German

I would like to say ‘herzlich willkommen!’ (welcome!) to all our new students and ‘willkommen zurück!’ (welcome back!) to those returning to Cheltenham PS in 2026. I will be working across all year levels this year with the support of Frau Jones-Denholm and Herr Chronopoulos, who are assisting with the German program during Term 1. Our aim is to make language learning relevant, engaging and fun while developing intercultural understanding and enabling all students to access the benefits of language learning. 

Below is a summary of the different topics we will be exploring across the different year levels this term:

In Foundation, we will be exploring the different cultural backgrounds and languages spoken within our own learning communities and discussing why we learn about other languages and cultures. The children will be introduced to German and the country where German stems from, Germany. Students will learn how to greet each other and introduce themselves, as well as how to count from 1-5 in German. Songs, simple rhymes and videos will be used to help the children to acquire new sounds and words, which we will practise through simple role plays, games and activity sheets. 

Years 1 and 2 students will be building on their basic conversational skills and knowledge of German sounds and words. Students will learn how to ask how someone is and talk about their basic feelings in German. Simplified role plays, videos, songs, games and written activities will be used to develop their language skills with a focus on receptive language and responsive oral communication. Practising structured verbal interactions supports students’ developing interpersonal skills while written activities are designed to support their basic literacy skills.

Years 3 and 4 students will be learning the months of the year and how to form dates so they can say when something takes place in German. Students will consolidate and extend their knowledge of German numbers to be able to count up to 31, and create ordinal numbers. We will cover both how to say and write dates. Students will practice by asking and answering questions about their Birthdays. A range of multimedia texts, classroom dialogue, games and activity sheets will be used to support student learning with a focus on developing oral and written language skills. There’s another catchy little song to help remember the months of the year so I hope you will enjoy learning these at home too! 

Years 5 and 6 students will be looking at the topic of family this term. We will be revising and building on existing knowledge to increase students’ vocabulary and language skills. Students will create their own family tree and work at their own level to talk about and describe family members. We will take a closer look at regular and irregular verb conjugation and verb placement in German to develop students’ understanding and application of essential grammatical conventions and structures. There will continue to be a strong focus on functional language incorporating listening and speaking skills through classroom dialogues and multimedia texts, while also developing students’ reading and writing skills. 

If you have any questions or would like to contribute to the German language and culture program, please feel free to reach out. 

Tschüss!

Lisa Hunt

LOTE Specialist