Conversation Class Lesson Plan
Section: Advanced Conversation
Date: 17. November 2009
Class theme/topics discussed: News in Germany
How did you pick this theme or topic? In the week before I had noticed that my students did not seem to know too much about what was going on in Germany a few years ago and even today. So I thought it might be interesting to talk about recent things that happened in Germany and how they are portrayed in the news.
How did you present the material? (handouts, group work, general discussion, student presentations, etc.)
To start off, we played the game 2 truths and a lie. Then we talked about how easy it is to tell a lie and how people believe it. I asked my students if they thought that media can be like that too, i.e. that news shows or newspapers sometimes told lies or changed stories to a certain extent. We then talked about things that recently happened in Germany and how they were portrayed in the news, I showed my students a few articles from the Bild Zeitung for that purpose. Then, I asked my students to design their own front page of the Bild Zeitung. They were supposed to write 3 true stories on something they thought was interesting and 1 lie about something they made up. The students typed their stories into the computer and we printed their ‘own newspaper’.
How did students react?
The students enjoyed the game at the beginning of the lesson and they enjoyed working on their own newspaper. They did not seem very interested in the articles I had brought.
Did they engage with each other and you?
Yes, the students talked a lot and raised some interesting questions. They were also very creative.
What materials or media did you use? (articles, satellite tv, digital projector, etc.)
Articles from the Bild Zeitung
Blank draft of the Bild Zeitung in word file
Computer
Would you recommend this activity for a future class? Why or why not?
Yes, the students had fun and they were very talkative. I would try to find different kinds of articles though.. maybe some that are more interesting to young students.