E a r l y S t a r t G erman Pack 1
6. Wie alt bist du? How old are you? In this section pupils learn to understand the question “how old are you?” and to respond appropriately using the numbers 1-12. They should also be able to initiate the question and understand replies. We look at the change to secondary school at age 10: how does it work in Germany? Swapping information about ages is an important part of any peer group conversation in a foreign language. It is also useful for responding to adult enquiries. If your pupils are more than 12 years old, you may wish to introduce them to some numbers from section 12, “Zahlen 13-31”, before starting work on this section.
Saying names and ages Children say who they are and their ages: Ich bin Sophie und ich bin 10. Ich bin Valentin und ich bin 11. Ich bin Maxi und ich bin 10.
Scene from film 6: “Ich bin 11”.
NEW WORDS AND PHRASES
Question and answer Children reply to the question “Wie alt bist du?” Children saying their ages This time the ages are heard in random order, without the age superimposed on the screen. The final child asks: “Und du? Wie alt bist du?”
ich bin (10) - I'm (10) wie alt bist du? how old are you? CD Track 30
DVD / Video Film 6
M
Children saying their ages Different children aged from 6 to 12 say how old they are. The age, represented by a number, is superimposed on screen: Ich bin 6. Ich bin 7. Ich bin 8. Ich bin 9. Ich bin 10. Ich bin 11. Ich bin 12.
DVD MARKERS
1. Ages in sequence - Saying your age 2. Name and age - building on previously learnt vocabulary
3. Question& answer - language in context 4. Ages in random order - reinforcement 5. Written words Use the skip key on your remote control
Planning your lessons Your lessons with this chapter should help children bring together things they have learnt previously with a few new phrases. After the “warm up”, it is best to start by giving each child the opportunity to say their own ages.
Scene from film 6: Girl by Koblenz fountain -“Ich bin 6”.
60
1.6 Wie alt bist du? Repeat this for 11 year olds and so on, until you have covered all the ages of your class. You can make this into a game to encourage pupils' listening skills by speeding up the pace.
We suggest ways of giving them practice saying and hearing other ages, which you could bring in earlier if there is a very limited range of ages in your class. As soon as they are familiar with saying their age in German, try activities that include vocabulary from earlier sections.
❑ Make cards each showing a number, from 3-12. Give one card to each pupil. You go around the class, asking individuals “Wie alt bist du?”. S/he responds according to the number on their card, e.g. “Ich bin 6.”
Activities
For variety, you can ask children to play the following games as if their age were the number on their card. Swap cards occasionally.
1. Warm up ...... Before watching film 6, it is a good idea to have a brief “warm up” session to bring the class back “up to speed” with the numbers 1-12. Try a session of “Number Relay”, to remind children of what they learned in Ch.1.5.
❑ The pupils form a circle, start with a ten year old pupil who turns to the next pupil and says “Ich bin 10.” This pupil does the same to the next pupil, saying “Ich bin X.” as appropriate. When everyone has had a turn, go round again asking each child also to say, “Wie alt bist du?”.
2. Watch film 5 ❑ Watch film 6: “Wie alt bist du?”; stop before the written words are shown.
❑ Everyone stands in a circle with you in the centre. Throw a soft ball to different pupils. Each time you throw the ball ask, “Wie alt bist du?” The pupil replies, “Ich bin (10)”, and throws the ball back to you.
KEY SOUNDS Look for this typical sound where have you heard it before?
“ ”
as in wie
Heard before in:
❑ Play the “question and answer game” Vary the questions you ask as you throw the ball to include “Wie geht’s?” and “Wie heißt du?” as well as “Wie alt bist du?” Pupils reply to the question as they throw the ball back to you. This develops their listening skills and helps reinforce familiar vocabulary.
Wiedersehen
CD Track 30
3. Get used to the sounds.... ❑ Echoing: Draw a birthday cake with 6 candles on the board, or display such a picture on the whiteboard /OHP. You say “Ich bin 6.” The pupils echo the phrase. Add another candle and say “Ich bin 7.” Continue until there are 12 candles on the cake.
❑ Play “musical ages” Everyone moves around the room with German music playing in the background. Alternatively, you could play tunes from the audio CD. When the music stops, each pupil turns to the nearest person and asks their age. When they first play this game the conversation could be along the following lines: Pupil 1: “Ich bin 10, und du?” Pupil 2: “Ich bin 11.” On another occasion they could say: Pupil 1: “Wie alt bist du?” Pupil 2: “Ich bin 10, und du?” Pupil 1: “Ich bin 10.”
❑ Play “listen to the sounds” again You call out a series of words; children make agreed gestures when they hear a “key sound” (see Chapter 1.2).
4. Respond with understanding ❑ Play “Stand up, sit down” The teacher calls out, e.g. “Ich bin 10.”, and the pupils who are ten years old stand up. Adjust to suit the ages of children in your class. 61
E a r l y S t a r t G erman Pack 1 ❑ Play “find the sound” again Make flashcards showing words and phrases pupils know: “Ich bin 11.”, “Guten Tag!”, etc. Place these on the floor, and stand pupils in a circle around them. Play the game as in Chapter 1.2.
To give children practice in saying and hearing ages other than their own, give each pupil a card with another imaginary identity, e.g. “Wolfgang Mozart, 9”. ❑ As the class grows in confidence, the conversations could be extended. When the music stops, pupils greet each other and swap names and ages. Use imaginary identities perhaps famous people from Ch.1.4 - to add variety to the conversations.
EXTENSION ACTIVITY: verbs When pupils are confident with this section’s words and phrases, you could ask them to review the conjugation (=endings) of the verbs they have used: “Ich bin 9”, “Wie alt bist du?”. Compare with other verbs they know already.
❑ Working in pairs: Board Game sheet Photocopy the “Wie alt bist du?” board game sheet, and give a copy to each pair of pupils, with dice and 2 coloured counters.
CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES ❑ Drama: If pupils have already designed and made their “German” puppets, these can be used to act out extended conversations. This is also a good opportunity to revise vocabulary from earlier sections. Pupils work in groups of three with their puppets. You can either suggest a setting yourself in which children might meet each other, or ask pupils to choose their own setting, e.g. a new pupil arrives in the class; playing on the beach; at the swimming pool; in the park. Encourage pupils to develop their puppets' characters in the way they behave and speak. One of the puppets might be shy, another might be a bit nosey, and so on.
Players place their counters on the arrow at the bottom of the page. They take it in turns to throw a die and count round the balloons and presents. When a player lands on a birthday cake, s/he counts the number of candles and says the age represented, e.g. “Ich bin 7.”.
Recording and Assessment Children are now ready to record their achievements to date on the first sheet of “can-do statements”: MEETING PEOPLE to AGES (find it after chapter 16).
Cultural note: cakes with candles are not a traditional German custom. See Pack 2 for more.
Watch the film again
Note that being able to write the words is generally regarded as an “optional extra” at this stage. Each child could keep their completed sheet as part of their European Languages Portfolio (see Introduction) ready to show to their parents and their next teacher.
❑ Show film 6 “Wie alt bist du?” again for reinforcement. Encourage pupils to echo the first and last sequences. Show the final section if you want to introduce the written word.
5. Introduce the written word The final section of film 6 shows several examples of children saying their ages, with text superimposed on the pictures. Now pupils have practised hearing and saying the new vocabulary, they are ready to try and build up connections between the written word and pronunciation. 62
1.6 Wie alt bist du?
Talking point 1 EVERYDAY LIFE IN GERMANY: The ages that children move schools Kindergarten Germany was the first country to have something like today’s playgroups, nursery and infants schools to give younger children a good start before they go to “proper” school. The German educationalist Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), invented the name “Kindergarten” - “children’s garden” - for an infants school he started in 1837. He wanted to create an environment that would help children's minds and spirits grow naturally, just like plants flourish in a well-kept garden. Froebel believed that stimulating and interesting play experiences were more suitable for infants than instruction and lessons. In the “garden”, children would discover things for themselves; develop basic manipulative and thinking skills; become self-confident, used to talking, making choices, and working together considerately. Pupils’ memories of finger-paints, coloured wooden blocks, moulding clay, listening to stories, making music, playing in the sand-pit, pouring water, climbing frames, dressing-up, growing plants, handling small animals - all come directly from Froebel. A teacher trained by Froebel, Margaretha Schurz, emigrated to Wisconsin, USA, where she started a German-speaking kindergarten in 1856. Today German children do not start school until they are six, but almost all go to a Kindergarten from the age of four.
Film 6: Maxi is 10 and soon to leave Grundschule. His teacher recommends which school would suit him best.
(sitzenbleiben). At age 10, teachers recommend to each pupil and their parents which type of secondary school they should choose (they cannot choose between individual schools).
Secondary schools ■ About 30% of pupils go on to a Hauptschule, a short-course secondary school. They leave at 16 to find a job with an apprenticeship. ■ Others opt for the Realschule from which they go on to technical college at the age of 16. ■ About half of all pupils attend a Gymnasium (grammar school), where they are expected to stay on until they are 18. Those who want to be teachers or go to university are allowed to stay on until they pass the entrance exam (for a maximum of 9 years) , so it is quite common to find pupils of 19 or 20 in the senior class. ■ Some Federal States have introduced Gesamtschulen (comprehensive schools) for all pupils from the age of 11. Second thoughts In states with a selective system, pupils aged 11-13 follow a similar course in all 3 types of school. This “orientation grade” makes it easier to swap sort of school if they are unhappy.
Primary school They spend four years at the Primary School (Grundschule), which is for children aged 6 to 10. Education in Germany is organised separately by each of the 16 Federal States. All pupils from the age of 7 now learn a foreign language. The most common is English, but French is also taught near the border. Children’s yearly report from their class teacher is very important: if they make poor progress in main subjects, they may have to repeat a year 63
E a r l y S t a r t G erman Pack 1 Inter-cultural understanding - SCHOOLS ❑ Swap drawings of children’s memories of infant school, nursery or playgroup. ❑ What kinds of secondary school will pupils in your class go on to? The class could make a digital video showing the schools children go to in your community at different ages, and swap with your German partners. Alternatively, you could make a classroom display, and label it with the ages of the pupils in German.
Ask children to compare their experience at play-group, child-minder, nursery or infant school with being at Primary school. ❑ What do they think infants learn at “play school”? ❑ Now they are older, which sort of school would they prefer to be at? ❑ Ask pupils to design a set of objects for a kindergarten to help infants explore making music together. If you have a link school in a Germanspeaking county, swap information about what it is like starting school.
Talking point 2 In Germany, there are also cheaper fares for young children on buses, trams and trains, and cheaper admission to many places such as museums and theme parks.
EVERYDAY LIFE IN GERMANY: The ages when children do things Each country has different laws and customs about how young you must be to do some things, and old you are before you are allowed to do others.
Inter-cultural understanding You could talk with pupils about when you have to say how old you are. When does it affect how much you pay, or what you are allowed to do? ❑ Ask children when they (or their parents) are asked how old they are? ❑ Why does your age matter? ❑ As part of Citizenship/PHSE, talk with the class about legal age-limits: ❖ ask pupils why they are considered too young to buy cigarettes? ❖ do they know who commits an offence if they do buy them? ..child or retailer? ❖ should there be a minimum age to buy sweets? ❑ Swap information with your German exchange school about what age you need to be for different things (you could draw pictures to illustrate, and write the relevant age beside, plus any other information in your own language).
If you are too old, you are not permitted to use many children’s playgrounds. What should the age limit be?
In Germany, many children’s playgrounds display a notice stating an upper age limit. At fairgrounds, there is often a lower age limit before you are allowed onto a ride. German children may be asked their age when buying tickets for the cinema. This is because some films are not permitted to be viewed by children until they are 6; others for those under 12, or under 18. Also, the tickets are cheaper for younger children. 64
This page may be photocopied for classroom use
Š 2005 Early Start Languages