GERMAN STORY-BASED LESSON

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GERMAN STORY-BASED LESSON
“PACEing Two-Way Prepositions” by Jennifer Peterson
Level: Appropriate for second semester college courses and third to fourth year high school learners (see
comments below).
Introduction: The PACE Model, developed by Dr. Richard Donato (University of Pittsburgh), Dr. Bonnie
Adair-Hauck (University of Pittsburgh), and Philomena Cuomo (Carlynton High School, Pittsburgh, PA),
offers an alternative to traditional, direct, deductive grammar instruction in foreign languages. This model
represents a middle ground between explicit and implicit grammar instruction called “Guided Participation”.
It is best described as a Vygotskyan model for language instruction which is cooperative and meaning- and
interaction-focused. 1
The PACE model consists of four phases: “Presentation”, “Attention”, “Co-Construction”, and “Extension”.
The instructor first presents the grammatical form in an authentic, usually narrative context; a short story,
film, or newspaper article. This phase is called “Presentation”, and focuses on meaning. The second phase is
the “Attention” phase, in which the instructor draws students’ attention to the target form via a text,
transparency, the blackboard or other means. The third phase is the “Co-Construction” phase, in which the
instructor facilitates the students’ inductive processes, and aids in the development of their own hypotheses
concerning the grammatical form. In the “Extension” phase, the students begin to apply the rules they have
“constructed”, and eventually begin to generate the desired form.
What follows is a lesson plan for four days of instruction in an approximately fifty-minute class period.
Functional Objective: Students are able to describe the location of a person or object.
Performance Objective: Students are able to describe objects, persons and locations orally. Students will
induce rules for grammatical usage from the text.
Grammatical Objective: Students introduce the rules for/and differentiate between the use of the dative and
accusative cases with two-way prepositions, primarily by using the preposition “in”.
Vocabulary Objective: Students learn a few new adjectives which are primarily literary “vornehm” and
“vorzüglich”, and vocabulary which is common in German folktales such as “der König” (king), “die
Königin” (queen), “der Schlüssel” (key), etc. A review of colors and textures can be nicely incorporated into
later activities.
Cultural Objective: The students are introduced to the form of the literary spoof and the use of humor in this
genre (especially since the story as a whole is not humorous, how the story is constructed and told created
the humor). Depending on the level of the class and the length of the unit, this story can also be contrasted
with familiar Grimm brother fairy tales (such as “Sleeping Beauty”), which often feature similar cast of
characters acting very differently than those in this story.
Summary of the text: The text I have chosen is called “der schöne hut oder der häßliche hut”2 by
Friederich Achleitner. It is a highly repetitive text which relies on restatement and repetition for its humor.
The text is divided into seven short sections. What makes the text humorous is the melodramatic description
of seemingly habitual acts, the heavy use of restatement for relatively simple actions, and the contrast
between the adjectives “beautiful” and “ugly” being used to describe the same item (which gives the story a
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For more information on the PACE Model see: Donato, Adair-Hauk and Cumo-Johansen. “Using a Whole
Language Approach to Teach Grammar.” In Shrum, J. & Glisan, E.W.. Teacher’s Handbook: Contextualized
Language Instruction. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1994, pp. 90–111.
2 Note: Achleitner does not use capitalization in the title or in the body of the text. Lebendige Literatur:
Deutsches Lesebuch für Anfänger. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1974, pp. 9–14.
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“beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder” type of moral). I chose it as well because its cryptic style is humorous
for all levels, its actions are easily describable, and it provides perfect examples for the introduction of twoway prepositions and a review of adjectives. Achleitner also fails to capitalize nouns as is necessary in
German and, therefore, the story could be used for review of this grammatical point as well. Since it
incorporates all these elements within a simple text, I believe it is well-suited for use in a whole-language
lesson. What follows is a summary:
A king is standing at the door of his ominous house. He takes a yellow key from his distinguished
bag. He sticks the key in the irregular keyhole. Now the key is in an irregular keyhole. He pushes the door
open. He puts the gold key back into the distinguished bag. He steps into the ominous house and closes the
door. He goes into the cold room. There is someone in the next room. Who is it? It is the queen; her name is
Ann.
The king places his hat, which the people consider unworthy of a king, on an excellent table. He
leaves the cold room and the queen enters and finds the “ugly” hat on the table. She takes it into the next
room and hangs it on a green hook next to her “ugly” hat. The king comes in to discover his “beautiful” hat
missing. He asks the queen where it is and she tells him she hung it on the green hook. He retrieves the hat
and asks her what is inside. She reaches in and pulls out money. The king then describes how he was walking
down the street and the wind blew his hat off his head. When he bends down to pick it up, he finds it lying on
top of some money. The money was under his hat.
PRESENTATION
Materials:
The teacher has visuals made for most of the nouns which appear in the story; a king, a castle, a bag, a key,
a keyhole, a queen, a green hook, and some gold coins (table, room, and window are not included in the
visuals since they exist in the classroom or can be easily mimed).
1.
2.
3.
While using all the props as aids, students review these vocabulary terms and for each one discuss what
they associate with kings, queens, and castles. The teacher first lists only a few vocabulary words on the
board. The expected associations with the nouns in the story (wealth, royalty, power) will later stand in
contrast to the content of the story.
The teacher, using the props, dramatically tells the story. This story is repetitive and simple so it is
unnecessary to alter it in order to tell it. The teacher then has students come up as the king and queen
who act out their parts in the story with the aid of the visuals. During this phase some (humorous) errors
will occur in the storytelling which the students must point out by signalling or merely saying “yes” or
“no” (i.e., “the queen throws the kings hat out of the window”, “no”, “the queen hangs the hat on the red
hook”, “no”, “on the green hook?”, “yes”). Little to no production is required at this phase.
After the story is retold, the students do the included story map together with a partner, wherein they
sketch the main characters and events of the story. The teacher circulates to check comprehension and
provide assistance.
ATTENTION
The teacher uses a transparency of the first section of the story to draw the students’ attention to the
preposition “in” (a cognate) and the case which follows in the prepositional phrases which are underlined in
different colors.
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CO-CONSTRUCTION
The teacher asks students which cases follow the preposition “in” within the first paragraph of the story on
the overhead. (Ist das hier dativ oder akkusative? Und das?) The teacher then guides students to notice the
nature of the description, pointing out that dative case is use when describing where (“wo”)
something/someone is, and (“wohin”) is used when describing to where one is going (Was beschreibt das
“in” hier, wo er ist oder wohin er geht?).
EXTENSION ACTIVITIES
Day 2: The props are distributed and, while the teacher tells the abbreviated story (the same sentences used
for the scrambled sentences), the students must hold up their item when it appears in the story.
The students receive scrambled sentences which they must rearrange.
All nine two-way prepositions are introduced via a song (sung to the tune of La Cucaracha):
Wechselpraepositionen
an, auf und hinter,
über, unter
neben, zwischen, vor und in
auf Frage “wo”, da kommt der Dativ
Akkusativ kommt auf “wohin”! cha, cha, cha!
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A graphic organizer is also drawn on the board:
Day 3: Students form story groups wherein they write a similar story. They could write about themselves or
others. They may either begin to write in books and illustrate them, or, using pictures distributed by the
teacher, they should write a similar story using two-way prepositions. Useful adjectives may be collected on
the board, a transparency , or be distributed as a list. The students use the text as a model and the teacher
circulates to provide help. The class has the entire class period to devote to this project.
Day 4: The students present their own stories in class in groups.
HOMEWORK
Due day 2: Attached sheet with the “wo” “wohin” exercise
Due day 3: Students underline the two-way prepositions in the text
Due day 4: The first draft of the students’ stories.
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Anticipated Problems:
Depending on the level, students may need to write simple sentences with the adjectives after the noun to
allow them to concentrate on the two-way prepositions (since adjective endings are difficult for all students
of German). If students are allowed to create their own visuals, more time would be necessary, however,
such an activity would utilize the students’ individual talents in that area. Although the story is quite simple
and silly, even native speakers have found it interesting when told dramatically with the visuals.
APPENDIX 1
Der Gundri_ von der Geschichte
Students use this “blueprint” to organize the main elements of the story (where it takes place, the main
characters, the conflict, and the resolution).
Jetzt sind Sie Architekt(in)! Machen Sie mit einem Partner einen Gundri_, wovon man die Geschichte
wieder aufbauen kann.
Wo spilet die Geschichte?
Wer sind die Hauptpersonen?
Was ist das Problem?
Was passiert?
Wie endet die Geschichte?
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APPENDIX 2
Arbeitsblatt zu “der schöne hut oder der hä_liche hut”
This activity is a simple comprehension check to determine whether students have grasped the concept
concerning the use of dative and accusative cases with two-way prepositions. This sheet tests only students’
recognition of the concepts introduced in the PACE model.
Wo oder Wohin? Umkreisen Sie die richtige Antwort!
Der König is an der schmalen Tür (f.) seines finsteren Hauses. Wo Wohin
Er hat den gelben Schlüssel in der Hand (f.) Wo Wohin
Er steckt den gelben Schlüssel in das ungenaue Schlüsselloch (n.). Wo Wohin
Jetzt is der gelbe Schlüssel in dem ungenauen Schlüsselloch. Wo Wohin
Jetzt schreitet der König in sein finsteres Haus (n.) Wo Wohin
APPENDIX 3
Orden Sie die Sätz aus der Geschichte von 1–10!
For this scrambles sentences activity, students number the sentences from 1–10 in order of their appearance in
the story.
Die Königen findet Geld in dem Hut.
Er legt seinen Hut auf den vorzügichen Tisch.
Der Königen findet den hä_lichen Hut auf dem Tisch.
Er hat den galben Schlössel in der Hand (f.).
Der König fragt: “Wo ist mein schöner Hut?”
Er steckt den gelben Schlüssel in das ungenaue Schüsselloch (n.).
Jetzt is der gelbe Schlüssel in dem ungenauen Schlüsselloch.
Die Königen hängt den hä_lichen Hut and den grünen Haken.
Die Königen bringt dem König den Hut.
Peterson, J. (1998). “PACEing two-way preposition: A whole-language lesson plan for german.” Pennsylvania
Language Forum. 70, 1: 44–46.