Introducing the Dative Case in German 1

This year is the first year I've introduced the dative case in German 1.  We have a new, much improved textbook, which includes dative in the Food and Restaurants unit.  Also, we're working to align the curriculum so that students are prepared for AP or ACP German in the fourth year, which means making the first three years a bit more rigourous.

Last week we reviewed accusative case and direct objects to get ready:

So, on Monday we were ready to start the Dative Case.  I started with an overview of when to use the dative case:

Then, we completed charts of the definite and indefinite articles in the dative case, using "Mr. Minnesota" as a way to remember the MRMN pattern.

Next, we looked at indirect objects in more detail.  I used the children's book If you Give a Mouse a Cookie to give students a concrete example of an indirect object.

That was enough new information for the first day.  It was time to practice, and for that we used my new class set of highlighters, which had arrived the week before.

The biggest difficulty that students have with the cases in German is that they don't slow down and take the time to sort out what function the different nouns in the sentence have.  Enter highlighters:

Isn't it beautiful?  

And, best of all, it was right around this time that I told my tale of not being able to use AirServer for guided notes because of the changes made to the wifi for state testing for the umpteenth time to the right person who passed on the right information to the right person who flipped the right switch in the wiring so that it worked again.  Hallelujah! 

Maybe it seems like a small thing, but after more than a month of making do with PowerPoint, it was so nice to teach in a way which feels comfortable for me and best meets my students' learning needs.  Thank you, BHSN tech team!

Click on the links above for a copy of my guided notes and worksheet.