A while back, Froggy was really into mazes. I mean, REALLY! We all got good at drawing them. And I used to make them on the computer, too. So I thought I would post a week’s worth of Valentine mazes! If your child is starting to read, this is a fun way to get them to read a sentence, too!
You can download all 7 PDF files here in a zip folder:
Here’s an idea of what they look like:
Froggy is still into weather, so we’re continuing with the topic. I have to admit, I haven’t gotten to work on my own materials much lately. So I’m still relying on some great resources I’ve found online.
I do have a couple of ideas up my sleeve, though! I found some fun books related to Weather and want to create some worksheets to go with them.
We also had an idea for a super fun project! We’re going to do a weather comparison for some familiar places. Well, sort of familiar. We’ll be comparing our own weather in Philadelphia with Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (where our 3 au pairs are from!) along with the Netherlands (where PER is from, and where Oma & Opa still live). More on that soon….
For now, here is what we’ve been up to this week:
Today for our weather unit lesson, Froggy read a book called Elmar mag jedes Wetter. It’s a pretty simple book. But at this stage, simple is good!
At the same time, it wasn’t quite enough to fill out a full lesson. So I created a worksheet to go with it. It, too, is rather simple. Since Elmar likes all weather, the answer to each question is Ja! But I added a bit more to personalize it:
It also sneaks in a little work on how to say that you like something!
You can download the PDF here: Elmar mag jedes Wetter – GitA
Froggy has always loved shapes. And sorting. And sorting shapes. Now that he is 7, he has added another interest: writing in cursive. He’s trying to teach himself, since they are not yet teaching cursive at school.
I love it when he takes the initiative to start a project. Especially when that project is in German!
The other night, when I was putting him to bed, he asked if we could work a little more on his latest project. He had grabbed a book off the shelf: Duden’s Kennst du das? Die Formen (2009).
He was making a list of the shapes to sort them (and color-coding them, too, of course!).
Some of the words are in cursive, some not. Some are not even spelled correctly. Some he wrote, some I wrote. But it’s all good! I was just tickled pink that he was doing something in German by his own choice!
Our weather unit continues this week! I used a lot of printable worksheets from iSL Collective this week. They were nice and easy. I’ve included links to the pages here. I hope they work! I don’t think you need a membership to view them. (It’s free to join!)
*I receive no compensation for referencing the resources here. I link them merely for your convenience – and mine!
We did a review of body parts in school this morning. I reviewed the body parts we learned at our last lesson and added a few more:
We sang “Kopf, Schulter, Knie und Fuß” again. It’s such a great song for this age group! It gets them involved and active. Plus, they already know the melody and get the idea of the song. Makes it easy to teach it! I think last time we sang the song, we all just stayed seated. But I found that having them stand and do it helped get them more into it. I’ll remember that for next time, too!
We read a different book this time: Das bin ich. Ich zeig es dir by Heinz Janisch (Tyrolia, 2015). It’s a really fun rhyming book that introduces all the main body parts. And ends with a laugh and smile in the mirror! I decided not to translate it for them, as I often do. Instead, I read the page and then asked them where the body part was.
I sent the children home with a different worksheet. You can download it here: Mein Korper – GitA (PDF)
I try to keep the after-school lessons with Froggy short and sweet. Especially when he has an activity after school, he’s pretty tired when he gets home. I know if the lesson lasts longer than 5 or 10 minutes, I’m going to lose him … fast!
In my last post, I wrote about the great resource created by Open Wide the World that I purchases from her Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) page. I’m starting with these resources to work with Froggy on our weather unit.
In addition, I have downloaded a number of worksheets from iSL Collective (see more about them on my resources page). The only problem with mixing resources is of course that they don’t cover the exact same vocabulary. However, I look at this as an opportunity to expand Froggy’s vocab, as it adds just one or two new words or phrases at a time.
Finally, we’ll end this short week (Monday was a holiday for us) with a game I also purchased from TPT: a weather domino game. ($3) I printed the 5 pages on card stock and laminated them before cutting the domino pieces with a paper cutter.
Here are the lessons we are doing each day:
Domino chain
*I receive no compensation for referencing the resources here. I link them merely for your convenience – and mine!
We’ve taken a break from our reading lessons in German with Froggy, but now that the holidays are behind us, we’re ready to dive back in. I decided to start by asking him if there was a topic he was interested in learning more about. “Space!” he replied, of course. Well, we’ve done an awful lot with that already. So I suggested weather, since he seems to have a strong interest in that topic. His teachers at school talk about the weather and the forecast every day at school. So he readily agreed.
I looked through my files to see what I have on the subject, and happily found a rather nice unit already prepared! It was created by Open Wide the World, and you can get it on the Teachers Pay Teachers site for $6. Click here for a link to the unit.
German Weather Unit preview by Open Wide the World
Here’s what you get:
For our first lesson, I’m going to start by introducing the weather sentence using the poster display page (printed on letter-sized paper). Then we’ll do the matching worksheet.
As much as I enjoy creating fun activities and worksheets for my kids in German, sometimes I just don’t have the time. For a while, Froggy was really into sticker books, and so I sought out some fun sticker workbooks to purchase online. They were hard to find at first, because I didn’t know the titles of the series. So I thought I would compile a list of some of the ones we’ve liked – both for myself for future reference, and for anyone else out there looking for some fun supporting materials. You can search just the general series title, or add a specific topic, such as Tiere, Weltraum, Feuerwehr, etc.
I’ll say this: we haven’t tried all of these series. And perhaps there are more out there, too! I’ll update the post if I find anything. I think we’ve tried the first 5 and been happy with them.
Now that the holidays are behind us and the New Year has begun, it’s time to get back to business! The business of learning, speaking, and practicing German!
I’m preparing a lesson on colors for the preschoolers. As I was doing so, I came across a fun activity I created a couple of years ago. It’s a color search for when you’re out and about. A good activity to keep a little one engaged, so you might actually get a bit of shopping done! Of course, your little one will need some help.
Just print out the Farbensuche page (below) – preferably on cardstock – and head off to the store! As your little one sees objects in each color he or she can check them off the list!
If you’d like to add another step, you can take pictures of the objects, too. Bring a set of colors – paint chips from the hardware store work great for this, especially the extra large ones! Write the names of the colors on the paint chips in big letters. When you take the picture of the object, place the color swatch next to the object. Print out the pictures when you get home and put them in a little album. Poof! You have your very own color book!
Here is the download: Farbensuche im Geschaft GitA PDF
Happy hunting!!
German in the Afternoon Activities 