Level 1: Learning and assessment activities – suggested
Within the list of suggested learning and assessment activities below, the following code indicates the context in which each activity is likely to be most useful:
- C = class activity
- G = group activity
- P = pair work
- I = individuals working independently.
Using computers
Note that some of the activities listed below could be carried out using simple computer-based word-processing packages and clip art, and so help to strengthen students' computer skills.
| Achievement objectives |
Learning and assessment activities – suggested |
| 1.1 Greet, farewell, and thank people and respond to greetings and thanks |
Students could be learning through:
- Observing greetings, introductions, and leave-taking in different contexts (for example, on videotape) and taking turns to role-play (C)
- Filling in labels on pictures to indicate greetings for the time of day pictured (for example, Guten Tag) (G, I).
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| 1.2 Introduce themselves and others and respond to introductions |
Students could be learning through:
- Filling in gaps in a familiar oral or written dialogue to complete the message (I, C)
- Carrying out listening activities. For example, the students listen to a short dialogue in which people are introduced to one another. They then compete in groups to reassemble the dialogue from a transcript cut into individual sentences. Each student could have just one sentence (G).
|
| 1.3 Communicate using days of the week, months, and dates |
Students could be learning through:
- Solving number puzzles involving adding, subtracting, and/or number patterning (C, G)
- Singing simple number songs (C)
- Playing bingo (C)
- Creating a simple school timetable (G, P, I)
- Ticking dates in a calendar as they listen to the names of those dates or stating the dates shown on specified calendar entries (G, P).
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| 1.4 Communicate about personal information, such as name, age, nationality, and home |
Students could be learning through:
- Simple role-playing activities (C, G)
- Contacting native speakers of German in schools and colleges overseas, communicating information (including personal information) to them, and asking them suitable questions (I)
- Creating a form (such as an identity card) with spaces for personal information details (G, P, I)
- Carrying out surveying activities. For example, the students could ask each other about their age and other personal details and fill these details in on computer-generated forms. They could ask and answer questions using completed forms, with one student role-playing the person named on the form (G, P).
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| 1.5 Communicate about location |
Students could be learning through:
- Placing things according to the teachers' instructions (C)
- Picking up objects and putting them in a specific relation to the teacher, responding correctly to the teacher's instructions while being monitored by the class (C, I)
- Ticking vocabulary items on a list or holding up word cards to show that they recognise German vocabulary spoken by the teacher (C, G, P)
- Carrying out 'place' activities. For example, one set of assorted classroom objects could be placed at various locations around the room. The teacher could ask where a particular object is, and the students could make up a simple sentence giving the location of that object. Two groups could compete to win points in this activity (C, G).
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| 1.6 Understand and use a range of politeness conventions (such as ways of thanking people, apologising, excusing themselves, complimenting people) |
Students could be learning through:
- listening to informal dialogues and identifying when participants are thanking someone, apologising, excusing themselves, or complimenting someone (C)
- filling in gaps in a familiar dialogue by providing appropriate expressions (P, I)
- wishing someone a happy birthday or anniversary in response to cue cards (I)
- creating an appropriate greetings card for a birthday or festival (I).
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| 1.7 Use and respond to simple classroom language (including asking for the word to express something in German) |
Students could be learning through:
- Carrying out listening activities, such as Simon Says, following instructions spoken in German until they make an error and sit down. Eventually only the winner is left standing (C, G)
- Responding physically to classroom instructions (for example, by coming to the teacher when the teacher says Komm (bitte) her!) (C, G)
- Responding to spoken descriptions of actions by selecting the picture (from a set of pictures) that shows the actions described (C)
- Carrying out physical movement activities. For example, working in pairs, each student could select five picture cards from a series of ten that show actions that the teacher might ask them to do (such as opening their books). One student could mime an instruction represented on one of their picture cards and the other student could perform the action they think is required. Then together, from a list of written requests, they could choose the sentence that best represents that request (P).
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Monitoring progress
Teacher assessment
Teachers can monitor students' progress when they are:
- identifying pictures to indicate the meaning of written or spoken words
- solving number puzzles
- locating things in response to phrases containing expressions of place
- responding to oral or written questions about personal details.
Self assessment
Students can monitor their own progress by:
- keeping portfolios (including audiotapes) of their work and comparing later entries with earlier ones
- matching words like ein Kugelschreiber or ein Heft with pictures of objects grouped in certain ways and using an answer key
- using a checklist with items such as "I can introduce people".
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