G1.10 alphabet v13

E a r l y S t a r t G erman Pack 1

10. Das Alphabet The alphabet This section helps pupils to recognise German letter names and sounds when words are spelt out. It helps develop pupils’ reading and writing skills in the new language.

If you have decided to concentrate on pupils’ speaking and listening skills for the time being, it might be confusing for them to spell out words.

You may decide pupils are not ready to learn all 27 sounds for the alphabet. As a first step, you could set a limited and achievable target - learn how to spell their own name, using German names for letters.

We suggest activities to give children practice using the German alphabet. Partial knowledge will help them see patterns that will make it easier to learn other letters.

Because German spelling is quite regular, you can focus on how typical German sounds are written. This will help children work out how to say unfamiliar German words when they read them.

Later on it may be worth revisiting this section. Learning how to understand words spelt out in an authentic German way will be useful for acquiring new vocabulary.

“Talking points” look at: the invention of printing in Germany; school handwriting styles; spelling reform; and some organisations known by their initials.

NEW WORDS AND PHRASES We hear the German names for the letters A-Z, then ß:

A B C D E F G H I J KL M N O PQR S T U V W X Y Z ß wie schreibt man...? how to you write/spell...? der/ein Buchstabe the/a letter (of the alphabet) CD Track 34

DVD/ VIDEO: film 10 Alphabet circus animation Children walk into the circus “big top”, where they see the animated letters A-Z perform as circus acrobats.

We hear the German name of each letter as it does its turn in the ring.

Alphabet Song: Children from the Grundschule in Boppard sing the Alphabet Song (see music later in chapter).

Children spelling out their names: Ich heiße Antonia: A-N-T-O-N-I-A Ich heiße Sophie: S-O-P-H-I-E Ich heiße Valentin: V-A-L-E-N-T-I-N

Scene from film 10: “Das Alphabet”.

The letters perform in an animated circus -“W”.

Scene from film 10: “Das Alphabet”.

Ich heiße Sophie: S-O-P-H-I-E.

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1.10 Das Alphabet NOTE: Most of the language in the following classroom sequences is intended for "gisting", i.e. pupils should be able to work out the gist of what happens from the words they already know, by looking at the pictures, and by finding out key words. Do not translate word-for-word!

Hangman: Herr Dünnwald: Wir spielen jetzt "Galgenmännchen" (Now we are going to play "Hangman").

Das Wort ist aus einem Märchen.

(The word is from a fairy story).

Welche Buchstaben? Martin? ...

(Which letters?)

Martin: "O"?

Herr Dünnwald: Nein! Julia?

Julia: Ein "E"?

Herr Dünnwald: Ja! Richtig! (Yes! That's right).

Der nächste Buchstabe? (The next letter?)

Sabrina?

Sabrina: "S"?

Herr Dünnwald: Richtig. Prima! Anja?

(That's right. Excellent).

Film 10: Lukas guesses the next letter: "Ein "Q"?

Herr Dünnwald: Ja, das stimmt. Schön. Lina?

(Yes, that's correct. Lovely).

Lina: Ein "P"?

Herr Dünnwald: Das ist richtig. Lukas?

(That's right).

Lukas: Ein"Q"?

Herr Dünnwald: Das ist leider nicht richtig.

(I'm afraid that's not right).

Wie heißt der nächste Buchstabe?

(What's the next letter called?) Tim? Tim: Ein"J"?

Herr Dünnwald: Nein. Auch nicht. (No. Also not right). Ja, Lisa?

Lisa: Ein "M"?

Herr Dünnwald: Richtig Lisa! Gut! (That's right Lisa! Good!) Ja, Simon?

Simon: Ist es "Rumpelstielzchen?*" Herr Dünnwald: Richtig! Du hast recht.

(That's right! You're right).

R-U-M-P-E-L-S-T-I-E-L-Z-C-H-E-N* Sehr gut. (Very good). *NOTE: more common spelling is “RUMPELSTILZCHEN”.

Classroom activity with “Eszett” - “ß”: Herr Dünnwald: Doppel "S" (Double "S") ..." ß".

Wie schreibt man "heiß“?

(How do you spell "heiß“ (hot). Elisa ...

Elisa: H-E-I-ß.

Film 10: Herr Dünnwald’s class plays “Galgenmännchen”.

Anya: "R"?

Herr Dünnwald: Ja ... schön. (Yes ... lovely) Lea? Lea: Ein "A"?

Herr Dünnwald: Das ist leider nicht richtig.

(I'm afraid that isn't right).

Der nächste Buchstabe? Sascha?

Sascha: Ein"U"?

Herr Dünnwald: Prima! Das ist richtig.

Stephanie? (Excellent! That's right).

Stephanie: Ein "K"?

Herr Dünnwald: "K" kommt nicht vor. Nein. ("K" isn't there. No). Philip?

Philip: Ein "B"?

Herr Dünnwald: Nein. Auch nicht. Linda?

(No. Also not there).

Linda: Ein "C"?

Film 10: Elisa spells: “heiß” on the board.

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E a r l y S t a r t G erman Pack 1 Herr Dünnwald: Schön. Vielen Dank.

(Lovely. Thank you).

Das nächste Word: wie schreibt man “Wasser“?

(The next word: how do you spell “Wasser“? (water) Martin ...

Martin: W-A-S-S-E-R. Herr Dünnwald: Ja. Prima!. Vielen Dank.

(Yes. Excellent! Thank you).

Wie schreibt man "Schluss"? Lara?

(How do you spell "Schluss"(=end)?

Lara: S-c-h-l-u-s-s.

Herr Dünnwald: Gut. Dankeschön.

(Good. Thank you).

Und das Word "Fuß"?

(And the word "Fuß"? - foot).

Wer weißt wie man "Fuß" schreibt?

(Who knows how to spell "Fuß"?)

Wer war noch nicht? Maximillian?

(Who hasn't had a go yet?)

Maximillian: F-U-ß.

Herr Dünnwald: Dankeschön. Super!

(Thank you. Super!).

Ja, setz dich bitte.

(Yes, sit down please).

"Wasser", "Schluss" mit Doppel "s"; ... (.....with double "s"; ) ... und "heiß" und "Fuß" mit "ß". (.....with "ß").

M

KEY SOUNDS Listen to the sounds of:

“ ” as in V Heard before in :

vier

“ ” as in W Heard before in :

warm

A, H, K - “ah” sound B, C, D, E, G, P, T, W -“eh” sound F, L, M, N, R, S, Z - “e” sound Q, U - “oo” sound

“ ” as in Buchstabe Heard before in :

Mittwoch

“ ” as in Buchstabe Heard before in :

schneit

CD Track 34

Activities 1. Warm up ❑ Start the lesson asking pupils “Wie heißt du?” from section 4 in a “relay” to remind children of how to say their names, as they will soon be learning how to spell their names .

DVD MARKERS

1. A-Z - introducing each letter 2. Singing the alphabet - reinforcement 3. Spelling names - letters used in context 4. Hangman - letters used in context 5. "SS" and "ß"- introducing "ß" and see it

2. Watch the film ❑ Watch film 10: “Das Alphabet”, giving children the chance to join in as the sounds of the alphabet letters become familiar.

used in context.

Use the skip key on your remote control

3. Get used to the sounds

Planning your lessons

❑ Echoing: Display the letters A to Z on the board or OHP. Say each letter and ask pupils to echo it.

Repeat this several times, encouraging the children to relish the sounds they are making.

Learning 27 letter-names matched up to the letters A-Z and ß might be a fairly daunting task for most children.

Comparing the German and English alphabets helps identify some of the patterns in how sounds and writing correspond in each language.

Plan activities to start pupils with a manageable target such as spelling their own name, followed with some spelling activities from those suggested.

❑ Echoing: Show the video circus animation of the alphabet again. Ask pupils to echo the letters as they hear them. ❑ Sing the Alphabet Song: Sing the song together, so the rhythm and music help children remember the letters in sequence.

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1.10 Das Alphabet ❑ Echoing - back-writing: As you say a letter, each pupil writes it on the back of the child on their left (or in the air).

Repeat until children are familiar with the feel.

❑ Comparing, looking for patterns: When pupils are echoing the German alphabet, pay attention to sounds featured previously: “ ” as in V; “ ” as in W; “ ” as in Z; also “ ” as in J (sounds like “y” in the English “yacht”; heard before in “Ja”).

Then look at four groups of letters whose German names contain the same sound.

■ Display the letters: “B C D E G P T W”.

Compare with the English names. (In English, they all have an “ee” sound, except “W”.

Can children hear the difference in “G”?)

■ Display the letters: “A H K”, and compare with the English names.

(In English, they all have an “ay” sound).

■ Display the letters: “F L M N R S Z”, which all have the “e” sound as in the English “bet”.

Which have the same name in English?

(It is “R” and “Z” that differ).

■ Display the letters: “Q U”, and compare with the English names.

(In English, both have a harder “you” sound).

■ Now display the letters: “I J O X Y”.

Compare their German and English names.

❑ Rhyming letters: You call out a letter; ask pupils to give you another that rhymes. Gradually build up a display of 4 groups - see “looking for patterns”.

4. Respond with understanding ❑ Whose name am I spelling?

You spell out a pupil’s name at a deliberate pace. As soon as a pupil recognises their name, they stand up. Other children can be allowed to call out the name too.

You could give points for guessing the word correctly before you have finished spelling it. ● Adapt the game to play with German towns or other sets of words. ● You can also play a team game - first team to call out the word correctly wins the point. ❑ Play “Wie heißt du?” in pairs, v.1 When pupils have learnt how to spell their names, they can play “Wie heißt du?” in pairs.

Ask them to introduce themselves to someone who cannot hear clearly, e.g.

Pupil 1: “Hallo! Wie heißt du?”

Pupil 2: “Sophie.”

Pupil 1: (Gestures that s/he has not heard).

Pupil 2: “S-O-P-H-I-E ... Sophie.”

Pupil 1: “Sophie! Hallo! Ich heiße Lisa” - etc.

❑ Alphabet Relay: Use a soft toy to pass on responsibility for keeping up the sequence.

You say the first letter; toss the toy to a pupil, who says the next and tosses it to another child.

When pupils are confident, start them with any letter (not always “A”); then try it in reverse.

❑ Play “Wie heißt du?” in pairs, v.2 This is a variation on the previous game which can be played when pupils are confident with all the letters of the alphabet.

This time give pupil 1 in each pair a slip of paper with a German name written on it. You could use the names of famous German people or real German first names such as those included in video section 4: “Wie heißt du?”. ● Pupils can also play this with their puppets.

❑ Echoing out-of-sequence: Write letters at random on the board, say each letter and ask pupils to echo it. ❑ Echoing - spell out pupils’ names: You pick a pupil, and lead the class in chanting out the spelling of their name.

At the early stages, you could help by writing individuals' names on the board and pronouncing the letters yourself whilst the pupil repeats them - with the rest of the class.

If pupils have adopted a German name for use in language lessons (see Ch.1.4), you could spell those names as well.

Gradually pupils become familiar with the letter-sounds that spell their own name.

❑ Back-writing games (in pairs) Pupil 1 writes a word on pupil 2’s back.

Pupil 2 calls out the German name of each letter as it is written, and (for 1 point) tries to guess the word before pupil 1 finishes.

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E a r l y S t a r t G erman Pack 1 ■ Ask children to make each letter say its name in German; a surprising visual effect could follow. They could present “A B C D...”, spell a child’s name, or a German word they know.

Each group could present to the whole class, who could then choose the best presentation.

❑ Play “Hangman” (“Galgenmännchen”) Like the class shown in the film, you could guess names or familiar words, calling out the German names of the alphabet letters. ● This game is also available on the e-CD. ● Pupils could write the letters in a style taught in Germany (see “talking point 2”).

Talking point 1

5. Watch film 10 again ❑ Show film 10: “Das Alphabet” regularly for reinforcement. Encourage pupils to echo the letters as they hear them.

German Spelling Reform In 2000, many German words were made easier to spell, with simpler rules - the result of many years’ discussions between Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and Duden, the German dictionary publisher. Duden gives the official legal spelling for state schools and exams - but it is not binding anywhere else (you cannot be arrested for a spelling mistake!).

The biggest change they considered was to stop capitalising every noun - no other language in the world does it. That was shelved: research found it helps children learn to read. Some British teachers said English should do it too!

They did go ahead with spelling some imported words more like German ones: e.g. “das telefon” replaced “das telephon”.

They also made clearer rules about when to write “ß” or “ss”. Switzerland had already gone further and stopped using “ß” altogether.

■ If your class were given a similar job to reform English spelling, what words would they change?

■ What major countries speak English? Do you think they could agree on a Spelling Reform?

■ Collect examples of American-English spelling and word differences: e.g. “tyre” and “tire”; “pavement” and “sidewalk”.

Extension activities ❑ On the OHP/whiteboard, show a German word that children know, e.g. “das Wetter”.

Introduce the words for consonant and vowel, capital and lower-case letter (see “extra words and phrases”).

Point to the “W” as you say, “ein Großbuchstabe”; ask children to echo. Repeat for “ein Vokal”, etc - until they are familiar with the German terms. ❑ Guess the word You think of a word and say to the class e.g.: “6 Buchstaben; 2 Vokale und 4 Konsonanten”.

Ask pupils to guess the word (“Wetter”). ● When you play “Hangman”, you could give a similar description of the word as a clue.

CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES ❑ Music: Pupils can sing the German alphabet to the tune in film 10: “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” (NOTE: tune is by Mozart, based on a French children’s song - see music at end of chapter. Lyrics from a poem “The Star” by Jane Taylor in 1806.)

● Ask pupils to make up their own tune or chants to sing the German alphabet. ❑ ICT Multimedia project: Make a talking German alphabet Ask groups of children to present all or part of the German alphabet using a multimediaauthoring package.

Many have facilities to present both sound and simple animations, and some “talking wordprocessors” include a German voice synthesizer that will speak a list of letters pronounced in the German way. Other packages offer the facility for children to record the letter-sounds in an audio file - see www.earlystart.co.uk.

HOW GERMAN WORKS 2: German Spelling Reform and ‘ß’ We saw in Ch.1.4 that "ß" and "ss" sound identical, making it difficult even for Germans to know which to use when spelling a word.

The recent Spelling Reform gave Germans a simple rule: ◆ after a long vowel, the “ß” is used - e.g.

Ich heiße, weiß (white), Fußball (football), ◆ after a short vowel, “ss" is used - e.g. essen ('to eat"), Wasser (water).

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1.10 Das Alphabet

Talking point 2

Talking point 3

Everyday life in Germany: German handwriting

Johannes Gutenberg (1395?-1468?) & the invention of printing The man who is now widely recognised throughout the world as the “inventor of printing” is one of the most famous Germans who ever lived. Gutenberg had a troubled life, forced to work in secret for fear that others would steal his inventions or ban his books.

In those days books were hand-copied, usually for the Church or royal rulers. The Bible took years to copy; inevitably each was different, but beautifully decorated. Maybe 1,000 books a year were completed in the whole of Europe.

Gutenberg’s aim was to produce an “artificiallywritten” Bible (in Latin) that looked as good as those hand-copied. He made a master-set of raised letters in metal, with a-z, capitals and punctuation - designed to look like the “black” or Gothic writing in manuscripts. Then he cast dozens of identical copies of each set or “font”.

Cultural awareness The activity sheets show the alphabet written in a typical handwriting style German children are taught in school.

The sheet also includes some letter combinations they are asked to practise.

In film 10, children write on the board in a very similar style. Pupils may notice the distinctive way each letter is formed in one or two pen strokes. Look out for this in any handwritten communications from German children.

■ Pupils can copy the letters on the sheets, and try to work out the pen-strokes.

■ They can compare the letters with their own handwriting style(s).

■ Each child can use this style to write their name, and also to play “Galgenmännchen” (Hangman).

Metal letters are made back-to-front and sorted in a wooden case. After printing, the text is broken up and re-used.

The letters for each word were picked out, and set in a holder. He spread thick ink carefully over the raised letters, keeping the spaces clean.

He pressed a sheet of paper down firmly on the inked letters. When lifted up, it had a perfect copy of the text.

EXTRA WORDS AND PHRASES

der/ein Großbuchstabe - an upper case letter der/ein Kleinbuchstabe - a lower case letter der/ein Vokal - a vowel der/ein Konsonant- a consonant CD Track 34 101

E a r l y S t a r t G erman Pack 1 Modern printing Today pupils at school use computers to produce pages of text and illustrations. Printing was once hard, dirty work; a skilled type-setter could do it by hand as fast as a touch-typist.

In the 1880s, type-setting machines were invented: the operator just typed the words on a keyboard and the machine produced the galley. This made type-setting even faster which made it possible to print the late evening’s news in a newspaper, for people to read the following morning.

Designing a typeface The early printers had to work out how to design letters so they were easy to read and made an attractive page layout:

Gutenberg’s Bible used black print look like a manuscript, and was finished by hand with coloured decorations.

Gutenberg’s struggles Gutenberg borrowed money from partners to buy materials and hire craftsmen, promising to pay them back when he had books to sell. But there were so many snags to overcome, and Gutenberg was a perfectionist.

When he could not pay his debts, he had to flee from one of Germany’s “fairy-tale kingdoms” to another. Finally when success was near, his partners persuaded the court in Mainz to seize his precious type and machinery - they used them to complete the Bible without him.

It took six men to set the type. They could print 300 sheets of paper a day; each was finished with hand-coloured capital letters and pictures like the best medieval manuscripts. They made 180 Bibles in 3 years - the time it took for ONE to be hand-copied.

The spread of printed books Gutenberg could not stop anyone copying his invention. By the early 1500's, German printers had spread printing throughout Europe - they did most of the earliest work.

In Italy, Aldus Manutius invented Italic type, based on the sloping hand-writing used by Italian clerks writing official documents. In Paris, they developed Roman type (see diag.2).

By the late 1500's, printing made books much cheaper. Thousands read them, but Kings and Church were anxious to control the spread of new ideas - especially if Bibles were printed in their own language (see Luther, Ch.1.4).

Printers stopped imitating manuscripts. Each book was an exact copy, so people knew what the author had said (without errors) - and they were named on a title page. Pages could be numbered, with a contents page and index.

>

>

Capital / upper case letter ascender cap height x-height

>

> descender

base line lower case letters

(1) They designed letters to fit between invisible lines.

■ they designed letters to fit together, making the main shape the same as the height of a lowercase “x”. Only capitals, “ascenders” and “descenders” went above or below. From a distance, each line makes a tidy block of text.

(2) a Roman font with Serifs (end-strokes)

■ Diagram 2 shows a “Roman” font, with “serifs”: lines and knobs added to the ends of the letter strokes. Early Roman sculptors found that serifs helped cover ragged edges when they chiselled letters in stone. Diagram 1 shows a “sans-serif” font, with no serifs.

(3) Fancy fonts follow the rules - but keep them for headings.

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1.10 Das Alphabet ■ What would be a fair test of legibility? (for example, should you time how quickly it could be read, or measure from what distance?)

They could print out each, and ask children to mark them (or place them in order) for attractiveness and fitness for purpose: Would you like to read a book in this font?

Would this font be good for a notice advertising a school play or fund-raising event? ... or for a letter from the school to parents on a serious matter?

Talkng points ❑ Discuss the idea of copyright and patents.

■ Was it fair that Gutenberg invented something really useful, but - when he had overcome all the problems - lots of other people copied his ideas?

What makes type easier to read?

■ serifs help draw your eye along the line.

■ lowercase letters have more distinctive shapes than capitals.

■ high “x-height”, especially with small type.

■ not using too many fonts: keep the body of the text in one font. Keep any fancy fonts for the headings. ❑ The class could do an experiment. Write a few sentences of text on a word processor, then print it out in different fonts to test the ideas above.

Time how fast each can be read out loud.

Cross-curricular activities ❑ ICT / Art & design: Let pupils design their own font, and use it to display their name - or a significant German word. ❑ ICT: Experiment with type Gutenberg and other printers worked hard to design sets of letters that looked good and were easy to read on the printed page.

Ask the class to do an experiment in groups, to compare some of the fonts on their computers.

As a class agree on a fair test, e.g. present the same text in different fonts, and ask children to read them.

They could try Roman, Italic and Sans-serif fonts - also some really fancy ones, and as near as you can get to Gutenberg’s Gothic font.

(Do inventors need an incentive? You could refer to the example of AIDS drugs for Africa: drug companies fund expensive research, and take the risk that a useful drug may result, but poor people are dying and cannot afford them).

■ What is wrong with people making “pirate” copies of music CDs and selling them? ❑ Discuss the idea of censorship: ■ Why did many European Church leaders and Kings try to stop the Bible being printed in people’s own language, rather than Latin?

■ Why do many governments today try to control what people write in books and newspapers, and show on TV; and to read private letters and e-mails?

SONG: Das Alphabet

C A

Em B

C

Dm G L

M

N

O

F U

F D

E

C

C

P

L

F

M

C V

W

N

C

F

G

H

Em

F

O

P

Q

Dm X

R

G

Y------------------

CD Tracks: 11-song 12-karaoke 103 102

C I

J

C S

C Z

T

K

Ich heiße ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

This page may be photocopied for classroom use.

© 2005 Early Start Languages

Ich heiße ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

This page may be photocopied for classroom use.

© 2005 Early Start Languages