Grade 8 Acquiring Information

It is expected that students will:

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

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

As students become more confident in their use of German, they process acquired information and represent it with increasing fluency and naturalness.

• Show students a video in German on a topic of interest and have them note key information on a viewing grid. Then invite each student to write a postcard or letter to a friend or family member using the information.
• Give students in pairs maps or brochures of tourist destinations in a German-speaking country and have them plan excursions to be presented to the class in oral or written form.
• Have students work with partners to create fashion magazines (e.g., Die Mode) by drawing or cutting out pictures of clothing and labelling and describing the items (e.g., Die Jacke ist rot).
• Provide flyers from grocery or department stores. Have students read them and then answer specific questions about the prices, quantity, and brand names of the articles advertised. Ask students to make shopping lists.
• Invite students to browse German-language web sites that advertise products and services in the areas of tourism, business, or real estate. Ask them to work in pairs to create similar advertisements and present them to the class.
• Show a short German-language video or film clip with the sound turned off. Ask students to predict what situations are being depicted and to brainstorm related key words. Show the film again, this time with the soundtrack, and have students verify their predictions.

Students are generally interested in acquiring information or exploring German language and culture when there is a meaningful reason for doing so. It is important to select interesting, age-appropriate materials and keep the tasks fairly simple. The formats and contexts of the sources should be familiar to students (e.g., teen-magazine surveys, newspaper advertisements, pen pal letters).

• Work with students to develop criteria for assessing their work with videos and film clips. For example, they might be expected to recognize and convey:
  • topics or purposes
  • overall moods or feelings conveyed by the actors or commentators (e.g., objective, disappointed, excited)
  • names of some of the people involved
  • locations used
  • key events or information
  • outcomes or conclusions
  • one or two new vocabulary items they want to learn
• When students work with tourist brochures to plan excursions, look for evidence that they can:
  • extract key information (e.g., what, where)
  • focus on key words, phrases, and ideas
  • make logical inferences based on the language they recognize
  • use context clues, including text features such as headings and photographs
  • recognize and use cognates
  • reproduce some key words and phrases
• When students represent information from German-language materials (e.g., brochures, fashion magazines, department- or grocery-store sales flyers, web sites), note the extent to which they:
  • identify and recount key information (e.g., articles, prices)
  • include relevant and accurate detail
  • reproduce some of the German words and patterns in understandable form
  • organize, categorize, and sequence their information appropriately

Print Materials

• Collins 10,000 German Words
• Collins Pocket German Dictionary
• Collins Pocket German Grammar
• Collins Pocket German Verb Tables
• Die Bundesrepublik Deutschland
• Du und Ich
• Klett's Modern German and English Dictionary, Second Edition
• Pack's An
• Schreib Mir Bitte
• Wort und Bild Series

• Deutsch Aktuell (Levels 1-2)
• Deutsch Heute Neue 1, 2, 3 (Neue Ausgabe)
• Gute Reise!

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