Activities to help your little ones learn German one afternoon at a time * Tales from my German classroom * Plus a sprinkle of travel adventures thrown in!
For my 1st & 2nd graders this week, I told the story about the girl who selflessly gives away all her possessions and is rewarded in the end when the stars fall from the sky and turn into gold coins. It is a story they have heard before. And it is a simplified version of the fairy tale. But I added back some more details for them this time around.
I had some technical difficulties with the app while telling the story. So a couple of times, whole sections of the drawing move! I left it, as I figured the children would get a kick out of it 😉
Sleeping Beauty has always been one of my favorite fairy tales – at least of the Disney fairy tales! It’s the first movie I ever saw. Even though it frightened me when Maleficent turned into the dragon, I still loved it.
Today I am telling the version of the story that is closer to the one collected by the Brothers Grimm. Here we do find a vengeful fairy, however she is not called Maleficent. She is simply the 13th fairy – yes, there were 13 fairies in total!
The title Dornröschen does not translate to “Sleeping Beauty.” It literally means “little thorn – or briar – rose.” Listen to the story to find out why the young princess is called Dornröschen.
Today’s story comes again from the collection of Grimm’s fairy tales. It’s a shorter story today.
This story is not as well-known here in the US. It’s about a girl who is given a magic pot that cooks sweet porridge. My students have heard it before, so I hope they enjoy it again.
I don’t love the ending. I think it is a bit confusing. Basically it says that whoever goes into the city had to eat their way through the sweet porridge. But that is not the easiest thing to understand. Maybe one day I’ll come up with a different ending….
Today I’m telling the well-known story of Cinderella. In German she is called Aschenputtel. Asche means “ashes” – or “cinders”.
But listen carefully! This version is closer to the original that we find in the collection of the Brothers Grimm! Can you find the differences in this version?
Choose ONE of the following exercises to complete. Take a picture of your completed work or take a video and email it to me!
Retell the story to someone in English – take a video or make an audio recording.
Write a summary of the story in English – take a picture of it or record yourself reading it.
Draw your favorite scene from the story. Remember to put the story title on it! Take a picture to post.
Watch the video again and read along. (See the text below) You could answer the questions below or take a picture of your log, so we know you heard the story.
* If you feel frustrated while watching the story, because you do not understand, please stop and choose another story!
Did you hear the differences in this version? Ask yourself the following questions:
Does her father die?
What does she have to do before she is allowed to go to the ball?
I’m SO excited! The 3rd & 4th graders have just started a unit on traditional literature, and they are beginning with fairy tales! This is perfect for Story Listening! So I am planning to tell a fairy tale every day for the rest of the week.
Today’s lesson is Rotkäppchen (Little Red Riding Hood). I recently told the story to the 3rd graders, so it would be more of a review for them.
Today I told the classic, Goldilocks, for my remote Story Listening lesson. This is a nice beginner story, because it is so repetitive.
It is meant for my 1st and 2nd graders. However, if my 3rd or 4th graders decide to listen to it, here are the activities they could do after the story:
With the kids home from school for at least the next two weeks, I wanted to start uploading more videos to my YouTube channel. I am using two methods to tell German stories. First, I am drawing stories with the Explain Everything app. Second, I am taking live videos of me giving a Story Listening lesson to my own two boys (who happen to also be my students in school, in 1st & 4th grade).
Today I did a live video of a Grimm fairy tale called Brautschau (Looking for a Bride). It’s a short story. But it can be a bit tricky to understand. So I wanted to share a vocabulary list here, just in case. I also will share the text of the story below.
I originally posted this video when I created it earlier in March. At that time it was meant for a review or a sub lesson in a pinch. Now that students are learning from home, however, it will work nicely as a remote lesson.
This is a great beginner story. However, if my 3rd & 4th graders choose to watch it, here are the instructions for what to do after the story….
Sleeping Beauty has always been one of my favorite fairy tales. So when I was looking for a traditional tale to tell, I had to choose this one!
In some ways it was a simple story to tell, since the students were familiar with it. However, the original German from the Grimm Brothers is slightly different from the Disney version that we know. And some of the 3rd & 4th grade students had a harder time wrapping their minds around that idea. They wanted to know why I didn’t call the “evil” fairy Maleficent and draw horns on her. Perhaps I should take a few minutes before the story to talk about the way fairy tales evolve over time and how they can come in many different variations!
After talking about Martin’s Day, I always like to tell the story of Sterntaler – or Star Money. It is a fairy tale from the collections of the Brothers Grimm.
The story is sweet and goes along nicely with the theme of generosity and giving to those less fortunate. After the girl, who is alone in the world, gives away all her possessions, she is rewarded as the stars fall from the sky and become coins and she suddenly has a beautiful “Unterhemd” – a kind of slip – made of beautiful silk.
German in the Afternoon Activities 