Language Resident/Assistant Name: Eva Saunders
Day and Date: 4/29/2021
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Intermediate/Advanced
Class theme/topics discussed: Environmental pollution and protection
Goal of the class: Being able to talk about how to protect the environment
How did you structure the class?
A) “Word of The Day” Game: Students are given a very specific and not well known word that fits the topic of the day (For example a slang word: “Schmarotzer”). They write a quick description of what they think the word could be (on a card, piece of paper, or in Zoom they would privately message you). When all have submitted their description, you read all of them, including the correct one and let the students guess which one is right. I do this at the beginning of every class as an ice breaker, but it can also be done as a quick random activity.
B) Green Politics Vocabulary: Give each student or group of students a few words relating to environmental protection (see examples below) . The students shall find pictures that illustrate each word and write a description of what each word means.
C) Household items: (See examples below) Together with the students, go through pictures of machines or appliances and let them fill out the English words (or ask them and fill in for them). Pronounce each German word together.
D) Discussion:
Advanced: How can we use these household items to be more mindful of the environment?
Intermediate: How can we describe these machines? What do they do? (Good exercise to learn relative sentences).
E) Extra Activity: Pick one machine, but don’t tell the students which one. Now they have to ask questions to guess which of the machines you are thinking of, for example: is it being used outside or inside? Is the color grey? etc. Once a student guesses correctly, they will pick a word and everyone else will guess again. (Can be yes/no questions to make it more advanced, but doesn’t have to be).
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.), Props: Share Screen function in Zoom, Google Docs & Google Sheets (for exercises)
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
This was inspired by two assignments from the book “Passwort Deutsch 4” in another class, so I re-used the vocabulary for this class, because protecting the environment is something I noticed the students are very interested in. They learned a lot of fairly simple vocabulary to be able to talk about this topic better. It worked out well.
Examples:
Green Politics Vocabulary List:
Die Umweltschutzbewegung, Alternative Energien, Die Umwelt verschmutzen, Abgase (Pl.), Das Gift, Umweltfeindlich, Müll & Recycling, Der Smogalarm, In einer Bürgerinitiative aktiv sein, Der Stromverbrauch, Der Lärm, Umweltschädlich, Die Katastrophe
Houshold items List (Excel)
How could this class be improved/ modified?
I wouldn’t change anything.