Ein Geschenk aus Deutschland – A Gift from Germany

Thankyou to Laurie from Miss Sporn’s class for bringing along a special ‘show and tell’ to the German class. He was very excited to tell us that he received a special card and gift for Easter from family friends living in Germany.  We were interested to find out that the litttle book he received called ‘HaschenSchule’  (Rabbit School) was first written in 1924 and has been enjoyed by children in Germany for over 80 years.  We enjoyed listening to the story of  Hans and Gretchen rabbit who go deep in the woods to meet their old school teacher. There he teaches them everything a rabbit needs to know to survive, especially how to run fast and watch out for the dangerous red fox that waits for them. Vielen Dank Klaus und Brigitte. Die Kinder waren sehr erfreut , diese schone Geschichte zu horen.

Laurie shows us his Easter present from Klaus and Brigitte

Easter in Germany

During the final week of term 4 we looked at how how Easter is celebrated in Germany. We found out that Easter in Germany is celebrated as much as Christmas. Apart from the religious significance, Easter in Germany marks the end of months of cold, wintry weather. Easter markets are very popular and people all over Germany enjoy going to them. Years 5 to 7 watched a short DVD on the famous Easter Museum (Osterei Museum) in the German town of Sonnenbuhl. This museum specialises in displaying artistically decorated hollowed out eggs. Junior classes really enjoyed watching the episode ‘Der Oster Blaubar erzahlt von Eier Land’. Blaubar (Blue Bear) is a popular German children’s program based on a retired sea captain who loves to tell tall stories to his grandchildren. In this episode Blaubar tells a very tall story and takes credit for introducing Easter bunny to the idea of hollowed out eggs. We enjoyed decorating our eggs.

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Captain BlaubarDer Osterhase

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Neue Anfange – New Beginnings.

The Year 6/7 students are currently in the process of completing their German Inquiry unit which examines the history of early German migration to South Australia . Our Central idea is ‘People migrate to address their changing needs and circumstances and in doing so, adapt to a changing world’. We have used online resources to investigate the following questions: – When did the first German settlers arrive in South Australia and where did they live? What were their reasons for leaving Germany?  Where were the first German settlements?  What were some of the difficulties they faced? What contributions have German migrants made to South Australia? To support the Middle School inquiry unit – Australians at War,we are currently in the process of  using excerpts from the novel Our Enemy, My Friend to identify aspects of the German culture that have been maintained. This novel also gives us some insight into investigating the impact of World War One on migrant and host families. We are looking forward to sharing some of our learning with you in a couple of weeks time.

 

 
 

Hahndorf today is a wonderful place to spend a lovely Autumn afternoon. When was the last time you visited Hahndorf?

 

 

Languages Online – German Topics

 

 

Students in the Middle Primary years are working on developing  conversation their skills in German. We have focussed on being able to introduce ourselves and hold a brief coversation with a new acquaintance. Students have participated in role plays, bingo games to build vocabulary and are working towards introducing and describing their family members.  During Term 1 we have used the online resource titled Languages Online- German Topics. This is an excellent interactive resource that allows students to work through at their own pace. Students and parents can access this site easily at home. Years 3 – 5 might like to review the following  topics:- Greetings – Sich begrussen,  Lied-Guten Morgen, Guten Tag, Guten Abend, Tschuss. My Name is –  Wie heisst du? Lied – Ich heisse; Revision (3); How are you?  – Wie geht’s dir? Sich vorstellen, Lied – Guten Tag, How old are you? /Family Members – Mein Alter, Wie alt bist du? Wie alt bin ich? Hier ist meine Familie. Schreib. Ask your child to show you what they know!

Die Kleine Raupe Nimmersatt.

 

 

Students in Year 1 and 2 were introduced to a story that they were already very familiar with in English – The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The German version of this book allowed us to explore a whole range of vocabulary including colours, numbers, food and days of the week. We also sung along to the music version of the book. Students were introduced to the concept of the three forms of the word ‘the’ – der, die, das by identifying the nouns and their articles (form of the word the). As you can see from the photos, Miss Pinkster’s class are very proud of their Schmetterling (butterfly) which they made and were able to describe using simple German sentences. These are hanging in our German room.

 

Unsere Schultuete! Our School Cones.

Mrs Hook's Reception class enjoyed receiving their Schultueten

Children in Germany celebrating their first day of school with their Schultuete

 

Reception children began their school year by being introduced to the German tradition of being presented with their own Schultuete. Traditionally, these are cones made out of cardboard and decorated by either parents or godparents and filled with treats. Children in Germany are presented with these on their very first day of school where they take them along to show others. The only way this custom has changed is that today the Schultuete is filled with more practical items and a few less sweet treats. The Reception children enjoyed drawing and designing their own Schultuete and certainly enjoyed taking their cones home. Here is a photo of  Mrs Hook’s Reception class with their little Schultueten.

Whoever You Are

 

The Mem Fox picture book titled Whoever You Are was a lovely way to start a new year in the German classroom. It reminded us that no matter in which country we live or what language we speak; we all have things in common. The Junior Primary students enjoyed reading this and finding the similarities and differences on each page. We talked about and brainstormed languages which they knew were spoken in other parts of the world as well as the reasons why people learn a second language. We used an Interactive map to see where in the world Germany is. Many children were surprised to see how far away it was and how small it was compared to Australia!