International Schools in Germany: US-Style K–5 Reading, Writing and Math Resources
International Schools in Germany: US-Style K–5 Reading, Writing and Math Resources
International schools in Germany often have very mixed rooms. A Grade 3 class may include a child who arrived from Texas last month, two who have been at the school since Kindergarten and a German child in a first English year. You need materials that are fully native in their English and still clear enough for the newcomers. The units below were written for US classrooms, keep the same lesson routine from start to finish and come with teacher guides that explain the decisions behind each page. That routine is what makes them usable across a wide spread of English levels.
Browse the ELA resources →Resources that fit
Core reading, writing and math units by grade
This selection covers the reading, writing and math work most international schools teach in English across K–5. Each card shows the US grade the unit was written for.
Decodable Readers Grade One | 20 Stories with Word Work & Comprehension | Grade 1
Grade 1 decodable stories with word work and comprehension pages.
Measurement and US Money | Length, Coins, Bills & Making Change | Grade 2
Grade 2 length and US money, ending in a classroom store.
Narrative Writing Workshop | Character, Setting, Dialogue & Revision | Grade 3
Grade 3 narrative unit where each lesson adds one part of a story.
Multiplication Fact Fluency | Strategies, Fact Families & Array Labs | Grade 3
Grade 3 multiplication facts through strategies and fact families.
Reading Fluency Passages | 24 Original Passages with Meaning Checks | Grade 4
Twenty-four Grade 4 passages, each with a meaning check.
Multi-Digit Multiplication and Division | Area Model, Partial Products & Partial Quotients | Grade 4
Grade 4 area model, partial products and partial quotients.
Opinion Writing Unit | Claims, Reasons, Evidence & Revision | Grades 4–5
Grades 4–5 opinion writing from claim to published piece.
Text Evidence and Constructed Response | 20 Passages with Writing Plans | Grade 5
Grade 5 text evidence with a plan, write and explain page.
Grade levels
Grade bands and what each unit covers
| US grade | Rough German Klasse | Reading and writing | Math |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | Vorschule / Klasse 1 | Phonemic Awareness Daily Routines | Number Sense to 20 |
| Grade 1 | Klasse 1–2 | Decodable Readers, Heart Words | – |
| Grade 2 | Klasse 2–3 | Nonfiction Text Features | Measurement and US Money |
| Grade 3 | Klasse 3–4 | Narrative Writing Workshop | Multiplication Fact Fluency |
| Grade 4 | Klasse 4 | Reading Fluency Passages, Opinion Writing | Multi-Digit Multiplication and Division |
| Grade 5 | Klasse 5 | Text Evidence and Constructed Response | – |
The German column helps when you talk to parents who think in Klassen, or when a child moves between your school and a German state school. It is a rough guide by age only. Schools on a British year structure can read the UK notes on each product page; Grade 1, for example, roughly maps to Year 2 in England.
Mixed rooms
Using the same unit with native speakers and newcomers
The units are built on one repeated routine, which you see on the opening page of every set. In the fluency passages, every passage has a reading page and a Meaning check. In the text evidence pack, every passage has a reading page and a Plan, write and explain page. Once a child knows the routine, the English on the page is the only new thing. That lets a newcomer and a native speaker work on the same passage with different support: the newcomer reads with a partner and answers orally first, the native speaker writes the full response.
Writing units work the same way. In the narrative workshop each of the ten lessons adds one part of the same story, from inventing a character to an earned ending. A child new to English can write a shorter story with simpler sentences and still do every step. The rubric in the teacher guide gives everyone the same criteria for feedback.
Local fit
Where US content meets life in Germany
Money. The Grade 2 unit uses US dollars and cents throughout. For families who move between countries, US coins can be useful knowledge, but if your school teaches euros, treat it as a unit about another currency or teach only the length lessons.
Measurement. Students measure in inches and in centimeters, and Lesson 3 asks why the same object gives two numbers. In Germany that comparison is useful in itself.
Math notation. The units write multiplication with × and division with ÷. German schools often write · and :. Point this out to children who switch systems so they do not think they are learning a new operation.
Paper. The PDFs are A4, so your copy room needs no special settings.
Getting started
A sensible first term
- Pick one strand per gradeChoose one reading or writing unit and one math unit per grade so teachers can compare notes on the same material.
- Read the teacher guide firstEach guide sets out the teaching concept, answers for every lesson and notes on observation and responsive support. That is where the adaptation advice sits.
- Agree on the routineLet each class learn the unit routine in the first week before you add extra support or extension.
Questions teachers ask
Frequently asked questions
Do the units follow a US curriculum?
They are written for US grades, and each teacher guide names the Common Core or NGSS expectations a unit sits closest to. They are not tied to any curriculum provider, and no alignment or endorsement is claimed.
We follow a British year structure. Can we still use them?
Yes. Each product page gives a rough UK year mapping, for example Grade 4 roughly maps to Year 5 in England. Plan by the skill described, since the grade label is a US convention.
How do we handle children who are new to English?
Choose by language level as well as age, pre-teach key vocabulary and let them answer orally before writing. The repeated routine in every unit means only the English is new, not the format.
Are answer keys included?
Yes. Every teacher guide includes answers, keys or teaching notes for each lesson, and the writing units include rubrics.
Do the units work for a child with almost no English?
Start lower than the child's age suggests, with the oral phonemic awareness routines, the Kindergarten math centers or the Pushes and Pulls science unit. They rely on pictures, objects and short spoken answers.
Which files do we get?
A classroom material PDF, a teacher guide PDF, editable DOCX text versions and an editable PowerPoint for each unit.
One routine, many English levels
Units that keep native speakers busy and give newcomers a clear structure.
See the math resources →