Why use challenging or literary texts? broaden vocab reactivate existing knowledge of vocab and structures emotional engagement cultural knowledge thinking skills enjoyment (not ‘my pencil case’) cognitive level creativity cross-curricular developing comprehension strategies

Principle 5 READING AND LISTENING Learners need to be taught how to access a greater range of more challenging spoken and written texts, through explicit instruction in comprehension strategies and in the relationship between the written and spoken forms.

Aims Develop phonological decoding Engaging with and appreciating ‘authentic’ sources Learn about German speaking cultures – broadening horizons Developing strategic reading for comprehending challenging material Expanding vocab and grammatical knowledge – lower frequency items Reflect on the nature of translation; develop skill in translating Develop English literacy? Liaise with English department? History? Music??

Choosing texts Short  Extracts? Songs? Poems? Topics  Interest and accessibility. Media  Wanted to make use of a variety of media to give students a way in. Youtube was crucial. Hard but engaging text vs easy but boring text. Personal preference and choice quite important.

Interpretationen

Series of about 6 lessons Classwork where we explored Rilke’s der Panther in a variety of ways. Pre-activating knowledge of text forms (letter, poem etc) Pre-activating vocabulary and topic knowledge by watching performance of poem with music. Target language discussion. Wie ist die Atmosphäre? Wie ist der Rhythmus? If this poem were about an animal, what kind of animal could it be? Why? Focussing on decoding of key sounds in the poem. The poem form fitted really well with this for example the assonance used in the poem, really focussed on the tricky ä sound and listening to the performance really highlighted that sound. Reading with reading strategies and using the knowledge they have already gained to pick out key words / phrases they understand. Supporting with google translate, or rough translations. Showing the difficulties of using google, but also the skills needed to work with google effectively (and the art of translation).

InstrumenteRhythmusTon / Atmosphäre FarbenLichtSonstiges (other)

Ä Käse Atmosphäre St/sp Stop sport Z Zoo Ei Kein mein ie Spielen wie V vier

Hausaufgaben für Mittwoch 26. November Wähle eine Aufgabe: Choose a task and complete for homework. 1) Research the poet Rainer Maria Rilke and find out what he was famous for. Bring in your notes (no copying and pasteting). Can be in English. 2) Record yourself saying the poem paying attention to tone and pronunciation. Use the sound banks to help you. it to: 3) Write out a neat version of Der Panther by hand (for display) and illustrate it to match the mood and message of the poem. 4) Create your own German poem about an animal of your choice. German words rhyme quite easily but you could use to help. 2) Find a poem about an animal (can be any language) and compare it to ‘der Panther’. Which do you prefer (in German)? Ich finde der Panther besser/nicht so gut, weil….. Der Panther ist… während (name of other poem) …… ist. Der Panther is …. whereas….. is….

His view is from the going past of bars so tired become, that it nothing more holds. it is, as if there were thousand bars and behind thousand bars no world. The soft pace smooth strong steps which itself in smallest circle turns, is like a dance of strength around a middle, in which numbed a big will stands. Only sometimes pushes the curtain of the pupil itself silently open – then goes a picture in goes through the limbs tense stillness and stops to be in the heart.

Ich finde das Gedicht…. I find the poem…. Das Gedicht handelt von…. The poem is about…. Die Stimmung/Atmosphäre ist…. The mood/atmosphere of the poem is…. Ein wichtiges Wort im Gedicht ist…. weil….. An important word in the poem is….because… Ein wichtiger Satz im Gedicht ist…. weil… An important line in the poem is….because… Ich denke der Dichter möchte sagen, dass….. I think the poet would like to say that…. Meine Lieblingsinterpretation ist….weil My favourite interpretation of the poem is… because…. stimmungsvolltraurig stolz frustrierteffektivder Käfig einsamer langweilt sichverschwendetes Potential eingeschränktdie Kraftmüderhythmischlangsam Beindruckendder Ton

Finde die Gegensätze: Zum Beispiel:Warm – Kalt traurig laut langsam romantisch modern nachdenklich froh kühl ruhig schnell altmodisch krass

Instrumente? Ton? Atmosphäre? Alter? Exploring Lili Marlen song in similar ways but also applying a historical context.

Ich verstehe nicht ‘…’ I don’t understand ‘…’ Was für..? What kind of… Wie sagt man…? How do you say ….? Was heisst….? What does …. mean? Was für ein Text ist das? Wie ist die Atmosphäre? Wie fühlt sich der Sänger / die Sängerin? Wie alt ist das Lied? Warum denkst du das? Was für ein Lied ist das? Warum existiert es?

For this reading exercise I…. 1. looked at any pictures, read any titles or instructions, identified type of text e.g. /poem etc. 2.thought of any words or phrases I might read 3.looked for words I already know 4.tried to pick out cognates or near cognates 5.tried to work out a word by using the words around it i.e. using the context 6.asked myself if the meaning of the word ‘fits’ in the context. 7.Looked for words which have something in common with the point of the text. 8.looked at longer words to see if I could break them down to work out their meaning 9.used my general knowledge to think about what the unknown word might logically mean 10.used what I know about sentence structure to work out what kind of a word it is (noun/adjective/verb)

Lili Marleen Vor der Kaserne Vor dem großen Tor Stand eine Laterne Und steht sie noch davor So woll'n wir uns da wieder seh'n Bei der Laterne wollen wir steh'n Wie einst Lili Marleen. Unsere beide Schatten Sah'n wie einer aus Daß wir so lieb uns hatten Das sah man gleich daraus Und alle Leute soll'n es seh'n Wenn wir bei der Laterne steh'n Wie einst Lili Marleen. Deine Schritte kennt sie, Deinen zieren Gang Alle Abend brennt sie, Doch mich vergaß sie lang Und sollte mir ein Leid gescheh'n Wer wird bei der Laterne stehen Mit dir Lili Marleen? 6mlATGr211OAiZahSNXquDwI7HrdT 6mlATGr211OAiZahSNXquDwI7HrdT

1.das Gedicht 2.der Brief 3.das Lied 4.die Farben 5.traurig 6.laut 7.der Ton 8.langsam 9.altmodisch 10.Ich verstehe nicht 11.Wie sagt man…? 12.Was heiβt..? 13.die Laterne 14.der Krieg 15.die Soldaten 14.das Tier 15.das Schlagzeug 16.die Geige 17.die Strophe 18.einsam 19.unwohl 20.müde 21.die Angst Examples of the kind of vocabulary students were noting down and coming across repeatedly during the course of the lessons. Not particularly obscure.

Finally students had an ‘assessment’ lesson where they applied the skills independently to a third poem, der Pflaumenbaum, by Berthold Brecht.

Some student responses: I’m really pleased with my translation actually. I think it’s quite good! I really enjoyed that! When can we go back to doing real German? Really depends on the student. Some students seem to prefer the creativity of it. They like the ‘arty-ness’ of it. They can engage with the feelings and the topics. There were about 7 students in the class that responded particularly well, almost as if this was the first real challenge they were having (despite being in a top set class). Some students clearly felt out of their comfort zone. First lesson was a novelty, second lesson was a slog and then by the end they were more comfortable with and eager to show what they knew, or at least test themselves and get some feedback.

Decoding focus 1)Looking at der Panther we talked through some key sounds, using well known words as a starting point. 2)Students looked at der Panther and in pairs identified where these key sounds appeared in the text. They then practised reading these in pairs. 3)Students had already heard the performance, which at this stage proved really useful as they heard the assonance and rhymes and ‘noticed’ these more than in a normal text. 4)We did some group reading and peer assessment. 5)Students worked individually to practise reading der Plaumenbaum and I recorded them. The only help they had was the previous lesson input and a reminder of the key sounds on the board. 6)Evaluation: Students still made mistakes in pronunciation, but on sounds we hadn’t focussed on. Students were very accurate on the sounds we have practised and which they were told to focus on. Listen to examples.

Ä Käse Atmosphäre St/sp Stop sport Z Zoo Ei Kein mein ie Spielen wie V vier

Eh gehe O/or Tor! Ah Jahre Ch ich W wie