Whenever we do this unit, the activity students look forward to the most are the Class Superlatives. I'm sure you're familiar with High School Superlatives - the seniors all vote on who they think will be "Most Likely to Succeed" or who "Has the Best Hair." This is the same sort of thing, but limited just to our German 3 class.
I assign students two-three different adjectives (depends on how many students are in the class). I have strips of paper that I hand out, so the adjectives are distributed randomly. Students then have to identify who in the class is the most whatever (tallest, nicest, friendliest, etc.). They write a complete sentence in German identifying the student and saying that they're the most _______. And since I picked the adjectives, I already know they're going to be positive!
After students have written their stars for classmates (and no, they're not allowed to pick themselves!), we then have a little award ceremony. They read out their statements and hand them to their classmates. It's great because they're using the target language and creating a great, positive environment!
I've been fortunate so far that every year I've done this, every student has gotten at least one star. I'd recommend having a star ready for each student ahead of time (especially in smaller classes) to make sure no one gets left out.
Once all the stars have been given out, they then get to hang up their stars on the ceiling. Every star that's been hung up for the last four years is still there! The kids love it because it stays up there for everyone to see. I love it because students in other classes always ask about it and then look forward to doing it in German 3.
I already mentioned that I do this activity with my German 3 students (this is just where the Comparative happens to fall in our current curriculum), but I think this activity could easily be used in any lower levels or even higher ones. In lower levels, the statements might have to be more basic ("Johann ist am schnellsten in Deutsch 1."). In upper levels, students can incorporate adjective endings ("Johann ist der fleißigste Junge in Deutsch 3.") or can elaborate on their awards ("Johann ist der interessante Junge in Deutsch IV, weil er drei Sprachen sprechen kann.").
If you're interested in the star and adjective set, they're available on my TPT account - just click here! I also have a French version available as well!
- Frau Leonard
Thank you for sharing this! We will be covering comparatives and superlatives soon in my German 2 class, and this will be a great activity to practice and start out the second semester.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like the idea - hopefully your students will have a lot of fun with it :)
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