3.3 Wahlveranstaltungen

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Lektionsüberblick

One of the differences between US schools and those in German-speaking countries is the location of   Wahlveranstaltungen (extracurricular activities) like sports and music. In the US, many if not most high schools have sports teams and a variety of musical ensembles. Überm Teich (across the pond), competitive sports teams and musical ensembles exist generally only in Sportvereine und Musikschulen (sports and music clubs), although you can find some extracurricular activities in AGs, Arbeitsgruppen (working groups) that take place at the school, but are not classes. In this lesson, we will look at these kinds of Wahlveranstaltungen as well as the role of student government and other school-age free time activities. In the end, you will be able to talk about 1) the sports, music, and other club activities you participated in and 2) your engagement with student government at your school.

1) Vereine und AGs

Look at the following slides and read about (and listen to) the differences in where extracurricular activities take place.

Now look at a selection of AGs (after-school clubs) from a variety of Swiss, Austrian, and German schools.
Let’s practice.

Deutsch IRL

Here are some school webpages featuring their AGs:

Learn more about school sports in Germany in this linked post “Schulsport in Deutschland”.

Want to go back in time and see how the Swiss youth of past generations spend their time? Check out these videos!

Jetzt bist du dran!

Hast du Schulsport gemacht? Wenn ja, welchen? Hast du sonst irgendwelche AGs gemacht? Wenn ja, welche? Using the modeled language above, answer the questions in your written journal, naming which extracurricular activities you participated in while in school.

When you are done, check your work. Then record your answers in your audio journal.

Lausanne im Blickpunkt

Roman ruins in Lausanne
Römische Ruinen in Lausanne

Lausanne ist über 8000 Jahre alt. Die ältesten Spuren von Menschen in dieser Region stammen aus der Zeit um 6000 v. Chr. Später lebten hier die Gallier und die Römer. Damals trug der Ort den keltischen Namen „Lousonna“. Heute kann man im Namen noch die alte Geschichte erkennen.

Lausanne is over 8,000 years old. The oldest traces of human settlement in this region date back to around 6000 BC. Later, the Gauls and Romans lived here. At that time, the town bore the Celtic name “Lousonna.” Today, the name still reflects the ancient history.

2) Demokratie für Kinder

Let’s start this section on student government with some questions:
Frage/Question Translation
Warst du Klassensprecher? Did you participate in student government while in school?
Welche Erfahrungen hast du mit dem Klassensprecher bzw. der Klassensprecherin an deiner Schule gemacht? What experiences did you have with student government at your school?
Welche Aufgaben haben die Klassensprecher*innen gehabt?  What responsibilities did kids in student government have?
Now let’s look at the Klexikon entry about democracy for children and answer the questions that follow.
Gilt eine Demokratie auch für Kinder?[1]

In der Demokratie ist das Wählen sehr wichtig. Das darf man allerdings erst, wenn man 18 Jahre alt ist. Bei einigen Wahlen darf man schon mit 16 Jahren mitmachen. Kinder dürfen zwar nicht das Parlament wählen, dafür haben sie aber besondere Rechte. Dazu gehört auch das Recht, beschützt aufzuwachsen und zur Schule zu gehen.

Die Demokratie ist eine Idee davon, wie Menschen miteinander umgehen sollen. Das können auch Kinder erleben, zum Beispiel in der Schule. Dort werden Klassensprecher und Schülervertreter gewählt. Sie vertreten andere Schüler, dürfen mitreden und manchmal über bestimmte Dinge mitentscheiden. In einigen Städten und Gemeinden gibt es sogar eigene Kinder- und Jugendparlamente.

Now watch the video to learn about how student government works at the Theodor-Heuss-Gymnasium: Laura und Leon werden über die Rolle des Klassensprechers sprechen und was damit verbunden ist. Then answer the questions.

 

A fifth grade class at the Orientierungsstufe Findorff made this video with Playmobil figurines to show how the Klassenrat, the class council, works with Demokratie und Verantwortung im Klassenraum. How much can you understand? Watch the video and see how many questions you can answer.

Deutsch IRL

There are many videos explaining how student government works.

 

Jetzt bist du dran!

Warst du Klassensprecher? Welche Erfahrungen hast du mit dem Klassensprecher bzw. der Klassensprecherin an deiner Schule gemacht? Welche Aufgaben haben die Klassensprecher*innen gehabt? Answer the questions in your written journal about your experiences with student government using the modeled language above.

 

Jetzt kombinieren!

In this lesson, you learned about1) the sports, music, and other club activities you participated in and 2) your engagement with student government at your school. Now it’s time to combine your knowledge!

Welche Wahlveranstaltungen an deiner Schule hast du gewählt? Warst du auch mal in einem Klub außerhalb der Schule?

In your written journal, write out a brief dialogue between you and the new friend you’ve made on your study abroad. What questions do you ask? How does the friend answer. What questions does the friend ask? How do you answer? You may be very tempted to write this in English first and then translate it. Resist that temptation! Remember that your conversation does not need to be precise. You cannot sound like you have been speaking German your whole life, when you have only been speaking it for a couple years. Use the German you know and the language modeled here.

When you are done, record your dialogue. As always, feel free to meet up with a classmate and record together.

 

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Media Attributions

  • 2030-2040 ch banner reduced size
  • Photo of Roman ruins by cometstarmoon, Flickr, CC BY 2.0

  1. https://klexikon.zum.de/wiki/Demokratie ↵