Brauner Bär by Eric Carle

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

In meinem Koffer

Unscramble these words to find items to pack in your suitcase. Click on the pdf icon to link to the puzzle.

Clothes.pdf Download this file

Puzzled Pets

Can you solve this crossword? Small reward if you print it off and bring it to me at school! Click on the pdf icon to link to the puzzle.

Pets.pdf Download this file

Das Alphabet

If you want to spell out your name or address in German you need to know the names of the letters in the German alphabet. Many of them are the same as they are in English, and this makes life easier for you. But there are also a few which are called "false friends" because they look as if they are the same as English letters but are actually not. Until I can record the sounds of the letters I will write out a phonetic pronounciation of each letter for speakers of English.

A  (ah)    B (bay)    C (tsay)    D (day)    E (eh)    F (eff)    G (gay)    H (ha)    I (eee)    J (yot)    K (car)   L (ell)    M (em)    N (enn)    O (oh)     P (pay)    Q (koo)    R (air)    S (ess)    T (tay)    U (ooh)    V (fow)    W (vay)    X (eeks)    Y (oopsilon)    Z (tzed)

To listen to a native German speaker pronouncing the letters of the German alphabet click here.

Try saying the letters aloud. Can you spell out your own name or the name of the place where you live?

German also has an extra letter ß ,called sharp s, scharfes ess or esszet.

Wie ist das Wetter?

You can watch this video clip to see more about how to say what the weather is like.

Die Lorelei

Dominating the north and west of Germany, the river Rhein is a major transportation route and one of Europe's busiest waterways. Near St Goarshausen, a large rock 120m above the water level marks a very narrow part of the river where the currents are strong. Rocks below the water have caused many shipping accidents here. The rock itself is said to murmur because the sounds of the currents and a small waterfall are echoed against its craggy surfaces.

Some stories have sprung up around the rock, and the most famous is the tale of the Lorelei, the story of an enchanting female associated with the rock. In the poem, the beautiful Lorelei, betrayed by her sweetheart, is accused of bewitching men and causing their death. Rather than sentence her to death, the bishop orders her to go to a nunnery. On the way there, accompanied by three knights, she comes to the Lorelei rock. She asks permission to climb it and view the Rhine once again. She does so and falls to her death; the rock still retained an echo of her name afterwards.

The Lorelei rock on a bend in the Rhein

Although shipping accidents are rare nowadays they do still happen and a barge carrying 2,400 tonnes of sulphuric acid capsized on January 13, 2011 near the town of St Goarshausen.

Word of the week: Schultüte

Welcome back after the summer break! I hope you have all had a good holiday and are ready for another year learning lots of German.

Starting the new school year with a Schultüte is a much-loved custom in parts of Germany and Austria. Six-year olds who are just beginning their first year at school carry large cones with them on their first day. The cones are made of paper or card and are brightly decorated. Inside there are sweets and stationery items that will be useful to them as they start school.

Austrian schoolgirls prepared for their first day of school.

To make your own Schultüte click here and follow the instructions.

Top five tips for creating resources for the interactive whiteboard

Box of Tricks is a fabulous website with plenty of ideas on making the most of Smartboards in the classroom. Plus tips on whiteboard magic and other bewitching tricks to get your class really interacting with MFL.

Word of the Week: Spaghettieis

Spaghettieis is a German-invented ice cream, a cool concoction that looks like a plate of spaghetti bolognese. Created in the 1960s in Mannheim, it is not very well known outside Germany. The white ice cream is squeezed through a press so that it resembles spaghetti, before being topped with strawberry sauce and grated almonds or white chocolate shavings to represent parmesan cheese.

What do you think? Would you try some?

Word of the Week: lustig

Lustig is a great German word. It means funny, merry, jolly. It can also be added to another word to give another layer of meaning. For example, lebenslustig means in love with life, or full of zest.

Does anyone know any other adjectives ending with -lustig? I'd be really interested to know.

Word of the Week: der Dudelsack

This is not a particularly German instrument, but the word appeals to my sense of humour. Literally, ein Dudelsack is a tootle-bag, an instrument very popular in Scotland but common throughout Europe.

Word of the Week: die Klassenfahrt

This does not mean what you think! It is quite innocently a school trip. When I worked in Austria I went on some great school trips. One of them lasted a week and was really a Skifahrt to the Alps. Another very memorable Klassenfahrt was to Windischgarsten, high up in the central Austrian mountains, where we visited a sword factory in the morning and spent the afternoon on a Sommerrodelbahn, a summer toboggan run.

 

Word of the Week: Gummistiefel

Gummistiefel is a compound noun; that means it is one long word made of two shorter words put together. Gummi meaning rubber or gum; you may have heard of Gummibär already. German children buy sticks of Kaugummi; can you guess what it might be?

Stiefel is a cool word meaning boots. I like it because it makes me think of a pair of high heeled stiletto boots; it sounds like steeple! So Gummistiefel, have you worked out what they are yet?

Deutsche Autos

Germany is home to many cars, ranging from the humble Trabant to the magnificent Mercedes-Benz. Today the country still manufactures Opels, Audis, Porsches, Smart Cars, Volkswagens (VW) and BMWs. If you are wondering, BMW stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke, Bavarian Motor Works, and it has its headquarters in Munich the Bavarian capital. Precision engineering is carried out exceptionally well in Germany and the country is serious about training its mechanical engineers. In 2010 BMW sold 1,224,280 BMW cars as well as tens of thousands of Minis, Rolls Royces and motorbikes.

Click on the image to view slideshow.

Deutsche Autos

Word of the Week: die Biene

Die Biene (pronounced dee beener) is somebody we all rely on. Bees gather nectar from flowers for their own food, and while doing this their bodies collect grains of pollen. The pollen grains then brush off onto other flowers and those flowers develop into seeds and fruit. Without bees a lot of our flowering plants would find it tough to survive. Bees do have a nasty sting but they only use it as a last resort!

Typing Umlauts and ß in German

To type German letters with umlauts and the ß go to german.typeit.org which will take you to a page which shows you how to type them before copying and pasting them into your own words.

Transport and Housing Crossword

Transport and Housing Crossword.pdf Download this file

Can you fill in all the words? Bring it to me at school if you can.

Die Sendung mit der Maus

Die Sendung mit der Maus is one of Germany's most successful and popular children's TV programmes. Literally The Programme with the Mouse, it features a mouse and an elephant. You can get a taste of it in the clip below.

Numbers Song

Puzzle it Out

housing crossword.pdf Download this file

How well do you know your housing vocabulary?

Das Wochenlied

These are the words to the song. I will post the sound file when I have worked out how to do it.

Was machst du am Montag?

Am Montag gehe ich schwimmen.

Ich gehe schwimmen. Komm doch mit!

Montag, Dienstag, Mittwoch, Donnerstag, Freitag, Samstag, Sonntag!

Montag, Dienstag, Mittwoch, Donnerstag, Freitag, Samstag, Sonntag!

Was machst du am Dienstag?

Am Dienstag gehe ich Tennis spielen.

Ich gehe Tennis spielen. Komm doch mit!

Was machst du am Mittwoch?

Am Mittwoch gehe ich einkaufen.

Ich gehe einkaufen. Komm doch mit!

Was machst du am Donnerstag?

Am Donnerstag gehe ich Fußball spielen.

Ich gehe Fußball spielen. Komm doch mit!

Was machst du am Freitag?

Am Freitag gehe ich Fahrrad fahren.

Ich gehe Fahrrad fahren. Komm doch mit!

Was machst du am Samstag?

Am Samstag gehe ich tanzen.

Ich gehe tanzen. Komm doch mit.

Was machst du am Sonntag?

Am Sonntag bleib’ ich zu Hause.

Ich bleib’ zu Hause. Komm zu mir!

Word of the Week: Schnecken

This is one of those words which can have more than one meaning (in other words it's a homonym!)
Schnecken are small gastropods that carry round their own shells for protection and shelter. Birds feast on them and if they survive they love to nibble on dainty lettuces and other garden morsels.

 



The other kind of Schnecken is a delicacy that most people find irresistible. They are cinnamon flavoured buns that are eaten with coffee, and can be bought in the bakery or made at home. Leckere Schnecken! One just isn't enough!

Ich fahre mit dem Bus

Ich fahre mit dem Bus.pptx Download this file

 

The Powerpoint below will help you learn to use the words you need to say how you get to different places.

Word of the Week: das Luftkissenboot

A Luftkissenboot is a hovercraft, which is a vehicle that can travel across both land and water on a cushion of air.

Luft means air. Kissen means cushion. And Boot means boat.   The Germans love to put nouns together to make longer nouns. Luftkissenboot is an example of this.

Year Two

These booklets were beautifully illustrated by the brilliant brains in year 2 after they had read and made sense of the German text.

 

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Was frisst die kleine Raupe? (What does the little caterpillar eat?)

die kleine Raupe foods.ppt Download this file

On this powerpoint you can see all the different foods that the hungry little caterpillar ate.

Die kleine Raupe

  You can listen to a shortened version of Die kleine Raupe here.

 

Die kleine Raupe von Eric Carle.MP3 Listen on Posterous

Houses and Flats in Germany

Houses and flats in Germany.ppt Download this file

Buildings in Germany can look quite different to the houses we are used to seeing around us in Cumbria. The architectural styles and building materials vary from region to region in Germany, just as they do in Great Britain. You can look through this powerpoint to see  pictures of houses and flats in and around Germany. Which building would you prefer to live in?

Wie ist das Wetter? Wie ist das Wetter?

WIE IST DAS WETTER.MP3 Listen on Posterous

You can listen to a children's version of Wie ist das Wetter? by clicking on the mp3 icon above.

Wie ist das Wetter? Wie ist das Wetter?
Es ist heiß! Es ist heiß!
Heute scheint die Sonne! Heute scheint die Sonne!
Es ist heiß! Es ist heiß!

Wie ist das Wetter? Wie ist das Wetter?
Es ist kalt! Es ist kalt!
Es schneit, es schneit, es regnet! (x2)
Es ist kalt! Es ist kalt!

Wie ist das Wetter? Wie ist das Wetter?
Windig und kühl! Windig und kühl!
Und es ist is auch wolkig! (x2)
Windig und kühl! Windig und kühl!

Wie ist das Wetter? Wie ist das Wetter?
Es ist schlecht! Es ist schlecht!
Und es ist sehr neblig! Und es ist sehr neblig!
Was für ein Tag! Was für ein Tag!

Word of the Week: die Osterglocke

This is a new feature called Word of the Week. This week's word is die Osterglocke.

The word Oster means Easter; and a Glocke is a bell. With their bell-like centres it is easy to see the reasoning behind the German name for daffodil.

Please let me know if there are any words you would like in Word of the Week.

Eric Carle

You may know Eric Carle's story The Very Hungry Caterpillar but did you know that the author has written over 40 books? Much of his work has been translated into other languages, from Arabic to Polish and from German to Japanese!

So why have I included Eric Carle in a website for learning German? Well, although he was born in Syracuse, New York, his parents were German immigrants. Because both parents were German speakers Eric's first language or mother tongue was German. He grew up hearing and speaking German at home and used English to communicate with other children at school and with people in his own neighbourhood. Someone who speaks two languages fluently is bilingual. Many Germans moved to the United States in 1920s and 30s in search of a better life.

When he was six years old Eric moved to Stuttgart, Germany with his family. He completed his schooling in Germany and returned to the USA when he was in his twenties. After working as an art director for The New York Times for some years his career took a different turn. He was approached by children's writer Bill Martin Junior whose eye had been caught by a picture of a red lobster that Eric had produced for an advertisement. The two men worked together to create Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? which went on to become a firm favourite with parents and children the world over.



German version of Eric Carle's first book

You can watch the German version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar below.

Hundertwasser Haus

The Hundertwasser House in Vienna is such an interesting building I really want to tell you more about it. Visually it is unlike any other building and the reasons behind its quirkiness lie with its chief creator Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Hundertwasser believed that most buildings suffered from a sickness and it was his dream to create buildings that were vibrant and in harmony with nature. So he designed Hundertwasser House.

The house is an apartment house. This means it is divided up into small Wohnungen or flats and there are many residents living in it. The building is fascinating with its use of bright colour and unusual curves. The colourful mosaics, crooked walls, small balconies and roof terraces overgrown with trees all give the building its extraordinary look. It is one of the most visited buildings in Austria.

Each dwelling within the house is made individual by its own colour on the outside wall and by its own distinct type of window. The corridors inside the house have uneven floors and undulating roughcast walls made of materials that are easy to renew. The roofline of the building is ornamented with large onion domes and trees that rise up out of terraced gardens on the roof. And if you manage to look closely at the outside walls you might spot the flamboyant silver ceramic tiles used to decorate around some of the windows.

Watercolour of Hundertwasser House

If you are lucky enough to get the chance to visit the Hundertwasser House at 43 Löwengasse  in Vienna then you will have to make do with looking at the building from the outside, as it is a private, residential home. But there is a cafe on the ground floor of the building where you can soak up the atmosphere over Kaffee und Kuchen.

Friedensreich Hundertwasser

I hope you have enjoyed reading this and would love to know

who you are and what you think. Please leave a comment.

Look out for more from kidzdeutsch in the next few days!