Grade 7 Acquiring Information

It is expected that students will:

• extract specific information from German-language resources to complete authentic tasks
• convey acquired information in oral and visual forms, and using some writing

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Acquiring Information in other grades click on an icon below.

At this level, students are ready to use age-appropriate materials to acquire detailed and specific information. Their growing communicative skills allow them to begin to paraphrase ideas, and they increasingly recognize known vocabulary in its written form.

• Invite students to record headlines from German magazines and newspapers. List all the headlines on a chart and ask each student to choose one to illustrate. Suggest that students create alternative headlines to communicate the same information.
• Provide a selection of packaging from German products and ask students to list all the information they can understand about the products. Have each student write an advertisement, make a poster, or create a commercial about one of the products.
• Have students examine copies of a German magazine (e.g., Das Rad) and analyse components of articles (e.g., titles, headings, layout, typography). Ask students in groups to create lists of vocabulary related to particular topics (e.g., weather, sports, class activities, hobbies, food). Challenge each group to create a magazine article on a topic of the group's choice and give a class presentation.
• Provide students with URLs (universal resource locators) to German-language web sites on the Internet or with a list of key words to search. Invite them to browse these sites and download information that answers specific questions. Ask students to report their results to the class.
• Have students examine German advertisements from various sources. Suggest that each student select items to purchase (e.g., for a camping trip) and create a shopping list within a given budget. Ask students in pairs to role-play asking for the items at a store.

While many of the information tasks at this level continue to rely on visual representations, students should also be expected to use some basic, well-practised vocabulary and structures. Linguistic requirements should be simple and involve a minimum amount of transfer or adaptation. The assessment for this organizer continues to focus on the extent to which students successfully find and use the information required to complete specific tasks.

• Provide or elicit from students a list of skills and strategies they can use to help them acquire information from authentic documents (e.g., magazines, newspapers, packaging, advertisements). Use the list to prompt self-assessment and discussion. The skills and strategies might include:
  • recognizing familiar words in new contexts
  • using cognates, when appropriate, to help with understanding
  • using a bilingual or picture dictionary appropriately (e.g., to confirm and locate the meaning of selected key words)
  • using non-verbal clues (e.g., context, graphics, illustrations) to make predictions and inferences
• When students represent or report on information they have acquired, note the extent to which they are able to:
  • identify key words and ideas
  • include relevant and accurate detail
  • reproduce some of the German words and expressions in understandable form
  • organize and sequence their information appropriately
• When students are working on assigned tasks, record evidence of the extent to which they:
  • approach the tasks with confidence
  • persevere, trying different approaches or strategies when experiencing difficulty
  • tolerate ambiguity, using information they understand without being frustrated by gaps in their knowledge

Print Materials

• Pack's An

Multimedia

• Gute Reise!

Note: Additional information will be provided as soon as resources to support learning outcomes are identified.

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