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Children of the World

Introduction
For this teaching suggestion, simple and standard as it may appear, it might be helpful to consider the following two READ.ME notes first.

Children have been given the task of finding English inscriptions in the city (shop names, phrases on billboards) or finding items with English labels in the household/the child’s domestic surroundings since the onset of the communicative approach. It is supposed to make the learners aware of the omnipresence of English, of how many words and phrases they have already come across, and to link curricular and extra-curricular knowledge. There is, however, more to the task than meets the eye, especially when it is presented to younger learners.
» Readme 1

The teaching suggestion is divided into two parts: the first is a task in the neighbourhood or the shopping district of the town. It may, however, be limited to classroom work if the teacher decides to use only photographic material (either the downloads or shot by himself/herself). The second part presents a teaching suggestion based on authentic language material found in the kitchen or the bathroom.
The teaching suggestion uses an integrative approach, combining foreign language work, language awareness and aesthetic education. This integrative approach is explained in the next section:
» Readme 2

» Walking in the city: Alternative 1 .pdf (269 KB)

» Walking in the city: Alternative 2 .pdf (272 KB)

» Walking in the city: Alternative 3 .pdf (1 MB)

» Useful vocabulary .pdf (177 KB)

» Looking round the kitchen: Activity 2.1 .pdf (384 KB)

» Looking round the kitchen: Activity 2.2 .pdf (366 KB)

» Looking round the kitchen: Activity 2.3 .pdf (107 KB)

» Looking round the kitchen: Activity 2.4 .pdf (119 KB)

In this wintery teaching suggestion the imagination turns to places where it is much colder than in Germany. The activities centre around the topic of animals. The focus in this material is on content-based instruction (Sachunterricht), storytelling, classifying (thinking skills), and language awareness.

The visual material and some of the suggestions for the activities were provided by Ursula Bader, the penguin page put together by Angelika Kubanek-German and members of the Dresden Study research team.

>>Activity 1: Animal memory game .pdf (1,3 MB)

» Activity 2: Habitats of animals .pdf (247 KB)

» Activity 3: Have you ever seen ...? .pdf (407 KB)

» Activity 4: The fire owl, an Inuit folk tale .pdf (793 KB)

» Activity 5: Simple whale origami .pdf (223 KB)

» Activity 6: Understanding a text about penguins .pdf (318 KB)

Talking about Ghana might not be a 4th grade English teacher’s first choice, but there are aspects of high interest for the children. Furthermore, gobal education surely is not against the curricular aims of primary foreign language teaching in any Bundesland.
You need not be afraid to do the lesson because you feel that you know too little and will therefore remain stereotypical. What you do is to attempt to widen the children’s and your own horizon. And consider: when you are teaching about Scotland or the British queen, you are also presenting secondary reality.

» Background Information .pdf (385 KB)

» Establishing a Sense of Place and Creating an Atmosphere .pdf (63 KB)

» Building a School in Rural Ghana .pdf (1,4 MB)

» Cocoa .pdf (589 KB)

» Names and a Game .pdf (49 KB)
» Useful Vocabulary and Links and Reading .pdf (53 KB)

Johann Amos Comenius lived about 400 years ago, but today his name is still well known. He is famous for his books and ideas. His most famous book is probably the "Orbis sensualium pictus", which was published in 1658 as the first picture-dictionary for children. One of the 150 pictures in the book is a map of Europe: Europa nostra. Comenius introduces the Europe of his time. It’s up to us to find the differences to the Europe of the 21st century. This lesson introduces Comenius to us and tries to give children access to Europe and its history.
These lessons are intended for grade 3 and 4.

» Background Information about Comenius .pdf (56 KB)

» Europa nostra .pdf (282 KB)

» Johann Amos Comenius .pdf (796 KB)

» Floor map of Europe .pdf (57 KB)

» Europa mea - mein Europa .pdf (51 KB)

» Useful Vocabulary and Links .pdf (60 KB)

In the pre-Christmas season, the Weihnachtsmann is all over the place in the cities: in shops and advertisements. In the pedestrian zones, figures in long red robes and with long white beards walk the streets. As some of the children know, the Weihnachtsmann is called Santa Claus in the United States.

As a way around exploiting yet another time a thoroughly commercialised theme, a look at history is suggested. What is the story of Santa Claus?
Find out and design an informative and unusual lesson for your class, preferably grade 4 or 5.

» Popular Images in Advertisements .pdf (43 KB)

» "Santa Claus" by Thomas Nast .pdf (241 KB)

» From the North Pole to the Children`s Homes .pdf (480 KB)

» Additional Activities for Advanced Learners .pdf (49 KB)

» Useful Vocabulary and Links .pdf (51 KB)

Tea bags have a place in every kitchen, every hotel and cafe. You can buy tea bags in every supermarket. There is black tea, green tea, herbal tea, medical tea. Tea bags were invented to make this favourite drink available to everyone, to have people enjoy it without effort.

If you want to find out more about the history of tea, how you can have your class blend their own tea, or other exciting activities, click on the links below:

» The History of Tea .pdf (207 KB)

» Blend Your Own Tea .pdf (80 KB)

» Tea Around the World .pdf (46 KB)

» Useful Vocabulary and Links .pdf (31 KB)