Greetings and Introductions

Physical Descriptions and Personality Characteristics, Feelings, and Emotions

Family Members

Clothing and Colors

GERMAN 1 > Personal and Family Life

Greetings and Introductions

Communication

Person-to-Person Communication

• Use appropriate forms of address to peers and adults when making introductions.
• Use appropriate gestures and expressions of greeting and leave-taking.
• Ask and respond to simple questions about someone else's identity and well-being.

Listening and Reading for Understanding

• Differentiate between informal and formal exchanges.
• Comprehend phrases related to a person's state of well-being.

Oral and Written Presentation

• Demonstrate attention to accuracy of register in introducing self and expressing greetings.
• Present rehearsed and spontaneous greetings and introductions.

Cultures

Cultural Perspectives, Practices, and Products

• Recognize and distinguish between various culturally-authentic gestures and levels of formality of greeting and leave-taking.
• Demonstrate understanding of hand-shaking, body language and greetings, including those used in telephone, computer, and letter-writing situations.

Connections, Comparisons and Communities

Making Connections Through Language

• Discuss the use of morning and evening greetings.

Cultural and Linguistic Comparisons

• Contrast customs of greeting and leave-taking between the United States and German-speaking countries.
• Contrast the use of formal address in German and English.

Communication Across Communities

• Recognize the importance of greetings in German-speaking countries.

Related Vocabulary and Linguistic Elements

• du/ihr/Sie
• Formal and informal address
• Forming questions
• Subject pronouns and sein

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Physical Descriptions and Personality Characteristics, Feelings, and Emotions

Communication

Person-to-Person Communication

• Use a variety of adjectives to ask and answer questions about the physical appearance of people and objects.
• Ask and answer questions about a description, mood, or emotional state.

Listening and Reading for Understanding

• Comprehend spoken and written descriptions of physical appearance, personality traits, and emotions.

Oral and Written Presentation

• Describe physical and personality attributes using a variety of appropriate adjectives.
• Present descriptions, both rehearsed and spontaneous, of people and/or objects.

Cultures

Cultural Perspectives, Practices, and Products

• Discuss cultural generalizations and stereotyping based on physical appearance.
• Discuss differences and similarities in appearance between people from the U.S. and German-speaking countries.
• Discuss characteristics of famous people from German-speaking countries.

Connections, Comparisons and Communities

Making Connections Through Language

• Identify well-known German-speaking people studied in other disciplines.
• Identify well-known German Americans.

Cultural and Linguistic Comparisons

• Identify adjectives that are cognates and those that are false cognates.
• Compare German word order with that of English.

Communication Across Communities

• Describe well-known people in German-speaking countries.

Related Vocabulary and Linguistic Elements

• Descriptive adjectives
• Present tense of sein
• Definite articles der, die, das

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GERMAN 1 > Theme: Personal and Family Life

Topic: Family Members

Communication

Person-to-Person Communication

• Ask and answer questions pertaining to family members and relationships, including pets.

Listening and Reading for Understanding

• Identify family members and relationships based on spoken and written descriptions.

Oral and Written Presentation

• Describe family relationships.
• Describe family members and pets.

Cultures

Cultural Perspectives, Practices, and Products

• Identify characteristics of the family unit in various Germanic cultures.
• Explain the importance of the family in German-speaking societies.

Connections, Comparisons and Communities

Making Connections Through Language

• Compare the role of the extended family in Germany and in the U.S.

Cultural and Linguistic Comparisons

• Compare and contrast families in the U.S. and in German-speaking countries.
• Contrast ways to express possession.

Communication Across Communities

• Use print and Internet resources to access information about families in German-speaking countries.

Related Vocabulary and Linguistic Elements

• Descriptive adjectives
• Indefinite articles ein, eine, einen
• Possessive adjectives mein, dein, sein, ihr
• Subject pronouns
• Accusative case
• Present tense of the verb haben
• Pet vocabulary

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GERMAN 1 > Theme: Personal and Family Life

Topic: Clothing and Colors

Communication

Person-to-Person Communication

• Ask and respond to questions pertaining to clothing and colors.
• Ask and answer questions to elicit a description of clothing and colors.

Listening and Reading for Understanding

• Identify clothing based on spoken and written description, such as in advertisements or announcements.

Oral and Written Presentation

• Use descriptive adjectives and cases to describe clothing.

Cultures

Cultural Perspectives, Practices, and Products

• Discuss standards and styles of dress in various German-speaking countries.
• Discuss the influence of climate and geography on dress in German-speaking countries.
• Discuss occasions when certain dress is preferred, to include Sundays, going out, and special occasions.
• Discuss differences and similarities of fashion, past and present, between the U.S. and German-speaking countries.

Connections, Comparisons and Communities

Making Connections Through Language

• Discuss the use of color (e.g., in clothing, art, architecture).

Cultural and Linguistic Comparisons

• Compare standards and styles of dress in Germanic and American cultures.
• Identify cognates and false cognates related to clothing and colors.
• Discuss accusative case with tragen, kaufen, haben.
• Compare ways of expressing possession.

Communication Across Communities

• Identify differences in sizes and appropriateness of clothing.
• Describe clothing available on the Internet and through catalogues and/or advertisements from German-speaking countries.

Related Vocabulary and Linguistic Elements

• Definite and indefinite articles
• Use of the verb gefallen
• Accusative pronouns
• Separable prefix verbs:  aussehen, anziehen, anprobieren
• Stem-changing verbs:  nehmen, tragen, sehen
• Colors and other descriptive adjectives

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