Recommended Prerequisite: German I (Standard, Honors, or IB)
Grades Offered: 8-12
Credit: 1/2 to 1
State Code: 3052
MNPS Course Code: FLA1252

Course Description
This course expands and strengthens the student's’ control of the language. It builds on the foundation developed in German I Honors or German I. The Course is based on the State of Tennessee Foreign Language Standards, the State of Tennessee Framework of Standards for Honors Courses, and the National Foreign Language Standards. Students will be able to express themselves in more complex sentences and their vocabulary and mastery of basic grammar will be extended, so students can express themselves fully in the present and conversational past. All four skills – reading, writing, listening and speaking are emphasized. Students should be able to read some basic short stories, easy readers, and authentic items (advertisements, announcements). Students will short conversations and short presentations about general and personal themes. Students will write three-paragraph essays with a good topic sentence, description and conclusion on a concrete theme. They should be able to understand the main points in general conversations and oral stories. Culture is taught in context as well as through the use of books, videos, films, CDs and tapes. The teacher and students’ use of the target language increases in this level. The students in the honors course learn more content with regard to the themes and develop more speaking, writing, listening and reading skills than what is covered in the District Assessment. Therefore, the honors students will have an additional evaluation demonstrating the Honors Standards, such as a portfolio, journal, or some other evaluation device. Under the Tennessee Framework of Standards for Honors Courses, students must complete work in five of the recommended categories.

Course of Study

Standard Conventions of German Grammar: Using the German language, the student is able to use, understand and answer…

• Interrogative questions with the question words: Wer, Was, Wann, Wie, Wo, Woher, Wohin, Was für, Wie viel, Wie viele, and Warum.

• Yes/No Questions
• Present tense use of regular, irregular, and modal verbs
• Conversational past.
• Simple past of haben, sein and the modal verbs.
• Word order – verb second and last position except after subordinating conjunctions.
• The four of five coordinating conjunctions: und, aber, denn, and oder.
• Subordinating conjunctions: weil, dass, wenn, and question words used as subordinating conjunctions.
• All commands: du, ihr, Sie and the inclusive wir.
• Case with declination of articles for nominative, accusative and dative cases.
• Recognize adjective endings are dependant upon the preceding article’s case.
• Pronouns – Personal and reflexive pronouns in nominative, accusative and dative cases.
• Numbers – cardinal numbers in counting, in amounts, time expressions, and ordinal numbers.
• Prepositions – recognition of prepositions requiring accusative or dative cases and the prepositions that can be either case.
• Plurals – recognition and use of the various formations of plural nouns.

Standard German II functions: Using the German language, the student is capable of functioning successfully in…

• Introduction of self and can elaborate giving more details to include adjectives and adverbs.
• Giving basic information about a variety of topics including: house, vacation, interests, movies and their health.
• Expressing likes, dislikes and favorites and why they feel the way they do.
• Answering and ask others questions about school, hobbies, interests etc in both present and past.
• Describing basic pictures orally and written.
• Following instructions and commands in the classroom.
• Listening to what the teacher says or on a tape and spell the words correctly.
• Counting and telling time.

Is capable of performing the following tasks:

• Listen and take notes to simple recorded, read, or video passages.
• Summarize both orally and written what was read, recorded or on video.
• Listen to a passage and answer more complex written questions or pick out simple information.
• Correctly read with accurate pronunciation.
• Correctly answer a series of interview questions and questions to elaborate on the answers they give.
• Correctly write a number of basic interview questions to ask another student.
• Read short stories and answer questions about basic content.
• Read a basic novel written for their level.

Thematic Vocabulary

• Can not only recognize and use basic vocabulary associated with daily functions of life in situations such as school, family, and eating but also elaborate in giving some detail.

·Can recognize and use vocabulary for basic situations to include: city, clothing, entertainment, weather, shopping, health, house, and vacation.

• Can recognize and use some idioms, slang, and colloquial expressions.
• Recognize German word building strategies.
• Recognize that there are many synonyms and expressions for expressing the same or a similar meaning.

Strategies for Honors Courses: Students will complete all standard German objectives, functions and tasks. In addition, students will:

Maintain a portfolio to demonstrate at least 5 of the components mandated by the state of Tennessee for honors courses. In parenthesis is the number of the particular honor component as specified on the Tennessee Framework of Standards for Honors Courses.

Students will:

1. Read selected short stories, articles, and fairy tales in German that are supplemental to the basic text and be able to answer written questions about the content, write a summary of what they read in their own words, and orally retell the story. (1, 5, 7)
2. Show an understanding of oral language through testing and writing after listening to authentic German songs, videos, stories, and conversations from the Internet, DVDs, radio and TV stations. The emphasis of the auditory input could be grammatical, content and/or cultural. (1, 6, &7)
3. Understand how English is a German language and the two are related. This will be done through readings, research and linguistic exercises. (1, 7)
4. Understand and connect the German language with its history and culture to other academic disciplines such as history, geography, science, government, and sports. This will be done through reading, writing, and research. (1, 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8)
5. Speak the language. This will be done through interviews, extemporaneous speaking, story telling and re-telling, role-playing and describing. This can be recorded on tape or videos or live with one person or in groups. (3, 6, 8)
6. Develop a broader vocabulary: Learn the expanded vocabulary with the themes of vacation, health, animals, house, professions, city and relationships. Develop an understanding of how German builds words and use that knowledge in reading by figuring out the meaning of the word without having to use a dictionary.(7)
7. Demonstrate writing skills in summarizing what they have read, seen (video), or heard (tape, CD or live), write letters, postcards or e-mails, recipes and create their own short stories or fairy-tales. (2, 5, 6, 8)

Standards

Standards are based on the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) and American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) standards.

AATG: http://www.aatg.org/

ACTFL: http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/LANGUAGELEARNING/OtherResources/ACTFLProficiencyGuidelines/TheACTFLGuidelines.htm

Textbook

Wolfgang Kraft. Deutsch Aktuell 2 St. Paul, Minnesota: EMC Publishing,

2004.