or that the Germanic tribes were "barbarians" (from Rome's perspective); it's quite another to understand why they thought that way, and what the variances of opinion were in both groups.
This unit will continue on and off throughout the year, culminating with our annual reenactment of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest.
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Saturday, November 3, 2018
3. November '18 - Noch was neues
Guten Tag!
We had another new addition to our class today. Finally! We are no longer just a rowdy gaggle of boys!
We began with Meine Woche as always, and our listening comprehension was "Millionär" by Die Prinzen.
Our lesson was an introduction to modal verbs, beginning with Wollen and Möchten. We discussed their exact meaning (want, would like) and how idiomatically they express varying degrees of politeness when used to make requests. "Would like" is considered proper whereas just blurting out that one "wants" something is considered childish and even rude.
Accompanying this we had an overall lesson over German syntax, using an acronym I came up with called "SHI/P" (Subject, Helper, Infinitive/Participle).
Our main activity was producing our own little dialogues in pairs; one student in each pair was a bratty child, the other the parent trying to instill some manners and decorum into the kid.
The comparative/superlative quizzes were also handed back.
Mit Vergnügen~
We had another new addition to our class today. Finally! We are no longer just a rowdy gaggle of boys!
We began with Meine Woche as always, and our listening comprehension was "Millionär" by Die Prinzen.
Our lesson was an introduction to modal verbs, beginning with Wollen and Möchten. We discussed their exact meaning (want, would like) and how idiomatically they express varying degrees of politeness when used to make requests. "Would like" is considered proper whereas just blurting out that one "wants" something is considered childish and even rude.
Accompanying this we had an overall lesson over German syntax, using an acronym I came up with called "SHI/P" (Subject, Helper, Infinitive/Participle).
Our main activity was producing our own little dialogues in pairs; one student in each pair was a bratty child, the other the parent trying to instill some manners and decorum into the kid.
The comparative/superlative quizzes were also handed back.
Mit Vergnügen~
Sunday, October 28, 2018
27. Oktober '18 - Etwas Neues
Guten Tag!
This Saturday was interesting. We had a new student come into the class today, and I hear tell that we will have another one coming.
We began the day with Meine Woche as usual, and went into one of my favorite songs, "Ich habe 'nen Traum" (I've Got a Dream, from Tangled).
After this, we had the Halloween Umzug which was, as usual, adorable.
The majority of our day was spent finishing out das Prinzessin Spiel. In pairs and one solo act, we made posters and campaign speeches, then went from class to class trying to win votes for who is the best pony princess of Equestria.
Surprisingly, greatly surprisingly, the winner was Princess of the Sun, Celestia. She never wins. It seems those boys were the most persuasive in their speeches.
Next week shall see a new grammar unit as well as the beginning of our historical-cultural studies.
Mit Vergnügen~
This Saturday was interesting. We had a new student come into the class today, and I hear tell that we will have another one coming.
We began the day with Meine Woche as usual, and went into one of my favorite songs, "Ich habe 'nen Traum" (I've Got a Dream, from Tangled).
After this, we had the Halloween Umzug which was, as usual, adorable.
The majority of our day was spent finishing out das Prinzessin Spiel. In pairs and one solo act, we made posters and campaign speeches, then went from class to class trying to win votes for who is the best pony princess of Equestria.
Surprisingly, greatly surprisingly, the winner was Princess of the Sun, Celestia. She never wins. It seems those boys were the most persuasive in their speeches.
Next week shall see a new grammar unit as well as the beginning of our historical-cultural studies.
Mit Vergnügen~
Saturday, October 20, 2018
20.Oktober ' 18 - Prinzessinnen und Fußball
Guten Tag!
Today began like any other day, at approximately 10:30.
We opened with Meine Woche, the highlights of this past week, and then we listened to a perennial classic, "Schnappi das kleine Krokodil." I'm proud to say we sang along, or rather, screamed along with the chorus. I'm fairly certain we were heard as far away as O'Hare.
Then came the surprise! A pop quiz over comparative adjectives. This was open-notes because I cannot emphasize enough the importance of not only taking notes, but taking good ones. This skill transfers throughout academia and, frankly, even into the business world. I will always reward good note taking.
This went fairly well. The errors were fairly minor, and had more to do with the overall grasp of syntax than with what we were actually testing over. Interestingly, forgetting to put a verb (any verb) into a sentence is a common one.
After the break, we went into a presentation that will tie into an activity next week, "Das Prinzessinspiel." Basically we learned all about the four Alicorn Princesses of Equestria (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) and their glorious magical powers. Next week we will hold a campaign and election to decide on who is the best princess of them all. This will end our unit on superlatives.
We ended the class with a game of soccer outside, where I learned that 10 minutes playing against a bunch of 11 and 12 year old boys is exhausting.
Mit Vergnügen
Today began like any other day, at approximately 10:30.
We opened with Meine Woche, the highlights of this past week, and then we listened to a perennial classic, "Schnappi das kleine Krokodil." I'm proud to say we sang along, or rather, screamed along with the chorus. I'm fairly certain we were heard as far away as O'Hare.
Then came the surprise! A pop quiz over comparative adjectives. This was open-notes because I cannot emphasize enough the importance of not only taking notes, but taking good ones. This skill transfers throughout academia and, frankly, even into the business world. I will always reward good note taking.
This went fairly well. The errors were fairly minor, and had more to do with the overall grasp of syntax than with what we were actually testing over. Interestingly, forgetting to put a verb (any verb) into a sentence is a common one.
After the break, we went into a presentation that will tie into an activity next week, "Das Prinzessinspiel." Basically we learned all about the four Alicorn Princesses of Equestria (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) and their glorious magical powers. Next week we will hold a campaign and election to decide on who is the best princess of them all. This will end our unit on superlatives.
We ended the class with a game of soccer outside, where I learned that 10 minutes playing against a bunch of 11 and 12 year old boys is exhausting.
Mit Vergnügen
Saturday, October 13, 2018
13. Okt '18 - Raum und Zeit
Guten Tag!
Today we started off late as most students didn't arrive until nearly 10:30. Then we went into "Meine Woche," as always and did our song of the day "Der Käse Song" by Michael Buchinger, an Austrian youtuber.
We quickly reviewed how to form superlative adjectives, did a Kahoot competition over this for possession of the various fun objects I have around the room (swords, helmets, etc) and then went into our project. This was "Deutsches Sprachraum 2," wherein they researched such questions as which German speaking country is the largest, most populated, richest, etc to practice formulating sentences with superlative statements.
Then we had a fire drill.
We had one more competition to see who would have possession of their choice of objects next class as well.
Mit Vergnügen
Today we started off late as most students didn't arrive until nearly 10:30. Then we went into "Meine Woche," as always and did our song of the day "Der Käse Song" by Michael Buchinger, an Austrian youtuber.
We quickly reviewed how to form superlative adjectives, did a Kahoot competition over this for possession of the various fun objects I have around the room (swords, helmets, etc) and then went into our project. This was "Deutsches Sprachraum 2," wherein they researched such questions as which German speaking country is the largest, most populated, richest, etc to practice formulating sentences with superlative statements.
Then we had a fire drill.
We had one more competition to see who would have possession of their choice of objects next class as well.
Mit Vergnügen
Saturday, October 6, 2018
6.Oktober '18 - Kein Vampir
Guten Tag!
Today we began with Meine Woche, whereupon I regaled the class with such lovely details as "I decorated my house for Halloween" and we went off on tangents only mildly related to the topic at hand.
Our listening for the day was "Kein Vampir bleibt mehr hier" from My Little Pony, the German version of the famous "Stop the Bats" song.
We reviewed comparative adjectives, and added superlative adjectives to the mix as well. We played two different Kahoots over this, and then completed with an exercise I call "Deutsches Sprachraum," wherein using their devices to do research, the children compared two different German-speaking countries of their choice with a preset group of questions.
Those who did not finish have to complete this for homework--it's very simple research.
Mit Vergnügen
Today we began with Meine Woche, whereupon I regaled the class with such lovely details as "I decorated my house for Halloween" and we went off on tangents only mildly related to the topic at hand.
Our listening for the day was "Kein Vampir bleibt mehr hier" from My Little Pony, the German version of the famous "Stop the Bats" song.
We reviewed comparative adjectives, and added superlative adjectives to the mix as well. We played two different Kahoots over this, and then completed with an exercise I call "Deutsches Sprachraum," wherein using their devices to do research, the children compared two different German-speaking countries of their choice with a preset group of questions.
Those who did not finish have to complete this for homework--it's very simple research.
Mit Vergnügen
Sunday, September 30, 2018
29. September '18 - Of Presidents and Poodles
Guten Tag alle!
Our class began with the smell of roasting pig wafting all throughout the school, and it was amazing. That aside, we started with "Dinge die Junge an Mädchen lieben," an "advice" video from Mirellativegal and Michael Buchinger. The conclusion: be cheese. Always be cheese.
Then we ran through Meine Woche.
We reviewed the preferences and favorites that we did in previous weeks with a short activity, wherein each student described themselves by their likes and dislikes, and the others had to guess who it was referring to afterward. That went by very quickly. Surprisingly quickly. Apparently "I like baseball" is particularly distinctive and unique of an aspect?
What we learned today was comparative adjectives, how to turn an adjective into "more" or "less" of something (e.g. big to bigger, small to smaller).
We compared ourselves to one another and to various celebrities as an exercise in this.
To wrap up the day, since there was apparently an abundance of both sleep deprivation and hyper wiggle-waggle energy in the class, we went outside and played frisbee for a good 15 minutes. This is where we learned another important lesson: we are all absolutely terrible at frisbee.
Mit Vergnügen
Our class began with the smell of roasting pig wafting all throughout the school, and it was amazing. That aside, we started with "Dinge die Junge an Mädchen lieben," an "advice" video from Mirellativegal and Michael Buchinger. The conclusion: be cheese. Always be cheese.
Then we ran through Meine Woche.
We reviewed the preferences and favorites that we did in previous weeks with a short activity, wherein each student described themselves by their likes and dislikes, and the others had to guess who it was referring to afterward. That went by very quickly. Surprisingly quickly. Apparently "I like baseball" is particularly distinctive and unique of an aspect?
What we learned today was comparative adjectives, how to turn an adjective into "more" or "less" of something (e.g. big to bigger, small to smaller).
We compared ourselves to one another and to various celebrities as an exercise in this.
To wrap up the day, since there was apparently an abundance of both sleep deprivation and hyper wiggle-waggle energy in the class, we went outside and played frisbee for a good 15 minutes. This is where we learned another important lesson: we are all absolutely terrible at frisbee.
Mit Vergnügen
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