Counting to Ten in German

This week, we reviewed colors and introduced counting to ten. And what better way than by sorting and counting M&M's? We played a vocabulary game with the flyswatters and everyone got pretty excited about that. And we finished up with a short story about Bruno the Bear, a brown bear that wandered across the German border and was shot by hunters. The children did really well and were very quick answering questions about the story.

The only real homework is coloring their sorting sheet. I sent home a word search with the words from the story. I just want them to try to find the words. Next time, I may do fewer words so it isn't so overwhelming. Word searches in a foreign language are hard. I'm just trying to give them some different ways to practice the words they hear in class, but don't want them to get frustrated! I told them I will have some German stickers next week for homework, but they only need to bring it back. It is OK if it isn't completed! They also have the first line of silent night. And of course, there are these videos to watch!

First up: Counting to ten with German in Three Minutes.


This just sets the numbers to music to help with retention.


And a strange but catchy little song. They sing:

"How much? How much? How much does that cost?"
"It costs 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."
"Great! I'll take it!"

And a link to some online counting activities. You can click on the numbers to hear them in German, listen to a counting song, and match numbers to the right number word. There are also printable activities if you prefer.

And finally, some more Tro Tro! In this episode, Tro Tro doesn't want to share his toys. Children should be able to understand the colors they are arguing over at the beginning and may be able to a few words as he keeps calling out the toys he wants back.


Happy viewing!

Learning colors with children's literature:Brown Bear, Brown Bear in German

Children's literature is an egaging way to learn a language, and Eric Carle's Brown Bear, Brown Bear is an obvious choice for learning colors and animals. We read it in class and by the time we had finished our exercises for the day, the children were able to call out the colors and animal words at the end.

Unfortunately, while it is readily available online in both English and Spanish, I couldn't find a German version. Last night, I finally had some time to go ahead and read it myself. I added in the animal sounds. Did you know that animals don't sound the same in every language? Most are similar, but I think the frog's German accent is the most fun!



Here is the link to the videos I posted yesterday on learning colors and saying thank you. And here is last week's link on learning the alphabet and introducing yourself. .

Have a great week!

Learning colors

The children seem to be getting used to listening to me speak predominantly in German. The first class period is always interesting with most of the class looking at me like they're not quite sure if they're in the right place . . . or if maybe I'm from another planet. But I saw a little more enthusiasm this week, the kids were able to follow simple instructions with little or no cues from me and are already answering my questions in a mix of English and the German words they have learned.

I sent home a sheet of flashcards. These are to hang in their roms if you like to help reinforce new words. If you would like more for different rooms and are the kind of family that would love to label every item in your home, I would love to send home a set each week for different rooms in the house. Just let me know!

Sentences/questions we have practiced so far in class:

Wie heißen Sie? Ich heiße ... (What is your name? My name is . . . )
Woher kommen Sie? Ich komme aus . . .  (Where are you from? I am from . . . )
Ich sehe . . . (I see . . .)

We have also been working on several commands such as 'Stand up', 'sit down,' 'turn around', 'come to the front', 'go to the (wall, corner, door, closet, etc).  

And we practice saying "Thank you!" and "Your'e welcome!" as I pass out candy at the end of class. Here is a quick lesson on please and thank you and goes more in depth with different ways to use these very important manners.

 

And for class yesterday, we read Brauner Bär, Was siehst denn du? (Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?). We also practiced colors and filled out a sheet for their binders. They will need this for later homework as we learn body parts, clothing, etc. At the end of class, they were able to call out the colors and animals, so are learning very quickly!

This video goes over the main colors in German. This was the only one I found that actually said the names of the objects it showed so your children can practice learning by listening and watching. 


This is actually an advertisement for Cobra paints. I'm sharing it for the nice German accent and because it is pretty easy to follow.  I like sharing snippets of German as it is actually spoken so students can get used to the sounds and listening at a normal speaking pace. It is a quick tutorial on mixing paints and your children should recognize the color words. If they already know the color wheel, they might hear him mention primary, secondary and tertiary colors (the words are very similar to English). And you watch the artist mix the colors while he says them. One word he says over and over is "rein" (sounds like the river Rhein). That just means "pure." A "reines rot" is therefore a "pure red."


 I have another video I want to share, but I need some quiet in this crazy house of mine to make it so hopefully you will get a note tomorrow that it is ready!

For some fun, here is Tro Tro. If your children found my English introduction last week helpful, let me know and I will make one for this one and future ones. Happy viewing!

Next week, we're going to start going over numbers, so for the young man in class who asked last week and this week if we were going to learn to count, yes! We're finally getting to that, too!

Introductions and the alphabet

The first day of class went well, except for me totally forgetting to teach the students the first line of Silent Night, which we will sing for the end of the semester Taent Show. Fortunately, it is a very simple line and probably easier to learn than the two questions we practiced ("What is your name?" and "Where are you from?") We will catch that up next week!

I like to assign videos for homework because it gives students the opportunity to hear German spoken by native speakers and to practice a little each day even if no one else in their family speaks German. The only other homework they had was to color their Schultuete paper and bring it back so we can add it to their notebooks.

After warming up by following simpe instructions, we learned how to ask someone what their name is. This is a nice three minute lesson on introductions.



We also worked on the alphabet a little. They should have a sheet in their binder that has the alphabet and an approximate pronunciation guide. This is my favorite alphabet song on YouTube because it goes through the alphabet at a nice pace and the letters actually fit in the tune.

"Wunderbar" means "wonderful."
"Das ist nett." means "That is nice."




This video goes through each letter at a speaking pace after singing the alphabet. It also has a German word to go with each so your children can learn some vocabulary as well as hear the pronunciation of each letter more clearly.




I try to share a little culture with the children at least once a month. On the first day of school (especially on the first day of kindergarten), German families give their children a "Schultuete" or "school cone." The first video is just to give an idea of the size and how they are presented to the children. The second video shows the kinds of things typically found in a Schultuete.






And for a little fun, Tro Tro! He was very popular with my class last year. This one is probably the easiest to follow without knowing any German, but I'll start off with a short video I made last year that goes over some of the vocabulary used and gives your children some phrases to listen for.




And the cartoon! Enjoy!



As always, if you have any questions, let me know!