G1.11 family v20

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

11. Meine Familie My Family This section is pupils’ first real introduction to using nouns in German. They will hear the names of family relations, and learn that German nouns and their articles have different genders and cases.

They will see how to: ■ change the article to go with the noun; ■ make plurals of nouns they know; ■ say “my ....” and “no ....”; ■ say “I have ....”.

Families are a natural topic in children’s conversation, but the talk need not be restricted to their own personal circumstances: it can equally be about other families - famous or imaginary ones.

Be alert to children's sensitivities if you ask them to talk about their own family.

NEW WORDS AND PHRASES

die Familie - family der Vater - father die Mutter - mother der Bruder - brother die Schwester - sister der Opa - grandfather die Oma - grandmother das ist mein Vater that is my father das ist meine Mutter that is my mother hast du Geschwister? do you have any brothers or sisters?

DVD / VIDEO: film 11 Animated cartoons: The film starts with the German name for each family member: Brother: der Bruder Sister: die Schwester Father: der Vater Mother: die Mutter Grandfather: der Opa Grandmother: die Oma

ich habe einen Bruder I have a brother ich habe zwei Brüder I have two brothers ich habe eine Schwester I have a sister ich habe zwei Schwestern I have two sisters ich habe keine Geschwister I have no brothers or sisters CD Track 35

“Der Opa, die Oma” - from film 11.

A real life family in Boppard: Boy: “Das ist meine Mutter, das ist mein Vater und das ist mein Bruder.”

The family says: “Hallo!”

Children introducing their siblings: “Das ist meine Schwester, Miriam.”

“Das ist mein Bruder, Jakob.”

“Das ist meine Schwester, Luisa.”

“Das ist mein Bruder, Benedikt.”

“Das ist meine Mutter.” - from film 11.

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1.11

Meine Familie

Children show paintings of their families: “Das ist meine Familie, mein Bruder, mein Vater und ich.”

“Das ist meine Familie. Das ist mein Vater. Das ist meine Mutter. Das ist mein Bruder und das ist meine Schwester.”

“Das ist meine Familie. Das ist mein Vater, meine Mutter, mein Bruder, meine Schwester, mein Opa und meine Oma.”

“Ich habe zwei Brüder” - from film 11

Brothers and sisters: more than one Cartoon: “Ich habe zwei Brüder.” - I have two brothers.

“Ich habe zwei Schwestern.” - I have two sisters.

“Ich habe einen Bruder und zwei Schwestern.”

“Ich habe zwei Brüder und drei Schwestern.”

“Ich habe keine Geschwister.” - I have no brothers or sisters.

“Das ist meine Familie.” - from film 11.

QUESTION AND ANSWER:

Children reply to the question ”Hast du Geschwister?“ "Maxi, hast du Geschwister?” - “Ja, einen Bruder.”

"Rebekka, hast du Geschwister?”

- “Ja, eine Schwester.”

“Valentin, hast du Geschwister?”

- “Nein, ich habe keine Geschwister."

“Thomas, hast du Geschwister?”

- “Ja, einen Bruder, Benjamin.”

"Und Christina, hast du Geschwister?”

- “Ja, ich habe eine Schwester.”

The sequence finishes with a girl asking: “...und hast du Geschwister?”

You can pause the video here.

View the next part when pupils are happy with using the new words and “Das ist ...”.

First, see “How German Works 2”.

I have a brother / sister Animated cartoons and real life children answer the question, "Hast du Geschwister?" do you have any brothers or sisters?

Cartoon: “Ich habe einen Bruder und eine Schwester.”

Children: “Ich habe eine Schwester, Lisa.”

“Ich habe einen Bruder, Benedikt.”

“Ich habe eine Schwester, Miriam.”

“Ich habe eine Schwester, Anna.”

“Ich habe einen Bruder, Jakob.”

“Ich habe eine Schwester, Luisa.”

Planning your lessons Keep it simple!

Start by familiarising children with naming members of the family in German. Set habits that will be useful later: always attach “the” (der/ die/ das) to identfy the gender of each new noun.

When the family-names are familiar, try substituting “a / an ...”, “my ...” or “no ...” for “the ...” - and look at making nouns plural so pupils can count brothers and sisters.

The structure “das ist ...” is simplest grammatically; “ich habe ...” involves some small ending-changes which you could leave until later. With our focus on listening

“Ich habe einen Bruder, Benedikt.” - from film 11.

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E a r l y S t a r t G erman Pack 1 and speaking first, children will be listening closely for tiny sounds - and trying to reproduce them.

They can do lots of listening and talking, about famous and imaginary families, as well as each other’s.

M

KEY SOUNDS Listen to the sounds of...

“ ” as in Vater Heard before in:

DVD MARKERS

Long

vier

“ ” as in Bruder

Sounds like “shoe”, “moon”: heard in

1. Meine Familie - introducing new words 2. Different families - language in context 3. Plurals - language in context 4. Written words

gut

“ ” in Mutter

Compare with short

Also an “oo”, but like “put” or “wool”.

“ ”in Schwester, Geschwister

Use the skip key on your remote control

Heard before in

Activities

schön, schlecht

“ ”

as in Schwester Heard before in: Wetter

1. Warm up ❑ Before watching film 11, have a brief “warm up” session to remind pupils of how they have already used the structure “Das ist...” to name things in German, e.g. with names - Ch.1.4.

(Listen to the native speakers try to copy these typically German sounds) Audio CD Track 35

3. Get used to the sounds

2. Watch the film

❑ Echoing: Make flashcards from pictures of family members on the activity sheet, or show them on the OHP/ whiteboard.

❑ Watch film 11: “Meine Familie”. Stop the film at the pause point suggested earlier, and then before the written words are shown.

HOW GERMAN WORKS 1: Saying “the”, “a / an” and “my” with different German nouns In previous sections, pupils have already learnt some German nouns e.g. “das Wetter”, “das Wochenende”, “Auf Wiedersehen!” - generally as part of set phrases.

The word for “the” shows the noun’s gender Now they find out that German nouns are either masculine, feminine or neuter - and that there are different German words for “the”: “der” goes with masculine nouns (der Vater); “die” with feminine nouns (die Mutter); “das” with neuter nouns (das Wetter).

In this section, the gender of the nouns is obvious, but because it is not always so, you have to remember it.

Saying “a / an ...”

Use “ein / eine / ein” instead of “der / die / das”.

Saying “my ...”

Use “mein / meine / mein” instead of “der / die / das”.

Pupils hear examples of each in the film - see right.

Saying “no ...” follows the same pattern Use “kein / keine / kein” instead of “der / die / das”.

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MASCULINE NOUNS der Vater, der Bruder mein Vater Das ist... mein Bruder ein Bruder - a brother

Can you hear this sound?

FEMININE NOUNS die Mutter, die Schwester meine Mutter Das ist... meine Schwester eine Schwester - a sister

1.11

Meine Familie ❑ Play “Introducing my family” Introduce the class to a member of your makebelieve family, who could be a puppet, a soft toy, or another child dressed in a token garment to indicate they are, say, a grandma.

You say, e.g. “Ich heiße X, und das ist meine Oma.”, and prompt children to say, “Guten Morgen, Oma.”.

Ask children to introduce themselves and a member of their make-believe family to the class (or to their group) in the same way.

Show each picture to the class and name the family member in German without translating, e.g. “die Mutter” (don’t forget the article!).

Ask pupils to echo the phrase, paying attention to key sounds (see box). If you show the familygroup picture, make sure pupils echo two sounds at the end - i.e NOT “familee”!

4. Respond with understanding ❑ Play “find it” Place the flashcards around the classroom or hall. Name one of the family members, e.g. “der Opa” and ask a pupil (or group of pupils) to go and touch that card.

Repeat with other cards.

If you now introduce saying how many brothers/sisters you have, pupils meet a slight change in “a/an” after “Ich habe ...”, and the possibility of plurals.

You can take one step at a time: see “How German works 2 and 3”.

❑ Play “true or false” 1 You hold up one flashcard (or show one on the OHP/ whiteboard). As you do so, say the name of a family member.

If what you say matches the picture, pupils echo the words; if not, pupils remain silent.

HOW GERMAN WORKS 2: “Ich habe ...” and a noun

❑ Play “Who’s this?” 1 You show the class a picture and ask, “Das ist...?” Pupils tell you, e.g. “Das ist der Bruder.”

Two teams could compete to answer first.

Can you hear this sound?

Ich habe...

❑ Play “Listen for patterns” 1 In these activities, children watch parts of film 11, and listen hard to try and spot grammatical patterns in the language.

Play the first part of film 11 and listen for definite articles (“the”). Ask pupils to make a signal (e.g. touch their nose) when they hear a word with “die”. You could repeat for “der”.

Talk about: what is the difference between the two groups?

A: “die” words are feminine; “der” masculine.

Play the next part of film 11, and listen for possessive adjectives (“my”). Can pupils hear the difference between “mein” and “meine”?

Ask them to make different signals when they hear one or the other (e.g., touch ear, or hair).

Talk about: see if they can work out when the Germans say “mein” and “meine”?

A: “meine” goes with feminine words; “mein” masculine.

Can they hear the same pattern with “ein” and “eine”? -see “How German Works 1”.

einen Bruder eine Schwester

I have a (one) brother / sister Pupils may hear the slight change from saying “Das ist ein Bruder” to “Ich habe einen Bruder”.

English-speakers are used to making a similar change with pronouns, e.g.: “He is my brother” “He bit my brother” - “My brother bit him” We use "he” for naming (saying what he is), and for the SUBJECT that carries out the action (in this case, biting); but “him” for the direct OBJECT (that has the action done to it).

In German, the article “a/ an” changes in the same way, when their noun is the object of the sentence: “ein/ eine/ ein” becomes “einen/ eine/ ein” NOTE: it only changes with masculine nouns like “Bruder”. Compare: “Das ist eine Schwester” > “Ich habe eine Schwester”.

“Mein” and “kein” follow the same pattern:

Ich habe...

keinen Bruder

keine Schwester I don’t have a brother / sister

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E a r l y S t a r t G erman Pack 1 Repeat with another sign for “Schwestern”.

Talk about: can pupils hear any difference between the singular and plural of each word?

Can children mimic the different sounds?

4. Watch the film again ❑ Play “Listen for patterns” 2 Watch the second part of film 11: “Meine Familie” (after the pause point). Stop the film before the written words are shown.

In these activities, children again listen to spot grammatical patterns in the language they hear.

■ Listen for indefinite articles (“a/an”).

Ask pupils to make a signal (e.g. touch their lips) when they hear “eine”. Repeat for “einen”.

Talk about: when is each form used? (see “How German Works 2”).

❑ Echoing (counting 0-4 brothers or sisters): Show pictures from the brothers-and-sisters activity sheet on OHP/whiteboard, or as flashcards.

First just count: if the picture shows one girl, you say “eine Schwester”. Pupils echo the phrase.

Repeat this with two girls, three boys, etc. taking care with the pattern of plurals. ❑ Echoing (“Ich habe ....”): Show pictures from the brothers-and-sisters activity sheet again.

This time, use the phrase “Ich habe ...”; if the picture shows two girls, you say “Ich habe zwei Schwestern”. Pupils echo the phrase.

Repeat with different combinations.

Take care with “eine” and “einen” (see “How German Works 2”).

5. Get used to more sounds ❑ Echoing (“Ich habe ....”): Show selected pictures from the brothers-andsisters activity sheet on OHP/whiteboard, or as flashcards. If the picture shows a girl, you say: “Ich habe eine Schwester”.

Pupils echo the phrase.

Repeat with a boy card: “Ich habe einen Bruder”.

■ Then show a “no brothers-or-sisters” card: “Ich habe keine Geschwister”.

■ Show a “no brother” card, and say: “Ich habe keinen Bruder”; ■ Show a “no sister” card: “Ich habe keine Schwester” (see “Extra words and phrases 2”).

6. Respond with understanding ❑ Play “how many ... ?” - jumping up You could start by asking pupils to respond according to their own family.

You say “Ich habe einen Bruder”.

Pupils who have one brother jump up.

Now say “Ich habe zwei Brüder”; pupils with two brothers jump up.

Repeat this with three, four, brothers etc. in sequence. Then do the same with sisters.

4. Watch the film again ❑ Play “Listen for patterns” 3 Watch part 2 of film 11 again, listen for plural nouns. Ask pupils to make a signal (e.g. raise a thumb) when they hear “Brüder” (brothers).

HOW GERMAN WORKS 3: Saying HOW MANY brothers and sisters you have In film 11, pupils hear singular and plural forms of the nouns for brother and sister: “ein Bruder” and “zwei Brüder” (a slight vowel sound change, like “mouse” > “mice”); “eine Schwester” and “zwei Schwestern” (end sound added, like “ox” > “oxen”, “child” > “children”).

Pupils will meet more German nouns in Ch.1.14, and will see other ways to make plurals.

In German, you just have to remember each noun’s plural form - along with whether it is der, die or das.

Saying “the ...” with plurals “The” is the same for all plural nouns: “der / die / das” become “die”.

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Ich habe einen Bruder I have a (one) brother /two brothers Ich habe eine Schwester

I have a (one) sister /two sisters Also...

Ich habe keine Geschwister I have no brothers and (or) sisters

1.11

Meine Familie

Move on to include different combinations of brothers and sisters. Add the phrases “Ich habe keinen Bruder”, “Ich habe keine Schwester” and “Ich habe keine Geschwister” - until you have covered all the permutations in your class.

DEVELOPING CONVERSATION: “Who is in your family?”

When pupils say how many brothers or sisters they have, they can add their names as German children do in film 11:

❑ Play “how many ... ?” - pupils respond You move round the room, ask different pupils: “Hast du *Geschwister?” or “Hast du eine* Schwester? /...einen* Bruder?” (*Note the difference).

Pupils tell you about their family e.g. “Ja, ich habe zwei Brüder”.

When they are confident, you could also ask children what are the names of their brothers or sisters (see "Extra words and phrases”).

Pupil: “Ich habe zwei Schwestern, Susan und Emily.”

ASKING FOR EXTRA INFO If pupils are not so forthcoming, here are some suggestions for the teacher to prompt them to give the names of their brothers or sisters:

To add variety, give out picture cards.

Ask pupils to respond according to the card rather than their own circumstances.

EXTRA WORDS AND PHRASES 1 for the Teacher

❑ Play “how many ... ?” - hold up cards Make several copies of the brothers-and-sisters activity sheet and cut out the 15 cards. Mount them on stiff card if they are going to be handled regularly. Give each pupil one card.

You call out, e.g. “Ich habe 2 Brüder und 3 Schwestern”; pupils with cards showing two brothers and three sisters hold up their pictures.

You could divide the class into two, and make it a game to see who is first to hold up the card.

Swap cards after a few goes to vary what each child has to listen out for.

und deine Brüder, wie heißen sie?

und dein Bruder, wie heißt er? your brother, what’s his name?

your brothers, what are their names?

und deine Schwester, wie heißt sie? your sister, what’s her name?

und deine Schwestern, wie heißen sie? your sisters, what are their names?

CD Track 35

HOW PUPILS REPLY Encourage pupils to reply naturally, by just giving the names. Asking them to repeat your question in a “full sentence” makes language rather stilted - and might deter reluctant pupils.

❑ Play “how many ... ?” - pupils respond Again, give each pupil one flashcard.

You move round the room asking different pupils, “Hast du Geschwister?”.

Pupils reply according to the picture they hold. e.g. “Ja, ich habe zwei Brüder und eine Schwester”.

EXTRA WORDS AND PHRASES 2 ich habe ...

❑ Working in pairs: play “snap” Give each pupil a copy of the activity sheet with the groups of brothers and sisters, and ask them to cut out the cards. In pairs, pupils use a minimum of two sets to play ”snap”.

When two identical cards appear one after the other, the first child to correctly call out what is on the card, collects the pile.

keinen Bruder keine Schwester

I have no brother / sister or

I don’t have a brother / sister NOTE: “kein..” follows the same pattern as “mein..” and “ein..”

- see “How German works 2” CD Track 35 111

E a r l y S t a r t G erman Pack 1 ❑ Working in pairs: play “Happy Families” See Ch.1.13, “Die Farben” for a version of this game, using colours and family vocabulary.

by gender, singular/plural, language (German/English/any others they know). ❑ Literacy / storytelling: Pupils can look at a suitable story book with German text, or parallel German/ English texts - like “What’s for Supper?”.

Watch the film again ❑ Watch film 11: “Meine Familie” again for reinforcement - show the last part if you want to introduce the written word ...

Introduce the written word The last part of film 11 shows each key word and phrase superimposed on the pictures. If you have not already done so, talk to pupils about how the plurals of ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ are spoken and written.

CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES ❑ Data handling and ICT: Pupils can do a class survey to find out how many people have different numbers of brothers and sisters.

The survey can be conducted in German and the results presented in a graph.

A screen from the CD-ROM story: “What’s for Supper?” with German and English texts - see www.earlystart.co.uk.

Set children a “language detective” task, e.g. to pick out German nouns (you could limit this to, say, up to 10 words; or only feminine nouns; or nouns with more than 4 syllables ...

Pupils could present their findings to the class.

You could work together at using your knowledge of “key sounds” to pronounce the words authentically.

See web site for examples of suitable stories. ❑ Dictionary skills: Some pupils may want to try using a suitable bilingual dictionary to find the plural of German words they know.

One format is: die Schwester, ~n which tells you to add “n” to the body of the word. ❑ Drama: Pupils can use their puppets to develop conversations which include the new words and phrases they have learnt for talking about their families.

This will give them practice in asking questions as well as responding to them.

❑ Art and design: Pupils can draw pictures of their own family, or a famous family of their choice (perhaps one from Ch.1.4).

They can then present their pictures to the rest of the class as the children do on the film.

❑ Drama: Pupils who enjoy role-playing can develop extended conversations which involve talking about and introducing their families.

The children could make up names for themselves and pretend to be families meeting in a particular context such as moving into a new house or flat, meeting outside school, etc.

❑ ICT: Pupils can word-process labels in German for their pictures. ❑ Thinking skills: Give pupils word-cards for nouns they know.

Ask them to divide the cards into groups, e.g.: 112

1.11

Meine Familie Other names for members of pupils’ families

Talking point

EXTRA WORDS AND PHRASES Mama - mum/mummy Papa - dad/daddy der Onkel - uncle die Tante - aunt der Großvater - grandfather (formal) die Großmutter - grandmother (formal) der Stiefbruder - step-brother* die Stiefschwester - step-sister* * see note below: “Evolution of family life”.

Everyday life in Germany: How many brothers and sisters?

Germany is the most prosperous country in Europe, but for the last 30 years, its families have, on average, been the smallest. Spain and Ireland have the biggest families of all the 25 EU states. Germany has the most people living alone, and the most child-less couples.

The generation of German women born in 1955 (now at the end of their childbearing years) had on average 1.67 children, compared with 2.03 in UK, and 2.67 in the Irish Republic.

This means that a typical German child has one brother or sister, or is an only child.

CD Track 35 You may choose to introduce these extra words only on demand, when asked for by pupils.

Inter-cultural understanding ■ Exchange information with your German partner school about how many brothers and sisters each pupil has.

■ Pupils could draw all the people in their household, perhaps in a typical family scene.

They could add labels in German with the names and ages of their brothers and sisters, and swap the pictures with a class in a German-speaking country.

■ You could talk with the class about being part of a larger family, or being an only child. ❒ - how is it different? ❒ - do they like being an older/younger brother/sister? ❒ - how big a family would they like to have?

A family this big would be very unusual in modern Germany.

The trend of small families is likely to continue.

When asked, fewer German young people want to have more than 2 children - 17% do not want to have children at all (the highest in the EU).

The former East Germany had the lowest birth rate in the world in the 1990s, a time of rapid change with the end of Communism. Many young people have deserted eastern towns, seeking a better life in western cities and Berlin.

Germany’s population is aging. Today’s grandparents date from the last “babyboom” of the 1960s. As they retire and die, the population would shrink from 83 to 60 million by 2050 - if it were not for immigration.

Migration to America In the 19th century, Germany’s population grew from 22 to 63 million, an even faster rise than Britain’s. Many sons and daughters of large families migrated across the Atlantic in

search of jobs and land to farm, creating a huge German-American community (see Ch.1.1).

Evolution of family life Throughout Europe many children today live in households that include children from other relationships of their present “mum” or “dad”.

In casual conversation, a child from such a “mixed” family would be used to counting all of the children they live with as their “brothers” or “sisters”. We include some useful extra vocabulary in case it is required.

For more information, see www.earlystart.co.uk.

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Hast du Geschwister? Ich heiĂ&#x;e.................

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Meine Familie

Ich heiĂ&#x;e.............................

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Š 2005 Early Start Languages

Meine Familie Ich heiĂ&#x;e................................

This page may be photocopied for classroom use

Š 2005 Early Start Languages