German V
Course Description
German V will refine development of reading, writing, listening, and especially speaking skills. Cultural activities will be included, and grammatical principles will be further integrated, as well as the introduction of more advanced grammatical concepts.
Course Big Ideas
- Vocabulary
- Everyday life vocabulary
- Student self-selected vocabulary of interest
- Grammar
- Advanced grammatical concepts that have not yet been learned. This will vary for a few years as the lower level German courses move into the new textbook resources.
- Cultural and Current Events of interest to students
Course Essential Questions
- How does one read, write, speak, and listen in the target language at an intermediate level in German?
- How do students apply grammar and vocabulary to their everyday lives?
- What topics in German culture, history, and current events are interesting for each student and then researched?
Course Competencies
- Reading for understanding and supporting details.
- Writing compound and complex detailed sentences, paragraphs, and short stories.
- Active listening in the target language.
- Speaking in the target language in order to share personal and general information.
- Compare and contrast language and culture between the target country and others.
Course Assessments
Formative and summative assessments done through:
- Teacher created vocabulary and grammar assessments
- Teacher created speaking assessments
- Online websites such as: Quizlet, Moodle, Deutsche Welle, etc.
Course Units
Unit 1: Essential Vocabulary
- Standards
- Know
- Understanding/Key Learning
- Do
- Unit Essential Questions
- Lesson Essential Quesitons
- Materials/Resources
- Assessments
- Vocabulary
Standards
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
- ACTFL Communication 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.
- ACTFL Communication 1.2: Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics.
- ACTFL Communication 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics
- ACTFL Cultures 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the culture studied.
- ACTFL Connections 3.2: Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures.
- ACTFL Comparisons 4.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own.
- ACTFL Comparisons 4.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own.
- ACTFL Communities 5.1: Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting.
Know
- How to use grammar topics covered in German I through CHS German.
- Vocabulary that is essential to real life, that has not yet been acquired.
- How to use vocabulary in listening and speaking in the target language.
- How to identify the main points and supporting details when reading texts from authentic sources.
- How to use advanced grammatical concepts and vocabulary when writing in German.
Understanding/Key Learning
- Review and remediate grammar concepts from German I through CHS German.
- Learn vocabulary that is important for everyday life but has not yet been covered.
- Read texts for language learners as well as authentic texts and identify the main and supporting details.
- Hold conversations with the teacher.
- Be able to watch video clips and news stories and identify important information from native speakers.
- Properly use simple and advanced grammatical concepts in writing and speaking.
- Be able to self-edit for mistakes in writing and speech.
Do
- Speaking
- Students will speak with the teacher at least once a week about various topics chosen by the teacher and student together, and based on current learning when applicable.
- Listening
- Students will listen to the teacher during discussions to be able to keep a conversation going.
- Students will listen to videos and sound files to identify the main idea and supporting details from the target language.
- Reading
- Students will read a variety of texts in the target language including, but not limited to: short stories, books, news articles, journals, blogs, websites, etc.
- Writing
- Students will write paragraphs and essays utilizing the vocabulary and grammar topics being learned.
- Students will write answers to questions for reading and listening assignments.
Unit Essential Questions
Lesson Essential Quesitons
- How does one form verbs in various tenses in German, i.e. present, past, future, subjunctive, etc.?
- How does one use the correct grammatical cases when writing sentences?
- How does one format sentences to achieve grammatically correct sentence structure?
- How does one correctly incorporate dependent clauses with independent clauses?
- How does one learn vocabulary and apply it to everyday life?
Materials/Resources
- Teacher created handout and activities
- Teacher created assessments such as vocabulary and grammar quizzes, projects, speaking activities, etc.
- Websites for vocabulary practice such as: Quizlet, Blooket, Kahoot, Schoology, Moodle, etc.
- Websites for current events and news such as Deutsche Welle.
- Short stories and small books that are part of the classroom library.
Assessments
Vocabulary
The vocabulary for this unit may include, but is not limited to what is listed below. Vocabulary will vary for a few years, as the early levels of German transition to the new textbook resource.
- haben Angst vor
- to be afraid of
- (have fear of)
- vergessen
- to forget
- zuerst
- first
- dann
- then
- danach
- after that
- zuletzt
- last/finally
- schwer
- hard/difficult; heavy
- einfach/leicht
- easy, simple
- verstehen
- to understand
- der/die Lehrer(in)
- the teacher (male/female)
- es gibt
- there is/are
- etwas
- something
- komisch
- funny/odd/strange
- wichtig
- important
- oft
- often
- eigentlich
- really, actually
- wirklich
- really, truly
- echt
- really, typically
- bereit
- ready
- Das ist doch egal.
- Never mind.
- zustimmen
- to agree
- gleich
- same, equal
- üben
- to practice
- übersetzen
- to translate
- einmalig
- unique
- trotzdem
- nevertheless
- aufpassen
- to pay attention
- erleben
- to experience
- normalerweise
- normally, usually
- wahr
- true; real
- der Mensch, -en
- the person/people (human being)
- beide
- both
- überrascht
- surprised
- alle
- everyone
- ein bisschen
- a little (amount)
- ein paar
- a few
- fertig
- finished
- Es ist egal.
- It doesn’t matter.
- verkaufen
- to sell
- also
- so/therefore/well (start of a sentence)
- so
- so (indicating a degree of)
- deshalb
- therefore, because of it
- doch
- so (contradicting)
- bedeuten
- to mean (definition)
- benutzen
- to use
- klingen
- to sound (literal and figurative)
- da/dort
- schützen
- to protect
- vermissen
- to miss
- die Nacht
- the night
- probieren
- to try
- schwierig
- difficult, hard; complicated
- sich erinnern
- to remember
- erinnern
- to remind
- treffen
- to meet
- anders
- differently, otherwise
- leider
- unfortunately
- meistens
- mostly
- der Unsinn
- the nonsense
- schließlich
- at last, finally
- zurück
- back
- Schade!
- What a pity/shame!
- Vorsicht!
- Be careful!
- besonders
- there
- hoch
- high
- lernen
- to learn
- teuer
- expensive
- noch einmal
- once more (again)
- man
- one (pronoun)
- fast
- almost, nearly
- ungefähr
- approximately
- genug
- enough
- passieren
- to happen
- gefährlich
- dangerous
- wahrscheinlich
- likely, probably
- genau
- exactly
- sicher
- sure, certain
- die Leute
- the people
- drinnen
- inside
- draußen
- outside
- especially, particularly
- dankbar
- thankful, grateful
- der Sitzplatz
- the seat
- der Witz
- the joke
- die Soße
- the sauce
- riechen
- to smell
- besondere (r,s)
- special, particular
- die Universität
- the university
- bauen
- to build
- zerstören
- to destroy
- der Boden
- the ground; floor
- der Stock
- the floor (story)
- quatsch
- nonsense, rubbish (interjection)
- die Rechnung
- the bill, check
- soweit
- as (so) far as
- der Fehler
- the error, mistake
Unit 2: Self-Selected Study
- Standards
- Know
- Understanding/Key Learning
- Do
- Unit Essential Questions
- Lesson Essential Questions
- Materials/Resources
- Assessments
- Vocabulary
Standards
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
- ACTFL Communication 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.
- ACTFL Communication 1.2: Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics.
- ACTFL Communication 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics
- ACTFL Cultures 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the culture studied.
- ACTFL Connections 3.2: Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures.
- ACTFL Comparisons 4.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own.
- ACTFL Comparisons 4.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own.
- ACTFL Communities 5.1: Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting.
Know
- Students will learn and apply advanced grammar concepts to their speaking and writing.
- Students will learn vocabulary that is self selected based on interests. This will cover several different topics over the course of the semester.
- Students will learn about culture and current events that are of interest to them.
Understanding/Key Learning
- How to use advanced grammar concepts including but not limited to: Futur I verb tense, participles, demonstrative pronouns, using verbs as nouns, etc.
- Students will choose vocabulary on topics that are of interest to them. This may include topics such as: cooking, electronics, mathematics, science, history, career specific vocabulary, etc.
- Students will read and listen to information from reputable websites to learn about German culture and current events.
- Students will be able to read, write, listen, and speak in the target language at an intermediate level of proficiency.
Do
- Speaking
- Students will speak with the teacher at least once a week about various topics chosen by the teacher and student together, and based on current learning when applicable.
- Listening
- Students will listen to the teacher during discussions to be able to keep a conversation going.
- Students will listen to videos and sound files to identify the main idea and supporting details from the target language.
- Reading
- Students will read a variety of texts in the target language including, but not limited to: short stories, books, news articles, journals, blogs, websites, etc.
- Writing
- Students will write paragraphs and essays utilizing the vocabulary and grammar topics being learned.
- Students will write answers to questions for reading and listening assignments.
Unit Essential Questions
Lesson Essential Questions
Materials/Resources
- Teacher created handout and activities
- Teacher created assessments such as vocabulary and grammar quizzes, projects, speaking activities, etc.
- Websites for vocabulary practice such as: Quizlet, Blooket, Kahoot, Schoology, Moodle, etc.
- Websites for current events and news such as Deutsche Welle.
- Short stories and small books that are part of the classroom library.