KS3 German
Course Introduction
German at the Holy Family Catholic School is the study of both the German language and culture of German-speaking countries. During the course, both the vocabulary and grammatical structures that feature in the German language will be studied. The cultural aspect of the course allows students to see themselves at global citizens. They will also be given the opportunity to travel to Germany during key stage 3 to experience the German culture and language first hand.
German is an academic subject, where the abilities to see patterns and apply them are particularly useful. Students will be required to reflect on German vocabulary and grammatical structures and be able to use them to be creative in their German speaking and writing. Students will also develop their reading and listening skills, to enable them to identify key pieces of information in a variety of authentic texts. They will also be encouraged to compare and contrast their experiences of the English language and culture with that of German-speaking countries
Student Objectives
Develop a good working knowledge of key German vocabulary across a variety of relevant topics, which can be presented in written or spoken form.
Understand how sentence structure works in German and to be able to use and adapt this to create their own pieces of creative and factual writing.
Improve their pattern spotting abilities to be able to see and apply grammatical rules that are standard in the German language.
Be able to converse in German across a variety of relevant topics and levels, for example being able to talk about themselves and their interests, transactional conversations, such as shopping for souvenirs or eating in a café.
Develop their own reading abilities to be able to read authentic German texts for gist or to infer meaning, as well as looking for clues in the language used to inform this.
Become more familiar with how the German language sounds when it is spoken so that information becomes easier to understand, as well as using these sounds to improve the students’ own German accents.
Use the knowledge and skills developed in German to complete several types of tasks that replicate events and activities that are commonplace in day to day life.
Begin to see themselves as citizens of the world and gain insight into how people in German-speaking countries live and behave. Students will be able to see parallels and differences between these cultures.
Course Content
Year 7
Autumn 1: Introducing yourself and others
Autumn 2: Family life
Spring 1: Hobbies and free time
Spring 2: School life
Summer 1: Holiday plans
Summer 2: Creative use of German
Year 8
Autumn 1: Going on holiday
Autumn 2: Media
Spring 1: Healthy living
Spring 2: School excursions
Summer 1: Going out
Summer 2: German culture project
Year 9
Autumn 1: Role models
Autumn 2: Music
Spring 1: Future career plans
Spring 2: Childhood
Summer 1: More about me
Summer 2: Vocabulary and grammar preparation for GCSE
Assessment
The students will be levelled at the end of each unit of work. This will be completed in line with the school policy. Feedback will be given to the students verbally and a record is made of this by the students, who will then reflect on their own strengths and areas for development for the next unit of work. At the end of each unit, the students will complete an assessment and this will be levelled and written feedback and targets for the students will be produced.
What it Leads to in KS4
The German department offers the GCSE German course at KS4. This course allows students to continue to develop the skills and vocabulary gained in key stage 3 and take them a step further, allowing students to become more fluent in German. The skills tested at GCSE level and reading, writing, listening and speaking in several types of tasks and topics that reflect and develop the themes covered in key stage 3.
