Sometimes everything just comes together! I've blogged about my love of Easy German videos and also how useful EDPuzzle can be for teachers.
Put them together, add a good worksheet to go along with the video, and you've got a great lesson to teach possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her, etc) in German 1 or to review them in German 2 or 3. Enjoy!
Here are the links:
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I seem to be on a crossword puzzle roll lately. I created a Berlin Wall crossword puzzle for my good friend to use with her German 2 students. It's German to German but uses relatively simple language, so it should be accessible to strong German 2 students or German 3 students who have studied a bit about the Wall.
Click on the link if you'd like a copy: Berliner Mauer Kreuzworträtsel
The tool I have always used is the Criss-Cross Puzzlemaker from Discovery Education. It's not fancy, but it gets the job done.
I take the puzzle that is generated by Puzzlemaker and paste it into a PowerPoint template so that I can save it and use a format that is similar to other paper assignments. This certainly isn't necessary, but I think it's a nice touch.
I recently made a puzzle to be used as a review for the beginning of the year for incoming German 2 students. It reviews typical German 1 vocabulary, such as school, numbers, colors, family, and food. I made two versions. One is easier and has the clues as the English definitions. Students fill in the German word. The other version is more difficult. The clues are in (very simple) German, and the answers are German as well. I feel like this is attainable for strong German 2 students and might even be challenging to German 3 students who are working on using the target language only. Both versions are included in the same file, which is available here: Willkommen Deutsch 2 Kreuzworträtsel. Here is the list of words for a key and for easy modification to tailor the puzzle to your own students without needing the retype the whole list: Willkommen Deutsch 2 Kreuzworträtsel word list.
The combination of two levels is tough for teachers. Administrators don't seem to understand how much more work it is for the teacher and how the students are shortchanged. They just look at numbers. As I was told, just be grateful we're letting you do this level at all. At my school it was a 3/4 split. (And one year I did a 4/5 split, though we only had German 5 that one year!)
When facing a multilevel class, first of all, be kind to yourself. This isn't easy and you won't be able to give the students the same learning experience as if they were separate classes. You are one person and can only do what you can do.
The upper level students (I'll call them German 4 here for clarity since that was my experience) should be seniors and, at least theoretically, more mature, so focus on the German 3 students, and give the German 4 students more independent work.
You may be able to have your German 4 students play the role of conversation partner or assistant teacher. Give them a note card with a speaking question that they ask of the German 3 students one on one or in small groups.
This isn't what you'd do if you had separate sections, but it is using the language and does benefit them. If parents complain, explain that it isn't under your control and ask them to take their concerns to administration. Overall, focus your energy on German 3, where you likely have more students, and do what you can about German 4, but don't expect yourself to be two people.
