World Languages Department

Essential Knowledge and Skills

Students in German II review the present, future and perfect tenses of regular and irregular verbs: and they are introduced to the simple past tense. They review the nominative, accusative and datives cases: and are introduced to the genitive case. They will use adjectives with the proper endings. They deepen their understanding of German customs and geography. Students will discuss and write about their activities in greater depth and length. Students also continue their study the structure of German sentences and contrast these with those in English. Students observe everyday student live in Germany by watching a video serial coordinated with their classroom work.

Indicators of Student Learning

Upon the completion of this course, students will:

Oral Communication

• Carry on extended conversations on a variety of everyday themes.

• Give oral reports on what they have discussed in groups.

• Respond to question and statements in depth, i.e., not simply “yes” or “no” or in words or phrases.

Listening Comprehension

• Understand more complicated instructions when taking tests or doing homework.

• Respond appropriately to questions and statements in German from the teacher and fellow students.

Writing

• Describe situations depicted by drawings or pictures.

• Answer in detail questions about what they have read.

• Write summaries of what they have read.

• Write short paragraphs on personalized questions.

Reading

• Read longer dialogues and narratives.

• Use and interpret various realia in German, e.g. timetables, menus, and advertisements.

• Find German websites and distinguish which apply to class projects.

Culture

• Distinguish the proper form of address, du vs. Sie vs. ihr.

• Appreciate the differences in the school systems.

• Research German, Austrian and Swiss cities.

• Discover German, Austrian, and Swiss companies whose products they use.

Technology

• Readily access the Internet for required syllabus, classroom procedures, project information, other online resources.

• Have the option of e-mailing assignments

• Contribute to the course blog

• Produce and share presentations using a LCD projector and/or Smartboard, along with all the proper audio and video connections.

Assessment

Upon the completion of this course, students will:

• Demonstrate competency in listening comprehension by responding appropriately to the teacher, fellow students, and classroom tapes.

• Demonstrate competency in speaking by carrying on an extended conversation on topics covered in class; by making oral presentations in class on topics researched outside of class; by describing pictures and photographs in the classroom; by asking questions in class.

• Demonstrate competency in reading comprehension by answering questions and following directions in the texts and on tests and quizzes; by summarizing what they have read in the textbook and other materials; by answering comprehension questions about these reading.

• Demonstrate competency in writing answers in complete sentence to questions; by summarizing readings and by composing longer essays on chapter topics.

• Demonstrate competency in cultural differences by expressing differences in German and American customs and attitudes as simply “different” and not “better or worse,” by researching German-speaking countries for reports and projects.