Category Archives: Uncategorized

Kopf, Schulter, Knie und Fuß / Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Posted in Book Materials, Books, Coloring Pages, Pre-K & K Class, Songs, Uncategorized by

Singing this classic children’s song is a great way to teach my pre-k/kindergarten classes about body parts.

I like to back into the song, teaching the parts of the face first. It’s nice to repeat these a number of times, because they only show up in the song one time, while the others repeat three times!

  • Augen (eyes)
  • Ohren (ears)
  • Nase (nose)
  • Mund (mouth)

We repeat those a couple of times. Then I point to them on me in a random order and ask if it is X? First I do it right, then I start to make “mistakes” 🙂 For example, I point to my nose and say: “Ist das die Nase?” They all say: “Jaaaaaa!” But later I’ll point to my eyes and say: “Sind das die Ohren?” Most of the children recognize the mistage and say: “Nein!”

Then we move on to the bigger body parts:

  • Kopf (head)
  • Schulter (shoulders)
  • Knie (knees)
  • Fuß (foot)

Once we have the vocabulary down, we sing the song! We usually start seated and then sing it again standing. This year we repeated the song one last time at the end of the lesson. It was a nice way to reinforce it. And next week, those facial features will come in handy when we start making our Kürbislaternen (Jack-o-Lanterns)!

It’s also fun to read Eric Carle’s book Von Kopf bis Fuß (From Head to Toe) with this lesson.

I always send home a coloring page for the children. Here is one with all 8 body parts. You can download it for free below!

Kopf Schulter Knie Fuß Malvorlage 2 GitADownload

Meine Finger / My Fingers

Posted in Numbers, Pre-K & K Class, Songs, Uncategorized by

Another song I introduce early on with my pre-k/kindergarten classes is “Meine Finger” (My fingers).

First we practice counting to 5 on our fingers. Then when we do the actions at the end of each verse, we do them five times while counting to five again.

I don’t follow the original lyrics exactly. I like to reuse vocabulary that the children know and add in a few funny ones. So with our funny little fingers, we clap (klatschen), pat (patschen), and count (zählen). Sometimes we also tickle (kitzeln), fidget (zappeln), scratsch (kratzen), knock (klopfen), and even play the piano (Klavier spielen)! Just plug in the verb at the end of the last sentence!

Here are the lyrics:

Meine Finger, meine Finger
sind so lustig kleine Dinge
Ich hab' fünf an jeder Hand!
Mit meinen Finger kann ich ... klatschen!

I also always show each hand with the line “Ich habe fünf an jeder Hand!”

Here is a video of the original song. One day, I’ll record our class version!

Unser kleiner Bär im Zoo / Out Little Bear in the Zoo

Posted in Pre-K & K Class, Songs, Uncategorized by

I sing a lot of songs with my pre-k/kindergarten class. We always start by learning our Begrüßungslied – our Hello Song. I often pair that with a common children’s song: “Unser kleiner Bär im Zoo.” In the original song, the bear hops and stomps and dances. But I like to change the actions to practice the ones we use in our Hello Song. When we sing it, the bear claps, pats his legs, and stomps. It’s great for review. And the kiddos love it!

Here are the lyrics that I use:

Unser kleiner Bär im Zoo der schläft ganz tief und fest
Schnarcht mal laut, mal leise, nach der Bärenweise
Doch wenn unser Bär erwacht, dann schaut mal was er macht

Er klatscht, er klatscht, er klatscht, er klatscht, er klatscht den ganzen Tag
Er klatscht, er klatscht, er klatscht, er klatscht, er klatscht den ganzen Tag

Unser kleiner Bär im Zoo der schläft ganz tief und fest
Schnarcht mal laut, mal leise, nach der Bärenreise
Doch wenn unser Bär erwacht, dann schaut mal was er macht

Er patscht, er patscht, er patscht, er patscht, er patscht den ganzen Tag
Er patscht, er patscht, er patscht, er patscht, er patscht den ganzen Tag

Unser kleiner Bär im Zoo der schläft ganz tief und fest
Schnarcht mal laut, mal leise, nach der Bärenweise
Doch wenn unser Bär erwacht, dann schaut mal was er macht

Er stampft, er stampft, er stampft, er stampft, er stampft, den ganzen Tag
Er stampft, er stampft, er stampft, er stampft, er stampft den ganzen Tag
Er patscht, er patscht, er patscht, er patscht, er patscht den ganzen Tag
Er patscht, er patscht, er patscht, er patscht, er patscht den ganzen Tag
Er klatscht, er klatscht, er klatscht, er klatscht, er klatscht den ganzen Tag
Er klatscht, er klatscht, er klatscht, er klatscht, er klatscht den ganzen Tag

Here is a little poster I like to use when I introduce the song. I talk about the little bear (kleiner Bär) and the zoo (Zoo). I ask the children what the bear does in winter. So many of them already know the word hibernate! Then I tell them that our bear is sleeping and snoring – sometimes loudly (laut), sometimes quietly (leise). But when he wakes up – just watch what he does! You can download the poster and teaching document below:

Unser kleiner Bär im Zoo mit BildernDownload

Here is a YouTube video that shows how the original song works:

Olympische Sommerspiele / Olympic Summer Games

Posted in Games, Uncategorized, Word Posters by

I’m finally coming out of my fog from the end of the school year. And I just realized that the Summer Olympic Games will be starting in a few weeks!

Four – make that five – years ago, I made some vocabulary cards for the Summer Olympics in Rio. I thought I would repost them here. You can read more about them in the original post.

There are 8 sports covered in this packet of materials. You can use them as flashcards, play games like Memory and Go Fish, and also solve some Purzelwörter – scrambled word puzzles.

Some of the words I chose are not the official names of the sports. As this is meant for an introduction to vocabulary, I went with simpler forms. For example, instead of Leichtathletik, I used Laufen. Clearly, Leichtathletik encompasses a whole lot more than just running, but for young children, it made sense to keep it simple!

Download the FREE PDF here:

olympische-sommerspiele-gitaDownload

Gefunden! A quick vocab game

Posted in Games, Pre-K & K Class, Uncategorized, Word Posters by

With new classroom rules in place for covid, we are all having to get creative! I recently came up with a little “Hide & Seek” game that I’ve been using with my pre-k/kindergartners.

I use a set of vocab posters I already have. For example, we’ve been working on the weather. So there are 8 – 10 words they are learning. After we review the words, I choose one to “seek”. For example, it’s been very gray and snowy here, so we’ve been looking for the sun a lot 🙂 I shuffle the vocab posters and then hold them in front of me, so I can’t see them. Then I start asking, “Ist das die Sonne?” They answer “Ja!” or “Nein!” And after they have found the sun and answered “Ja!” we then call out, “Gefunden!”

I made a little poster with the words “Gefunden” on it to help them learn it. Tomorrow when we play the game, I’ll hold up the sign after they find the word 🙂

You can download the poster here:

Gefunden GitADownload

Schneemann Lesen & Malen / Snowman Read & Color

Posted in 5th - 6th Grade, Coloring Pages, Getting them to read more, Uncategorized by

Our winter break has ended, however we are taking a week of remote learning before heading back into the building. And so I wanted to give my students some activities to get German fresh again without having to use screen time. They are getting enough virtual meetings and online assignments already.

Since my 5th & 6th graders really like to color, I created a snowman read & color activity. To help them along, I added a second page of vocabulary.

To make sure I had set it up correctly, I had Hippo try the activity for his at-home German lesson yesterday. It went very well!

Download the PDF for FREE here:

Schneemann Lesen-und-Malen GitADownload

Viel Spaß!

Nussknacker / Nutcracker 2020 – Part 9

Posted in 1st - 4th Grade, 5th - 6th Grade, Coloring Pages, German Culture, Holidays, Mazes, Projects, Uncategorized, Word Play by

All those fabulous Nutcracker projects created in pre-k/kindergarten, 1st & 2nd grade, 3rd & 4th grade, and 5th & 6th grade left some students extra time at the end of class. So I prepared a variety of worksheets and activities to keep them occupied if they finished early.

Activities that I created – Download them all for FREE:

MAZE

The favorite for the older kids was a maze that I hand-drew:

Nussknacker Labyrinth GitADownload

WORD SEARCHES

There were four levels of word searches. The first two were created for 1st & 2nd grade, the easiest one having words that only go horizontally. The words come directly from the stories of the Nutcracker that I told them. Each of the word searches come with a solution key!

The word searches for the older kids also had a glossary that could be printed on the back.

Nussknacker Wortsuche 1,2 GitADownload
Nussknacker Wortsuche 3,4 GitADownload
Nussknacker Wortsuche 5,6 GitADownload

COLORING WITH SHAPES

Some children also enjoyed completing the shape coloring page that I created for the preschoolers.

Nussknacker Formen GitADownload

Activities from subscription sites:

Click the links to get to the activities!

Nutcracker Mandala

Nussknacker-Mandala

Nutcracker Cut-out Puzzle (Weihnachtsbild Ergänzen Nussknacker)

KiGa-Portal had a simple puzzle to cut out and paste the missing parts of the nutcracker. Unfortunately, the link is no longer active.

Christmas Color By Number

Twinkl had some nice color-by-number activities.

I Spy (Weihnachtsbaum)

Another favorite was this “I Spy” Christmas Tree. Unfortunately, the site is currently under reconstruction. Hopefully it will be up and working again soon!

Nussknacker / Nutcracker 2020 – Part 8

Posted in 5th - 6th Grade, Crafty Projects, German Culture, Holidays, Projects, Uncategorized by

5th & 6th Grade Nutcracker Art Project

One last Nutcracker project to round out the week before winter break! The pre-k/kindergarten class completed a Nutcracker shape coloring page, 1st & 2nd grade made a giant collaborative Nutcracker mural, and 3rd & 4th grade made cardboard tube nutcrackers.

The 5th & 6th graders heard the most detailed version of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Nutcracker last week. So they were ready to get started on their project. They made a “Hampelmann” – or jumping jack – Nutcracker. I printed the template on cardstock, and then the students colored them in and cut them out. I have a small hole puncher (1/8-inch), so we used that to make the holes. Then they assembled the Hampelmänner with mini gold brads (I bought these on Amazon).

I absolutely love these little guys! They are all different, but they look amazing together or individually!

One thing I wish I’d done better was manage their time. The kids needed at least 10-15 minutes to cut out the nutcrackers. It’s petty detailed! In the end, I was running around trying to punch all the holes and hand out the fasteners, while the classroom teacher taped them to the board, so we could display them – even if just for a short time. We did of course let them take their beautiful nutcrackers home. Apparently one got to go for a ride, and another made it on to the Christmas tree! (See the pictures below!)

You can download the free template created by Brigid Ashwood.

Nussknacker / Nutcracker 2020 – Part 7

Posted in 1st - 4th Grade, Crafty Projects, German Culture, Holidays, Projects, Uncategorized by

3rd & 4th Grade Nutcracker Art Project

The nutcracking fun continued! After completing a Nutcracker shape coloring activity in pre-k/kindergarten and a giant collaborative mural Nutcracker in 1st & 2nd grade, it was time for the 3rd & 4th grade class to take a crack at a project!

This group also heard the story of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Nutcracker last week. So this week, these peaceful students colored a design printed on cardstock. Then we taped a feather (if they wanted) to come out of the “hat” and taped the paper to a toilet paper roll! Easy peasy! But so effective!

Aren’t they striking?! The children really did work so peacefully! I was pleasantly surprised, as it was the end of the day on the last day of school before winter break!

I found this simple craft at Sophie World. She has the template you can download for free (click the “Stats” tab to the right of “How to”.)

Stay tuned for the project that the 5th & 6th graders worked on!

Nussknacker / Nutcracker 2020 – Part 6

Posted in 1st - 4th Grade, Crafty Projects, German Culture, Holidays, Projects, Uncategorized by

1st & 2nd Grade Nutcracker Art Project

Last week, I told the students the basic story of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Nutcracker. And then we completed a Steckbrief about nutcrackers. So this week, they were all set to do their class Nutcracker Art Project!

Each of my German classes is doing a different project. In the morning, my pre-k/kindergarten classes colored a shape Nutcracker.

In 1st & 2nd grade, the children created a GIANT collaborative 4-foot Nutcracker! Each child completed a piece of the puzzle. Then I put it all together and went over the outline with black marker. And then I laminated the whole thing – it just barely fit! It is now hanging in all its glory in the hall of our school!

I am so thrilled! I let the children color their “puzzle pieces” however they wanted. I asked that they use marker and do their best coloring. Some went bold. Others went for designs and detail. The overall effect is stunning!

I found the template and instructions at Art Projects for Kids. I did have to pay for it, but it comes in different sizes, and I can use it again and again! (She has a lot of other materials that are free. Definitely worth a look!)

Stay tuned for projects in 3rd & 4th grade and 5th & 6th grade! (As long as we get back into school after this snowstorm!)