Marcia Stewart’s TIF Project

Virtual Trip to Dresden

LINK: \\Erasmus\CMLWEB\TIF\SISD\German\dresden.htm

This activity is designed to give students the opportunity to learn about a German city (Dresden) by reading about it in German, and review and practice the conversational past tense by writing about what activities they choose to do while visiting. Students will do these activities during class time in the computer lab, or they may work on them at home, if they need more time than they get in class. (Approximately 4 45-minute lab periods.)

ACTIVITIES:

• Students will think about their preconceived notions of a large “East German” city, look at what is offered in Dresden and compare it to an American city.
• Students will read about Dresden in German to find out what to see and do there.
• Students will review the conversational past tense, irregular past participles and haben or sein as auxiliary verb.
• Students will write a diary about their activities and experiences for 5 days in Dresden, using the past tense.

GOALS:

• Individualized instruction leading to increased motivation
• Improved reading comprehension
• Cultural insight
• Increased proficiency in relating past activities

EVALUATION:

• Projects graded on correct expression, creativity, and effort.

• Compare proficiency levels of students before and after this project.
• Compare reading proficiency test scores of these students with the test scores of students from previous semesters.
• Observation of students’ “on task” behaviors.
• Written evaluation (anonymous) from students about usefulness of activities.