DIVERSITY in the German Classroom: A conference attended by Frau V & G

Today Frau V and Frau G are doing some professional development. Hello Emory Conference Center!

We had a wonderful time meeting fellow language enthusiasts. The two of us had the opportunity to do some networking, meet college professors and business professionals sharing just how important it is to be bilingual in a growing global economy. A “Why German?” Kittredge brochure is soon to come! Here we will share just a little of the information we discussed while at this conference.

One of the most exciting things for our Kittredge family is the fact that we got to hear Christoph Sander, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Atlanta speak. He is outstanding and I've spoken with him on a few occasions. The most exciting bit?? The day before this conference (on Thursday!) he was visiting Kittredge!! Fourth and fifth graders might recognize him, he was observing Frau Baumann in action.

1, 2, 3- Zählen in Deutsch!

Grüße an allen!

What a wonderful Open House experience. I had a great time meeting parents at curriculum night, hope you did, too. As the year goes on if any questions, comments, or concerns arise please send them my way!

Today the Quasars and I spent time working with cognates again. We also briefly touched on (reviewing) counting in German. Below is a picture that shows the numbers 1-20 in German.

You will notice that the last column to the right has all the multiples of ten written out in German as well. In the following paragraph I shall recap our lesson from today.

In German, the numbers 1-20 are said as written above. After 20, you start by saying the second number first (the number in the "ones" place) and the first number second (the number in the"tens"place). So  einundzwanzig (21), zweiundzwanzig (22), dreiundzwanzig (23), and so on. Don't forget the 'and'!

So the number 24 would be: vierundzwanzig.
.... the number 38 would be: achtunddreißig.
.... the number 42 would be: zweiundvierzig.

(Please note that 30 (dreißig) has the 'ß' (ss)... the others all use 'z'!)

Now, remember how in English one says one hundred, two hundred, three hundred? In German it is the same.

100: einhundert
200: zweihundert
300: dreihundert
400: vierhundert
500: fünfhundert
600: sechshundert
700: siebenhundert
800: achthundert
900: neunhundert
1000: eintausend (...and the same applies for one thousand as well!)

Here are some more examples including larger numbers.

348: dreihundertachtundvierzig (I used the bold to help you read it.)

127: einhundertsiebenundzwanzig

6, 482: sechstausendvierhundertzweiundachtzig

12, 657: zwölftausendsechshundertsiebenundfünfzig

56: sechsundfünfzig

Ok. So now for your homework. :)

I shall now list 5 numbers below that I want you to write out in German on a piece of paper and bring in to class the next time I see you. (Quasars that will be WEDNESDAY. Comets, you have not had this lesson yet, and this will be your homework for Tuesday- Thursday.)

1. 3, 736

2. 678

3. 49

4. 16, 290

5. 235

That's all for today! Hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing Labor Day weekend... Frau G is off to Knoxville! ( Go Vols!!!)

Bis nächste Woche,

Frau G

Quiz and Conjugation

Due to my absence last Thursday, the quiz will be Monday/Tuesday of this week. We will continue with conjugation once everyone has completed the assignment... be sure you are looking over your notes and handouts! Some students will get this topic before others, but you are all capable. :) Here is a chart to help you at home... remember, the infinitive form of a verb is the "dictionary form" of a verb. If you look over this chart, you will even learn some new vocabulary.

 I will try to get quizzes back ASAP.

Next up, classroom vocabulary!

Bis bald,
 Frau G

Fragewörter

Throwing a lot of information at my kids, and they can handle it!

This is a fantastic little link you should definitely use (and we'll be using Quizlet a lot as the semester goes on). Notice how you can click through the virtual note cards and once you have spent enough time doing that, their are links to help you study and GAMES you can play. Your homework is to spend 15 minutes on this little site.

To keep our parent readers updated: the kids have started to learn about subject pronouns, conjugation, Fragewörter, and Falsche Freunde (piggybacks off of our cognates lesson). Tomorrow will be day two of the 'crazy information filled lesson' and Thursday/Friday is quiz day.

Alles liebe,

Frau G 

Deutsches Alphabet

Servus!

So, week one is done. Are we in the swing of things yet? Review will last another week or so. I am very pleasantly surprised by how much my students remember from two years ago! Very proud.

Last week we glanced at the alphabet again (one must always start from the very beginning, a very good place to start) and practiced verbal and auditory comprehension. Students will have a quiz on Thursday/Friday and knowing the pronunciation of the German alphabet is very important! Here is a link students (and parents!) can reference while studying.

Not to mention the greeting phrases we reviewed last week as well. Don't forget to study all the responses to the question "Wie geht's?". We also just finished up our lesson on cognates. You knew a lot more German than you thought!

On Friday, Frau G received a nice little weekend present.... the whiteboards came for the back wall! See picture below for a glimpse into our German room.

New whiteboards providing plenty of  space for both teacher and students.

That's all for now. Bis bald!

Frau G

Der erste Tag

Whew! So... we've made it! What an amazing, fun (and exhausting!) first day. I couldn't be happier to be at Kittredge. :)

Today I only met the first half of my students: "The Quasars". Tomorrow I meet "The Comets". It will be Day Two of the Schultüte lesson. I think the four classes I had today rather enjoyed themselves. Hopefully, they'll retain the cultural knowledge they acquired and share it with those of you at home! I tried to speak as much German as possible today. I know in some classes I spoke it more than in others! Don't be overwhelmed!... the more you hear the language, the easier it will be to pick up. I am happy to see that a number of students remember very basic vocab words and phrases. If you don't, not to worry... there will be a week or two of review. And now, some pictures. (Because I love pictures!)




An example of a students selfmade (mini) Schultüte.

 

What the German classroom looks like!

That's all for now!

Alles liebe,

Frau G

Welcome!

Welcome! This is our class blog. Here you will be able to check on class assignments and other related materials. A blog is a great way to communicate outside of class, I hope you find it easy to follow my class and what is expected from each and everyone of you. Parents I welcome you as well! I hope you find this blog easy to follow and hope it parallels the growth you see in your child's knowledge of a foreign language. I will try to post every day and will certainly post at least twice a week. Please feel free to leave appropriate comments as you see fit!

Looking forward to an amazing semester, see you in class!

Frau Goverdhan