Tag Archives: Animals

Alles über den Igel, Teil 2 (All about the Hedgehog, Part 2)

Posted in 1st - 4th Grade, Coloring Pages, German Culture, Uncategorized by

I have been working hard to create the rest of the pages for our unit on hedgehogs in 1st & 2nd grade. And I think they are finally finished!

I made two different cover pages. I think I will use the simple one and give instructions in German on which colors to color each element:

  • Die Stacheln des Igels sind dunkelbraun.
  • Das Körper und das Gesicht des Igels sind hellbraun.
  • Die Eule ist grau.
  • Der Pilz ist lila.
  • Das Blatt oben ist rot.
  • Das Blatt in der Mitte ist orange.
  • Das Blatt unten ist gelb.

We will do the cover page on the last day of the unit. There are three other pages (Habitat, Feinde, Essen). We will do one page per week.

The entire hedgehog unit will take us 6 weeks to complete. (We’ve already labeled the body parts and talked about where in the world hedgehogs live.)

Each week I also show the children an adorable picture of Mr. Herbee, the Hedgehog. Do you know him? He’s an Instagram sensation! He is the second hedgehog pet of a woman in Wiesbaden. The kids just love seeing his happy little face every week!

Download the PDF file of these worksheets here:

Mein Wissensbuch über den Igel GitADownload

Answer sheets are included in the PDF file!

(Note that the program I used to make the worksheets creates for A4 paper. Just make sure you tell your printer to fit to letter size, if you are printing in the US!)

Alles über den Igel (All about the Hedgehog)

Posted in 1st - 4th Grade, Uncategorized by

For our first lesson on the hedgehog in 1st & 2nd grade, I found a simple labeling project for the kids. I got it from Zaubereinmaleins.

I decided to leave mine as a full page, since I’m only using one of her pages from this Igelheft. Before we did the labeling, we reviewed some body parts in German and then sang “Kopf, Schulter, Knie und Fuß“. It was a nice opportunity to get the kids moving, too.

Next week, I want to talk about where in the world you can find hedgehogs. As I mentioned in my last post, they are the most common mammals in Germany. Yet they are not indigenous to North America! So I created a worksheet for the kids to label on which continents hedgehogs live. I decided my first version was too difficult for little hands to color, so I ended up making two versions. One where they just color the matching box to “check it off” and one where they could color in the continents.

For the second worksheet, the kids can just check off the continents. Or they can also color them in. They could even be challenged first to see if they can color in Germany in a different color.

I found this image on Junior.de to use as my guide:

You can download the PDF of the worksheet here:

Wo wohnt der IgelDownload

Our next hedgehog lesson will be about the habitat of the hedgehog. Stay tuned!

Zahlen – Tiere auf dem Bauernhof (Numbers)

Posted in Coloring Pages, Numbers, Pre-K & K Class, Uncategorized, Writing by

For my young students, I wanted to review numbers today. We count regularly in class, so I thought it would be a good idea to refresh the numbers. I also used farm animals to count, so that I can introduce them in a week or two.

I made a video of counting:

 

Then I made a counting sheet for the children to do at home. Count the animals in German, then circle the correct number below. There is a color and a black & white version.

Download the PDF here: Zahlen 1-12 Tiere GitA

If they want a little more of a challenge, I also have a worksheet for tracing German numbers.

Download the PDF here: Trace the words in German 1-10 GitA

I also found some cute clips of Graf Zahl from Sesamstraße (The Count from Sesame Street). I posted them to one of my YouTube playlists (It may look like the same video as above, but this link takes you to the playlist – you can click through the videos here or click on YouTube at the bottom of the video to go there and find the list):

SL: Was trägt kleiner Bär? / What Will Little Bear Wear?

Posted in 1st - 4th Grade, Story Listening, Uncategorized by

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2019-01-29 14.35.14

Sometimes a story works so well in 1st & 2nd grade, that I have to tell it again to the 3rd & 4th graders, even if it is a simple one. (The first image is from grades 1 & 2, the second image is from grades 3 & 4.) This story by Else Holmelund Minarik is a sweet classic. Perhaps you know the Little Bear stories, with illustrations by Maurice Sendak?

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Little bear repeatedly goes inside to tell his mother he is cold. So she gives him a hat, then a coat, then snow pants. Finally she asks him if he wants a fur coat? He says yes! So she takes back the hat, the coat, and the snow pants and there you have it! He has his fur coat and is not cold anymore 🙂

It’s a sweet little story, and has great repetition for a beginner Story Listening lesson.

I added a bit of detail for the 3rd & 4th graders, and they enjoyed it just as much as the younger students.

Germany with Kids: Dinos & More at the Senckenburg Naturmuseum

Posted in Travel, Uncategorized by

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Senckenberg Naturmuseum in Frankfurt am Main

If your kids like dinosaurs, they are going to love the Senckenberg Naturmuseum in Frankfurt!

But this natural history museum has a whole lot more than just dinosaur skeletons. We decided to start upstairs instead of heading straight for the dinos. For one thing, a large school group had just entered the dino room, and we wanted to avoid the crowd. It turned out to be a good idea. I think the boys (ages 8 & 5 now) had a lot more patience to look at all of the other fascinating animals than they otherwise would have if we’d let them look at “the good stuff” first. Kind of like waiting for dessert 🙂

There are almost countless animals to be seen in taxidermy. We found it so interesting because – unlike at a zoo – you can get right up close to them. There were so many birds – from penguins and gulls to flamingos, peacocks, and many colorful parrots and the like! Even some teeny, tiny miniature birds. There were turtles and snakes, moose, and bison. There was a rhino, a leopard, a baby giraffe, and elephants, too. And an enormous skeleton of a whale.

The exhibits focus on evolution and other scientific developments as well. There are small exhibits on volcanoes and space.

And we didn’t even make it through the entire museum! It’s HUGE!

But let’s face it. My kiddos wanted to see the DINOSAURS! The view from the floor above was great. Especially to see the flying dino (sorry, I forget which one it is exactly!). But it also gives a great view of the T-Rex. Other dino bones to be seen include triceratops, parasaurolophos, stegasaurus, brachiosaurus, and iguanodon. Some only have a partial skeleton, like the leg of the Supersaurus. There are more, but I didn’t catch all of their names.

I have to admit, I wasn’t too sure about going to see a bunch of skeletons, but it was quite astounding to stand under the enormous T-Rex or to check out the huge crest of the triceratops.

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So if your kids are into dinosaurs, put this museum on your list!

Is it good for kids?

Absolutely! There are also two different kids’ guides that you can get. I was a little disappointed in the dino one. I had hoped it would be more of a scavenger hunt for facts of something. But it included questions like, what’s your favorite dinosaur and which dino would win if they competed in the Olympics? My kids weren’t interested in them. So they weren’t worth the few Euros extra to buy them.

What about the cost?

Tickets for adults, ages 16 – 66, cost €10. Kids ages 6 – 15 are half price. Kids 5 and under are free. They also offer family tickets for 2 adults and up to 3 kids (ages 6 – 15). And there are other discounts for students and seniors.

Where is it?

It’s about a 35-minute walk from the Altstadt (old city center) in the western part of the city. We chose to drive from out hotel near the Altstadt, and it took about 20 minutes, including parking in a garage. (They are having a heat wave here – temps in the 90s – so we didn’t want the kids out in the sun for too long.)

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Tiere in der Natur – Animals in Nature

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

Yesterday, I wrote about a nature scavenger hunt I’m preparing for the children in the pre-K/kindergarten class. I’m introducing the vocabulary, so they can go on the hunt at the class picnic and teach their parents the German words along the way!

The first part was about signs of nature. This second part is about “animals” in nature – well, animals and insects 🙂

We’re going to play a game of Simon sagt (Simon Says) to practice the words. I’ll teach the children a small motion to go with each word. Then we’ll all play at being the different animals and insects!

Here are the word posters:

And here is the coloring page:

Tiere in der Natur GitA-page-009

You can download the PDF for free here: Tiere in der Natur GitA

 

Winter Activities

Posted in Coloring Pages, Crafty Projects, Games, Language Themes, Uncategorized, Word Posters by

Here on the east coast, winter has made a very loud arrival! Two days with no school – and this the first week back after a long break! Then I realized I’ve never posted any winter activities! So here are a number of random worksheets and craft ideas you can do in German 🙂

Schneemann malen nach Zahlen

This simple color by number is great for the little ones just learning their numbers and colors. The color words are written in the corresponding color, making it easier for them to do on their own. Download the PDF here: Schneemann Malen nach Zahlen GitA

Schneemann Malen nach Zahlen GitA-page-001

Tierspuren

Here are two simple worksheets to talk about the tracks that different animals leave in the snow. There is a black and white version. And if a little extra help is needed, there is a colored outline version. Then the colors can be easily paired up.

Tierspuren GitA-page-001

Download the worksheets as PDF files here:

For a follow-up activity, see if you have any little animal figures. Winter animals would be best, but whatever you’ve got! Then get out the play-doh and roll it out. Let your child walk the animals through the play-doh to make tracks. Then compare them. It’s also a great opportunity to talk about animals in German!

If you have snow and it isn’t brutally cold, go for a walk and see if you see any tracks. Before you go, talk about the kinds of animals that live in your area. Maybe look up what their prints look like, so you can identify them when you see them.

Winter Wortschatz

Here are five winter word posters you can print out full-sized or print 6-to-a-page to make flashcards. Print two sets to make a game of memory!

Download the PDF file here: Winter Wortschatz GitA

There is also a coloring page of all five words to go with them.

Winter Wortschatz Malvorlage GitA-page-001

Download the PDF here: Winter Wortschatz Malvorlage GitA

Winter Labyrinthe

I just put up a post with 10 easy German winter mazes! You can find them here 🙂 Here is an example:

Schneeflocken fangen GitA-page-001

Other ideas

There are tons of great craft ideas out there! I’ve been collecting them on a Pinterest board for years. Check it out here!

I also saw a list of 40 snow day boredom busters on Mommy Poppins. Maybe you’ll find some inspiration there?!

Viel Spaß!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Posted in Coloring Pages, Language Themes, Pre-K & K Class, Uncategorized, Word Posters by

We celebrated Mother’s Day in the pre-K class this week. We read a book called Bist du meine Mama? about a little chick that goes looking for its mother. It was perfect, because they were actually hatching chicks at school!

The book takes place on a farm, so first we reviewed our farm animals and what they say. The children love to hear the different animal sounds, especially ones that are very different, like the frog that says “quak” like our English ducks!

  • das Küken sagt “piep-piep”
  • die Katze sagt “miau”
  • der Hund sagt “wau-wau”
  • das Schwein sagt “oink-oink”
  • die Kuh sagt “muh”
  • der Frosch sagt “quak-quak”
  • die Henne sagt “gack-gack”
  • der Hahn sagt “kikeriki”

I have several sets of farm animal word posters. Sorry there isn’t one easy document for this story! And even though there isn’t a horse or a duck in this book, I’m including those, too.  You can download them here:

They look like this:

Songs about animals or the farm have been hard to come by. And I couldn’t really think of a song about a mother that would work. These songs in the pre-K class have to be very, very simple! So in the end, I thought of doing a lullaby 🙂 We sang “Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf” and I had the children do simple motions with it:

  • Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf  –  pretend to sleep
  • Dein Vater hütet die Schaf  –  use arms to “gather” the sheep & then pretend to hold a sheep
  • Die Mutter schüttelt das Bäumelein  –  hold arm up like a tree trunk with the hand as the branches and wave the arm & hand, as if the tree is shaking
  • Da fällt herab ein Träumelein  –  hands slowly “rain” down a soft dream (think “Itsy-Bitsy Spider rain!)
  • Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf  –  pretend to sleep again

They really enjoyed it. And – bonus! – it also settled them down a bit 🙂

We ended with our book, Bist du meine Mama? by Christiane Hansen (Oetinger, 2006):

Bist du meine Mama

Then I sent them home with a coloring page: Alles Liebe zum Muttertag (PDF)

Alles Liebe zum Muttertag-page-001

 

So Many Vehicles!

Posted in Book Materials, Crafty Projects, Story hour, Uncategorized by

Today in Story Hour, we read and sang about vehicles … cars, buses, trains, excavators, fire trucks, tractors, submarines, ships, hot air balloons, rockets, and even soapbox cars!

After reading our books, singing our songs, and doing a finger play, the children created their own little book based on Kikaninchen: Wer fährt heute mit? Each child had a booklet with each of the days and a place to enter which vehicle was used and who got to go along. They could fill in the information (with help from a caregiver) and then add the appropriate sticker to match. Later on, when Froggy (our 7-year-old) heard about the project, he wanted to do one, too. He was able to write the words himself, with some spelling help. Here are two examples:

To assemble the booklet, you print out the two pages, double-sided, and cut them in half. Then you can staple them together to make the booklet. (You’ll need a long reach stapler to get all the way to the middle of the booklet.) Next, print out the stickers on round labels (1 2/3-inch):

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You can download both documents here in PDF format. Included in the download is a sheet with specific instructions.

The three books we read were:

  • Unser Ausflug. Wir fahren ins Grüne  by Chris Embleton & Louise Martin (Parragon, 2008)
  • So viele Fahrzeuge im Einsatz  by Stefan Seidel (Coppenrath, 2011)
  • Kikaninchen: Wer fährt heute mit?  (arsEdition, 2011)

We also did a fingerplay (Fingerspiel): “Tatütata” (click on the link to see a video of the fingerplay)

Tatütata – Wer kommt daher?
Tatütata – die Feuerwehr.
Tatütata – Es brennt ein Haus.
Tatütata – die Schläuche raus.

Wasser marsch!

And we sang two songs:

“Die Räder vom Bus”

Die Räder vom Bus, die rollen dahin, rollen dahin, rollen dahin
Die Räder vom Bus, die rollen dahin
Stundenlang

Die Türen vom Bus gehen auf und zu …

Die Wischer vom Bus machen wisch wisch wisch …

Die Hupe vom Bus macht “tut tut tut” …

Der Fahrer vom Bus sagt: “Fahrkarte, bitte!” …

Die Kinder im Bus machen “Blah blah blah” …

Die Leute im Bus, die schaukeln hin und her …

“Mit der Eisenbahn” (2010, von Ottmar Liedl)

Wir fahren heute Eisenbahn
und schauen uns die Welt mal an
Wir machen einen langen Zug
Platz für alle ist genug

Hallo, Du! Du bist dran!
Hallo, Du! Häng dich dran!
Mach die Türe zu
Der Zug, der fährt jetzt ab

Wir fahren heute Eisenbahn
und schauen uns die Welt mal an
Wir fahren jetzt in eine Stadt,
die den Namen Passau hat

Hallo, Du! Du bist dran!
Hallo, Du! Häng dich dran!
Mach die Türe zu
Der Zug, der fährt jetzt ab

Wir fahren heute Eisenbahn
und schauen uns die Welt mal an
Wir fahren bis zur Endstation
Da ist die schon

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Counting Mice

Posted in Coloring Pages, Numbers, Pre-K & K Class, Uncategorized, Word Posters by

This week in the Pre-K/Kindergarten class, we are focusing on numbers. The children have already been exposed to a few numbers. When we sing the Hello Song, I always say “eins, zwei” when they clap, or pat their legs, or especially when they stomp their feet, so that they don’t get carried away with the actions. It’s also a nice way to reinforce the first two numbers.

Today, we are adding the next three numbers. We will go over the numbers 1 through 5 using the number cards I made last year:

You can download the PDF file here: 1-5-farm-animals-gita

Then we’ll sing a song from our very first lesson this year. Now that I am going in to teach every week, I really want to bring back the songs and books throughout the year to reinforce the lessons for the children. So we’ll sing “Meine Finger, Meine Finger” from Die 30 Besten Spiel- und Bewegungslieder 3. There is no counting in the song, but we will do the different movements five times and count as we do.

I will also do a finger play called Die Mausfamilie. Again, there is no counting, but you use all 5 fingers to represent the family members. I did this finger play in class last year, and the children really enjoyed it.

 

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You can download the PDF here: die-mausfamilie-fingerspiel-w-translation

Finally, we will read the book Mein 1-2-3 Mäuschenbuch by Alexandra Dannenmann.

mein-1-2-3-mauschenbuch

This book is available from both Amazon.de and Amazon.com.

I’ll send the children home with a coloring page with 5 little mice.

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Download the PDF here: zahlen-1-5-mause-gita

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