We took advantage of our co-op's Color Day and all of our brightly colored clothing to learn our colors in German today. After talking about the colors everyone was wearing, we learned what is perhaps the most well-known German children's song: Grün, grün, grün sind all meine Kleider. There are several different versions to the song. What we learned in class follows this version almost exactly. The video, however, says the careers twice and at the end of the song, we used a Künstler (artist) whereas it is a Maler (painter) in the version below. We also added in a Feuerwehrmann (fireman) so that we could add red to the song.
The children have coloring homework which matches the song so if they forget the German word between class and when they start on the homework, all the answers are in this video. Feel free to email me or leave a comment if you have any questions.
The last box on their homework says, "Ich trage ____________!" It means "I wear ________________!" There is no wrong answer. They can fill in any color word there and draw a picture of themselves wearing that color.
If you are able to take a little time to have them practice saying, "Ich trage _____________" with different colors, it will help them learn their colors and will also help prepare them for an upcoming lesson. In about three weeks, we will learn about clothes and if they have this sentence mastered, they only have to add on the names of the different articles of clothing and they will already be able to describe their outfits in German!
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Counting to ten
All the students are doing a wonderful job watching and listening to figure out what I am asking them to do even though I'm speaking a lot of German. It can be very intimidating to be called on and know you are expected to do something but you aren't sure quite what. I am very encouraged that everyone is so willing to try . . . and that they obviously understand more than they think they do as they very cautiously offer the right answer or something very close to it!
Today, we reviewed the alphabet and began learning a German counting rhyme. It is essentially the German equivalent of "One, two, Buckle my shoe." They are not expected to learn the rhyme this week. I am posting it here because it is more interesting than the other counting videos I found. Next week, we will concentrate on learning to count to three. Because Oktoberfest, the largest festival in the world, begins this weekend, we talked a little about its history as well. The German American Society in Omaha is also celebrating Oktoberfest this weekend and it is a wonderful opportunity to experience authentic German food, music, dance and dress. There is also a shop where you can buy articles from Germany. More information is available at the website of the German American Society.
Interestingly, MoDo, a German techno group, did a remix of this classic children's rhyme and it hit the top of the charts in Germany. This made it very difficult to find the traditonal rhyme online because all the search results are turning up MoDo's version and other modern dance mixes. There are several versions of this rhyme sung in Germany, including many parodies. The following is from a kindergarten class in Croatia and is slightly different than what we practiced in class.
We learned "drei vier Grenadier" (three, four, grenadier) whereas this version has "drei vier Offizier" (three four officer). It also ends differently with "schlafen gehen" (going to sleep) rather than "auf Wiedersehen" (goodbye).
And mostly because I find it very amusing to think of a song like this hitting the top of the dance charts, this is the techno version by MoDo. It's refrain is fairly simple and has two good phrases as well:
Ja ja ja
Was ist los?
Was ist das?
(Yes yes yes
What is wrong?
What is that?)
And I may as well finish off with a simple counting song. This is just the numbers from one to ten and then back to one.
Today, we reviewed the alphabet and began learning a German counting rhyme. It is essentially the German equivalent of "One, two, Buckle my shoe." They are not expected to learn the rhyme this week. I am posting it here because it is more interesting than the other counting videos I found. Next week, we will concentrate on learning to count to three. Because Oktoberfest, the largest festival in the world, begins this weekend, we talked a little about its history as well. The German American Society in Omaha is also celebrating Oktoberfest this weekend and it is a wonderful opportunity to experience authentic German food, music, dance and dress. There is also a shop where you can buy articles from Germany. More information is available at the website of the German American Society.
Interestingly, MoDo, a German techno group, did a remix of this classic children's rhyme and it hit the top of the charts in Germany. This made it very difficult to find the traditonal rhyme online because all the search results are turning up MoDo's version and other modern dance mixes. There are several versions of this rhyme sung in Germany, including many parodies. The following is from a kindergarten class in Croatia and is slightly different than what we practiced in class.
We learned "drei vier Grenadier" (three, four, grenadier) whereas this version has "drei vier Offizier" (three four officer). It also ends differently with "schlafen gehen" (going to sleep) rather than "auf Wiedersehen" (goodbye).
And mostly because I find it very amusing to think of a song like this hitting the top of the dance charts, this is the techno version by MoDo. It's refrain is fairly simple and has two good phrases as well:
Ja ja ja
Was ist los?
Was ist das?
(Yes yes yes
What is wrong?
What is that?)
And I may as well finish off with a simple counting song. This is just the numbers from one to ten and then back to one.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Celebrating the first day of school, the alphabet and simple commands
We had a wonderful first day of class and I was impressed with how quickly all the children picked up what we were doing.
We started out by practicing simple commands and students figured out what I was asking them to do by watching and mimicking me. We also practiced basic introductions ("What is your name?" and "My name is . . . ") I was very impressed with how quickly the children figured out what I was asking for and how willing they were to try, even when they weren't quite sure. I was also very impressed with how well they were able to pronounce the German "ch." It is typically a very difficult sound for Americans to produce. Now I have one whole mini lesson I may not have to do because I suspect they'll have the sound mastered before we get to it!
We introduced the alphabet. Whether or not your child is able to memorize the German alphabet this semester depends largely on how well they have mastered the English alphabet and how much opportunity they have to practice at home. I sent home a sheet with each child that gives an approximate English guide to pronouncing the letters. This is the song that we are using to learn the alphabet. If you are able to listen to it even once a day, it will help your child remember what we are working on.
"Wunderbar!" means "Wonderful!"
"Das ist nett!" means "That is nice!"
We won't be singing it as a round, though!
We finished off the half hour by learning about the "Schultuete," which is part of how German families build excitement about the first day of school. Your child should have the start of a lapbook on German culture that includes a picture of a Schultuete and a little information. Here is more about this custom if you are interested.
We started out by practicing simple commands and students figured out what I was asking them to do by watching and mimicking me. We also practiced basic introductions ("What is your name?" and "My name is . . . ") I was very impressed with how quickly the children figured out what I was asking for and how willing they were to try, even when they weren't quite sure. I was also very impressed with how well they were able to pronounce the German "ch." It is typically a very difficult sound for Americans to produce. Now I have one whole mini lesson I may not have to do because I suspect they'll have the sound mastered before we get to it!
We introduced the alphabet. Whether or not your child is able to memorize the German alphabet this semester depends largely on how well they have mastered the English alphabet and how much opportunity they have to practice at home. I sent home a sheet with each child that gives an approximate English guide to pronouncing the letters. This is the song that we are using to learn the alphabet. If you are able to listen to it even once a day, it will help your child remember what we are working on.
"Wunderbar!" means "Wonderful!"
"Das ist nett!" means "That is nice!"
We won't be singing it as a round, though!
We finished off the half hour by learning about the "Schultuete," which is part of how German families build excitement about the first day of school. Your child should have the start of a lapbook on German culture that includes a picture of a Schultuete and a little information. Here is more about this custom if you are interested.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Welcome to Elementary German!
Welcome to the virtual home of Elementary German, the class I am teaching at our homeschool co-op. Each week, I will update this blog with an overview of what we worked on in class and include videos to help reinforce new concepts at home and give your children the opportunity to hear native speakers as well. Since this is an immersion class, I will be speaking very little English. I believe this is the best and most engaging way to learn a foreign language and is essentially how we learned English (and how I learned German while living with a German family and attending a German high school). Especially in the beginning, however, it may be difficult for your child to tell you exactly what we did in class. This blog will help you understand what we're doing each week.
This will also give your child the opportunity to listen and practice the language for five to ten minutes per day, even if there is no one else at home who speaks German. A week without practice is a long time when learning a foreign language, especially for this age group! The summary and new videos will go up each Tuesday.
If you have any questions at all, feel free to leave a comment here, email me or call me (you should have received all my contact information when you signed up for class). Thank you very much and I look forward to working with you and your child this semester!
~ Frau Hanley
This will also give your child the opportunity to listen and practice the language for five to ten minutes per day, even if there is no one else at home who speaks German. A week without practice is a long time when learning a foreign language, especially for this age group! The summary and new videos will go up each Tuesday.
If you have any questions at all, feel free to leave a comment here, email me or call me (you should have received all my contact information when you signed up for class). Thank you very much and I look forward to working with you and your child this semester!
~ Frau Hanley
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