Grade 8 Communicating

It is expected that students will:

• request and provide information about day-to-day activities and interests
• participate in short conversations
• describe activities and interests in oral and written forms
• participate in familiar activities

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

Students are now using German to express their personal interests and are beginning to use it to interact in everyday situations. To experience success, students need to be provided with many opportunities to practise and develop the language they need.

• Ask students to prepare questionnaires to find out what their peers do in their free time. (Was machst du in deiner Freizeit?) Have each student record as many responses as possible within a given time, graph the results, compose a paragraph using the graphed results, and then share the results with a partner or the class.
• Invite students in pairs to role-play two friends making plans for the weekend. Ask them to include activities they enjoy, referring to places, times, and people, and to use new expressions or phrases. Have each pair of students rehearse the role play and present it to the class.
• Have students work together to compose individual letters to send to an exchange class via mail or E-mail. Students' letters should contain information about themselves (e.g., age, grade, family, interests, pets) and questions for their exchange partners. Letters should also contain appropriate salutations and closings.

To develop effective German language skills, students need to focus on communicating an increasing range of information. All assessment criteria are related to how effectively students are able to convey relevant and understandable messages in a variety of situations.

• When students prepare questionnaires and report on their peers' leisure activities, assess their abilities to:
  • use the question structures they have learned
  • sustain their use of German as they ask and respond to questions
  • record responses in German
  • use vocabulary and structures they have practised
• When students present role plays to the class, look for evidence that they are able to:
  • create logical sequences of questions, suggestions, and responses
  • convey a sense of interaction and flow in their conversations
  • elicit all the information they require from one another to reach conclusions
  • make themselves understood using German
  • take risks to add details to and variations on the required information
• Before students send letters to an exchange class, offer feedback on the extent to which they have:
  • considered the interests and knowledge of the recipients of their letters
  • included appropriate information
  • included details to add interest
  • composed complete sentences
  • used appropriate, correctly spelled vocabulary (including capitals) accompanied by the correct articles
  • arranged the information in a logical order
  • followed appropriate conventions, including forms of address

Print Materials

• Collins 10,000 German Words
• Collins Pocket German Dictionary
• Collins Pocket German Grammar
• Collins Pocket German Verb Tables
• Du und Ich
• Klett's Modern German and English Dictionary, Second Edition
• Neue Horizonte - Overhead Transparencies
• 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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