Introducing German

Deptartment of Germanic Studies
University of Texas at Austin

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You are here: Home / Materials / Lesson Plans / Deutschbuch 1 / Lesson 3

Lesson 3

Birthdays – months and seasons

Objective:

to identify the months and seasons and talk about the birthdays of family members and classmates

Materials:

pages 6-8 of Das Deutschbuch (Seite6.pdf, Seite7.pdf, Seite8.pdf)

Procedure:

A. Review (approx. 10 min)
Review material from the previous language lesson:
Guten Tag! (and other greetings)
Ich bin (your name). Wer bist du?
Wie geht’s?
Auf Wiedersehen! (other farewells)

After briefly reviewing the vocabulary from the previous lesson, then have the students do some partner work. Possibilities: have them introduce themselves to their partner or have them write a short dialogue. Another option, depending on how much time you have, is to play Geheimagent–007 (5 min).

B. Review Numbers
– Play the clapping game or Pflaumen.
Introduce the numbers 1-10 two or three numbers at a time.
eins, zwei drei, vier und fünf, sechs und sieben

C. Review Colors
– Go over the color cards quickly and then play “Ich spioniere . . .”

D. Introduce the Family (approx. 5 min)
Refer the students to page 6 of Das Deutschbuch. Go over the members of Familie Berg and fill out the blanks. You could also first call some students to the front and give each a family member name.

E. Introduce the Months and Seasons (10 min)
Separate the students into four groups – one for each season. Then say the months together – have them repeat after you first. After you have gone through the months several times together, have each season (group) say its months while in some way acting out the season. Go through the months again like this and then switch so that each group has a chance to act out all of the seasons. Then have them draw lines from the months to the corresponding seasons on page 7 of the Deutschbuch.

F. Introduce Birthdays (10 min)
Discuss how to say “Ich habe Geburtstag im __________. Ask different students “Wann hast du Geburtstag?” You might need to model: “Ich habe Geburtstag im Januar. Wann hast du Geburtstag?” You could also ask everyone with a birthday in ____ to stand. If they seem to be getting this, ask them when their parents’ birthdays are. “Wann hat deine Mutter/dein Vater Geburtstag?” It is more grammatically accurate to say “Ich habe im Mai Geburtstag,” but Geburtstag might get lost if they put it at the end of the sentence.

G. Birthday Tic Tac Toe Game (10 min)
Ask everyone to look at page 8 of the Deutschbuch. They should all walk around the class and find someone with a birthday in every month by asking them in German “Wann hast du Geburtstag?” or “Hast du Geburtstag im Mai?” and answering in a complete sentence. You could have them play for blackout or just for three in a row.

***Consider giving the class an assignment for next time: drawing and labeling a picture of their family, including when each family member has a birthday. Then the teacher can display their pictures in the classroom. Please discuss this first with the teacher.***

Sample Student Work

Prof. Kit Belgum
belgum@austin.utexas.edu

Dept. of Germanic Studies
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX 78712
phone: (512) 232-6375
fax: (512) 471-4025