German: The book about me and fun with animals

This week in German, the kids put together what we've learned so far to write a book about themselves. They did a great job, worked diligently and were eager to read their books to the class when we were done so we got to know each other a little better!

This video is just for fun. It is a clip from a longer German cartoon, but there is no language in the video. It's about children exploring who they are and playing with language. Even if it isn't the "sheep" their parents speak!

To review the words for body parts, we started class of with a game of "Wer bin ich?" ("Who am I?") I described different animals in German and the class guessed what it was. They were very enthusiastic! This educational show starts off with the same game. "Ich kenne ein Tier . . . " means "I know an animal. . . " The children describe an animal and the artist draws what they're describing, getting it wrong most of the time. The language is kind of fast, but they use a lot of the vocabulary we have gone over in class. My children love the series, but understanding what is going on doesn't seem to be that important to them. Every child is different! After the guessing game, children introduce us to a little calf with a tummy ache. Then there is a clip of a cow who lost her spots, but there is no language in it so it is easy to understand!

And since the main part of our lesson was witing, 'Das Buch über mich' (The book about me), here is 'Das Lied über mich.' (The song about me.) She sings, "There are songs about dogs wau wau wau. There are songs about cats, miau miau miau. There's just one song that isn't yet, and that is the song about me. I have hands -- even two -- and hair -- more than three -- I have a round belly and I also have a nose. I have left and right a leg and a heart that's not of stone and now I'll wave to you, hello you . . . If I can get my mp3 to cooperate, we'll play this song in class, too. 

Here are two quick online activities to practice describing hair and eyes. Remember to click "start" or you will just stare at a blank page!

In this one, you add hair styles to the picture and the program describes the hair to you: What does your hair look like
This one is a little more difficult. Read the decription and choose the correct person. Drag them over to the gray dot or it will count it as a wrong answer and the balloon pops. Concentrate on the hair color and eye color and you should be able to figure it out. Who is that?

And we're almost all the way through Silent Night! Did you know that it is considered an intangible cultural treasure by UNESCO in Austria? We have almost gone through the entire song and have only the last two lines (which are really the same line twice). The children are doing well tackling those hard words so I'm hoping they'll be ready by talent night!

And in this week' Tro Tro, he is looking for Teddy.