Freitag, 20. Juli 2012

paul klee: burg und sonne

File:Burg und Sonne - Klee.jpg

Paul Klee was born in Switzerland in 1879. He trained as a painter in the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. His father was a German music teacher and his mother a Swiss opera singer. Although he was trained musically and played the violin well he rebelled against his parents' wishes and decided to study fine art in Germany.

His style of painting was very distinctive. He liked to turn objects into simple geometric shapes when he painted them. As you can see, the above painting is made up of diamonds, squares, rectangles, triangles and one circle.

Klee's use of colour and shape makes his works very striking. I find the painting above Burg und Sonne (Fortress and Sun) quite compelling to look at.

Sonntag, 8. Juli 2012

word of the week: bratwurst

Are you a sausage-lover? If so a trip to Germany is right up your street! There are probably as many types of sausage as there are regions in Germany. Wikipedia lists 36 pages of sausage varieties and each page features a few sub-varieties.

Bratwurst is the most well-known sausage. There are over 40 different recipes for Bratwurst alone. The main ingredient is always chopped meat, usually pork, beef or veal, and flavoured with herbs and spices. The Nürnberger Rostbratwurst is similar in size to a British banger (whereas most German sausages are about twice the size) and is a pork sausage lightly seasoned with marjoram. They are traditionally grilled over a beechwood fire. In a pub they are served on a plate with plenty of delicious sauerkraut and eye-watering horseradish.

File:Bratwurst Glöckl.jpg


If you are in a hurry you can buy them from a street vendor at an Imbißstube. They are usually sold in threes inside bread rolls, slathered in hot German mustard.

File:Drei im Weggla.jpg


Recently Germans have acquired a taste for Currywurst. This is simple and filling fast food, German style. One pork sausage, steamed then fried, is cut into slices and served with generous amounts of warm curry ketchup. This is simply what it sounds like - tomato ketchup blended with curry powder. The Currywurst is usually accompanied by chips or bread rolls.

File:Currywurst & Pommes frites.jpgCurrywurst probably owes its existence to British soldiers living and working in Berlin after World War Two. They used curry powder in their own cooking and it is thought that they traded the spicy seasoning with resourceful  German entrepreneur Herta Heuwer. She then put a German spin on the traditional Indian flavours by mixing them with ketchup and serving her creation up with good old German sausage. It has been a firm favourite with young and old ever since.


File:Curry schild.jpg
Here stood the snack stand in which on September 4th 1949 Herta Heuwer invented the spicy
Chillup® sauce for the now world famous Currywurst.




Mittwoch, 4. Juli 2012

Louis Voki



Stop! Hier ist ein Update von Jorvik!

Matthew Voki



Wir singen "Wischi Wischi Waschi Wischi"

Beth and Emily Voki



Und dann unsere Lehrerin, die schaut uns alle an.

Kinder Voki



Wir sehn einen braunen Bären, einen roten Vogel, eine gelbe Ente, ein blaues Pferd, einen grünen Frosch, eine lila Katze, einen weißen Hund, ein schwarzes Schaf, einen goldenen Fisch...

Frau Leherin Voki




Ich seh viele Kinder, die schaun mir zu.

Goldener Fisch Voki



Ich seh eine Lehrerin, die schaut mir zu.

Schwarzes Schaf Voki



Ich seh einen goldenen Fisch, der schaut mir zu.

Weißer Hund Voki



Ich seh ein schwarzes Schaf, das schaut mir zu.

Lila Katze Voki



Ich seh einen weißen Hund, der schaut mir zu.

Grüner Frosch Voki



Ich seh eine lila Katze, die schaut mir zu.

Blaues Pferd Voki



Ich seh einen grünen Frosch, der schaut mir zu.

Gelbe Ente Voki



Ich seh ein blaues Pferd, das schaut mir zu.

Roter Vogel Voki



Ich seh eine gelbe Ente, die schaut mir zu.

Brauner Bär Voki



Ich seh einen roten Vogel, der schaut mir zu.

Abi Voki



Willkommen zu der Versammlung von Klasse 4.

Brauner Bär, wen siehst denn du?

Brauner Bär

Displaying IMG_2958.JPG
This wonderful book by Eric Carle is great for helping children learn the names of colours and animals in German and makes a marvellous resource for a performance poem.
The book can be read aloud and repeated by children as young as seven, and my Year 3 class have thoroughly enjoyed repeating the words and taking on different roles, as well as creating some original artwork for the different creatures in the book.
Take a look at the pictures and see if you can match them up to the words below:
      weißer Hund
      goldener Fisch
      lila Katze
      gelbe Ente
      brauner Bär
      roter Vogel
      blaues Pferd
      grüner Frosch
      schwarzes Schaf