Journey to Germany- Class activities
Vocabulary exercises
- Discuss unfamiliar vocabulary; collecting vocabulary words from what they have understood
- Write a list of items that you would take to Germany
- Write a list of the ten most important phrases to use in Germany
- Write down new vocabulary and suggest, why the sister points these words out
- Discuss the vocabulary of a Kulturbeutel- Haargeletc
- Discuss the vocabulary of illnesses- Grippe, Erkältungetc
- Different clothing for different weather conditions
- Christmas markets- what do you do, wear, eat, drink; weather; activities
- Vocabulary dodgeball- write one word from film on ball, scrunch up and throw at partner and if they don’t know they are out
- Let the students tick off words on a sheet as they hear them
- Clothing vocabulary- in a clothing store
- German celebrations
- Comparing the seasons in Germany, Australia
- Kein/ein articles
Cultural understanding
- Similarities/differences; what stood out to you; what other cultural differences do you know of?
- Christmas markets
- Winter time- differences between the countries in the seasons & activities in these seasons. Landscape differences
- What would you tell a student from your own cultural background who wants to go on an exchange to Germany? What would that student need to know?
- Have students suggest areas where they can foresee Liam having difficulties and see if they actually do crop up in later episodes
- Let students play situations
- Associogramme- Liam and his new home
- Discuss the clothing/ hair styles
- Discussing language awareness
- GeschenkeausAustralien
- Trachten, German food
- German schooling
- Teens in Germany- smoking/drinking, going out, importance of education
- What are the top 10 things you would need/want to know about if you were going to Germany on exchange?
- Where would you like to visit on see in Germany
- Link differences/ similarities between primary/high school in Australia-Germany
Concrete activities
- What does Liam need to pack (IchpackemeinenKoffer)- Students mention those seen in the clip and more. Why does he need these items? What would you advise a German student to pack for their exchange in Australia?
- What should Liam say to his family- write an introduction
- Write down what they would do with a potential exchange partner from Germany, what places to show them
- Research exercise on German Christmas markets
- As we watch this throughout the term, students identify and track Liam’s confidence and competence in his German ability after each episode. Each student has their own identical tracking chart/graph and maps their own confidence and competence in the content and/or skills (teacher’s choice of criteria) for the current unit (even if not related to what Liam is learning about). Liam is going to progress as the “average student”, so students should feel comfortable comparing themselves to him instead of “the standard”.
- Let students rewrite or speak Liam’s intro to make it relevant- what would they say?
- Alterna-text: Have a paddle that they hold up with the right word that fits when you pause the film
- If you were in the scenario, how would you feel? Write down and share with your partner
- Students brainstorm and write their ideas on what would come next in the story
- Using technology/device and do research on a German Gymnasium
- Speed-dating: speaking/reading practice with transcript or one asks a question about the film and the other one answers
- Discuss the opportunity to go on exchange at the level of year 10- use the movie for PR and inform the students about their possibilities to go to Germany
- Start by discussing why the boy’s introduction would be weird and use this as a springboard into what the students would like to learn; this would make the activities more student-centered.
- Prepare a photo album that you would show your host family- Australian house/pets/family/experience
- Predicting in pairs: students prepare a scene about …
- Writing or roleplay exercise: a German student comes to Australia