Grade 7 Communicating

It is expected that students will:

• respond to and ask questions
• respond to and give simple instructions and directions
• interact in predictable exchanges and familiar situations

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

Students are now working with some memorized language and can begin to connect ideas to form complete messages or short interactions. They communicate primarily in oral form and use writing for reference purposes and to develop their language skills, using learned phrases and patterns.

• Use a clock to show students different times, asking them: Wieviel Uhr ist es? Wie spät ist es? Then have students work with time using authentic materials (e.g., school timetables; bus, ferry, TV, or movie schedules) to create schedules or timetables and present them to the class. Ask students in pairs to role-play situations (e.g., setting appointments with friends), using the learned phrases and times.
• Conceal an item or a picture of an item and ask students: Was gibt es im Koffer? List their guesses on a class chart and have them write short sentences by incorporating these words into frames. Ask students in pairs to play guessing games using the learned phrases.
• Invite each student to construct a real or imaginary family tree (der Stammbaum) representing three or four generations. Have students add captions showing the relationships among family members (e.g., Karl ist Birgits Bruder) and present their family trees to the class.
• Ask each student to create a German-speaking character and a passport for him or her, including all relevant passport information. Suggest that students write short paragraphs elaborating on the passport information. Display the passports and paragraphs and invite students to ask one another questions in German about their characters.

In Grade 7, the assessment of communication skills focusses on students' abilities to interact with increasing fluency, using words and structures they have practised. They continue to gain confidence by participating in a range of classroom activities and interactions.

• As students participate in a variety of oral activities, watch for evidence that they are increasingly able to:
  • understand what the teacher and other students say
  • make themselves better understood
  • participate independently in simple, short interactions
  • take risks to use German in class and group activities
  • use simple, familiar vocabulary and structures
• In students' beginning writing (e.g., timetables, family trees, passports), look for evidence that they:
  • use patterns or frames to offer information
  • take risks, such as including simple adjectives
  • use the correct terms for family relationships
  • are aware that all nouns are capitalized
  • use articles correctly
• When students are practising interactions that involve new structures and vocabulary, work with them to develop criteria or feedback sheets they can use to help one another. Emphasize the importance of constructive feedback and positive support in language learning. Form pairs and suggest that each pair be responsible for observing and offering advice to another pair about features such as:
  • the completeness and relevance of the information presented
  • whether the vocabulary and structures used are appropriate
  • pronunciation and intonation
  • the fluency of their delivery
  • ways of making the information more interesting

Print Materials

• Neue Horizonte - Overhead Transparencies
• 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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