Seven German Classroom Activities for Grades 3-6 at A1-A2

Beginner German sticks when children use it for something real in the room: labeling a pencil case, giving a timetable, asking for help. Seven activities follow for Grades 3-6 at A1-A2, six of them built on tasks in our school German unit and one that needs only sticky notes. They suit FLES classes, German Saturday schools, and newcomer groups, and each takes 10 to 30 minutes.

Words and objects

1. Label the room. Children write five objects on sticky notes with the article attached, der Stift or das Heft, and stick them on the real things. Then each child writes two sentences starting "Ich brauche ...". This is Task A of the first path in the German for School unit. A tip for the sentences: let children use the noun they have practiced, and do not stop to correct every ending. The book's lesson is to learn article and plural together.

2. Colors for gender. Outside the unit: write the three articles in three marker colors and always write nouns in the color of their article. Over a few weeks the color becomes a memory aid. It costs nothing and works with any vocabulary list.

Time and conversation

3. Timetable swap. Give pairs a sample timetable with some boxes blank. Partner A reads the days and times aloud in German, using the model Am Dienstag haben wir um neun Uhr Sport., and partner B fills in the missing boxes. Switch roles with a different timetable. Task A for this path asks children to describe three lessons in German, so the activity gives lots of repetition.

4. The help card exchange. Write three useful questions on cards, for example asking someone to explain again, in the pattern of Können Sie das bitte noch einmal erklären? One child plays the helper and one asks. Swap, then act out the best exchange for the class. Listen for a polite request and for clear information, which is what the teacher guide's sample answer asks for.

Rules and routines

5. Our rules poster. Groups write two classroom rules in positive German, such as the book's Wir hören einander zu, and add a sentence on why the rule helps. Vote on the two rules the class most wants to keep and display them. In a Saturday school this works as a gentle opening ritual, because children set the rules themselves.

6. Zuerst, danach, zum Schluss. Print three strips of paper per child. Each child writes one sentence about their school day on each strip, beginning with the three order words. Mix up the strips of a small group and let the others put them back in order. The book's example is Zuerst lese ich. Danach haben wir Pause.

Looking before explaining

7. Silent picture. Show a classroom illustration with no title. Children write three details they can actually see and one thing they infer, then compare notes with a partner. Observation versus inference is built into every Observe page of the unit, and beginners can write their notes in English or in a mix of languages, so the language level does not limit the thinking. Afterwards, ask two or three children to read out one observation and one inference, and have the class decide which is which. Ten minutes of this at the start of the term sets a habit that carries into every later lesson, because children learn to say exactly what is in front of them before they decide what it means.

Keeping it small and doable

Do not run all seven in a week. Most of them need only a few things on hand:

• sticky notes and three marker colors
• a sample timetable with blanks
• index cards for help questions
• paper strips for the sequence activity
• a classroom illustration without a title

A good rhythm for a 35-minute lesson is 5 minutes of opening, 20 of task work, and 10 to consolidate, which is the pattern of the teacher guide. Pick one activity per lesson and repeat the useful ones. Children in a mixed-age Saturday group can swap roles, so older learners act as helpers and younger ones get more speaking time.

For a low-cost cultural extra, the German Unity Day craft pairs well with the rules poster and fits younger children.

All four language units sit together in the language bundle.

You can check the contents of the German unit on the unit page.

Related reading from the Teacher Hub

• A Seven-Lesson Plan for School German at A1-A2, Grades 3-6
• Teaching Germany's 16 States and Capitals in German Class
• How to Teach Days, Months and Dates to ESL Newcomers