Teaching German Using Story Listening in the Elementary School

2019 – 2020

I am now in my second year of teaching German and continue to use Story Listening in every class. For the most part, I am using the same story with my 3rd and 4th-graders. Although I sometimes simplify the story for 3rd grade. As the year progresses – around the end of February – the 4th graders can handle more complex stories, and so they will not always get the same story as 3rd grade.

In 2nd grade, I am using different, simpler stories. For the first few stories in 2nd grade, I used the same story in 1st grade. I felt the 2nd-graders needed a bit of review and wanted to make sure they felt confident in the Story Listening method. As the year has progressed, however, I have found it working well to teach the same story in 1st and 2nd grade. Some of them are stories I told last year, but the 2nd-graders do not seem to mind. They often enjoy hearing a familiar story!

In addition to teaching in the Elementary classes, I am offering a German Club. I wanted our 5th-graders to have the opportunity to continue with German, since they switch to Spanish in 5th grade. For the fall session, I have a small group, but they are so attentive and so much fun to work with! And I can do more challenging stories with them, and they really get it!

Grade 2 (2019 – 2020)

1. Die kleine Raupe Nimmersatt – my own variation of Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar
2. Goldlöckchen (Goldilocks)
3. Danke, Bär (Thank You, Bear) by Greg Foley
4. In einem dunklen, dunklen Zimmer – my own adaptation of In a Dark, Dark Room from a collection of scary stories in the I Can Read (Level 2) series
5. Das Geräusch (Goblin Story) – from the book Little Bear’s Visit by Else Holmelund Minarik
6. Die kleine, alte Frau, die vor nichts Angst hatte (The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything) by Linda Williams
7. Die Legende von Sankt Martin (The Legend of St. Martin)
8. Nikolaus und die drei Töchter (Nikolaus and the Three Daughters) – a legend about St. Nikolaus
9. Wer klopft da in der Weihnachtsnacht? (Who’s Knocking on Christmas Eve?) adaptation of the German book by Ursel Scheffler
10. Klingelingeling (Jingle Jingle) by Nicola Smee. The kids knew this one, but still loved it! Read the post to learn more.
11. Der Maulwurf im Winter (The Mole in Winter) by Hana Doskocilova
12. Was trägt kleiner Bär? (What Will Little Bear Wear?) by Elsa Holmelund Minarik (An I Can Read Book)
13. Die rote Blume (The Red Flower) – a short story from the collection Manuel und Didi: Das zweite große Buch der kleinen Mäuseabenteuer by Erwin Moser
14. Der verlorene Knopf (The Lost Button) from Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
15. Danke, Mädchen – a version of the Sterntaler, or Star Money fairy tale
16. Der dicke, fette Pfannkuchen (The Big Fat Pancake) – European fairy tale
17. Das Langnasenschwein (The Long-Nosed Pig) by Keith Faulkner

Grades 3 & 4 (2019 – 2020)

1. Die kleine Raupe Nimmersatt, version 2 – my own variation of Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar with a bit more detail
2. Das kleine Blau und das kleine Gelb (Little Blue and Little Yellow) – by Leo Leonni
3. Die Prinzessin auf der Erbse (The Princess and the Pea) by Hans Christian Anderson
4. Georg und der Drache (George and the Dragon) by Chris Wormell
5. Kleiner Buh (Little Boo) by Stephen Wunderli
6. In einem dunklen, dunklen Zimmer – my own adaptation of In a Dark, Dark Room from a collection of scary stories in the I Can Read (Level 2) series
7. Die Legende von Sankt Martin (The Legend of St. Martin)
8. Sterntaler (a fairy tale from the collection of the Brothers Grimm – works nicely with Martinstag)
9. Nikolaus und die drei Töchter (Nikolaus and the Three Daughters) – a legend about St. Nikolaus
10. Klingelingeling (Jingle Jingle) by Nicola Smee. The kids knew this one, but still loved it! Read the post to learn more.
11. Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel
12. Mein Haus ist zu eng und zu klein (A Squash and a Squeeze) by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
13. Der Grüffelo (The Gruffalo) by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
14. Mit liebem Gruß (Sealed with a Kiss) by Beth Ferry
15. Vom fröhlichen Monat Februar (Of the Merry Month of February) – a Carnival story by Elke Bräunling
16. Der dicke, fette Pfannkuchen (The Big Fat Pancake) – European fairy tale [a bit easy for 3rd grade!]

Grade 4 (2020)

16. Kleiner Bärs Pfannkuchenparty (Little Bear’s Pancake Party) by Janice – a Scott Foresman book

Club: Grades 4 & 5 (Fall 2019): Deutschland

1. Die Loreley (The Lorelei) is the legend of a Siren on the Rhine River
2. Schneewittchen (Snow White) – a fairy tale from the collection of the Brothers Grimm
3. Frau Holle (Mother Hulda) – a fairy tale from the collection of the Brothers Grimm
4. Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot (Snow White and Rose Red) – a fairy tale from the collection of the Brothers Grimm
5. Hänsel und Gretel (Hansel und Gretel) – a fairy tale from the collection of the Brothers Grimm
6. Die Legende von Sankt Martin (The Legend of St. Martin) – a longer version that includes the story of Martin hiding in the goose stall!
7. Die Wichtelmänner (The Elves and the Shoemaker) – a fairy tale from the collection of the Brothers Grimm

Club: Grades 4 & 5 (Winter 2020): die Schweiz

The first 6 stories are all from Switzerland. My students really loved Swiss Family Robinson, even though it took 45 minutes to tell! I was able to add extra meetings to this winter session, so we did a variety of stories at the end.

1. Das wunderbare Alpenhorn (The Wonderful Alpine Horn) – a Swiss legend
2. Die Geschichte vom König (The Story of the King) – a Swiss fairy tale
3. Wilhelm Tell (William Tell) – a Swiss legend
4. Bohne, Bohne, ich schneide dich (Bean, Bean, I’ll Cut You Up) – a Swiss fairy tale
5. Die Schweizer Familie Robinson (Swiss Family Robinson) – by Johann David Wyss
6. Schellen-Ursli (A Bell for Ursli) – by Selina Chönz
7. Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel [by student request!]
8. Matschpfütze (Mud Puddle) by Robert Munsch
9. Rotkäppchen (Little Red Riding Hood)