The gist of it: Students earn Euros throughout the school year. Each month they have a certain amount they have to collect and turn in. They can also save up extra Euros and use those for bonus points, homework passes, or bathroom passes.
How they earn Euros: Volunteering in class, winning games like Gimkit or Kahoot, completing additional culturally themed assignments, working on Duolingo assignments, etc. I give activities like Cultural Themed Drills, give Wizer Me's that take a cultural topic we briefly touch on in class and allow them to investigate it deeper, extra language drills for the grammar focused kiddos, attending community events like Oktoberfest at a local restaurant, or maybe have them post German-related memes they've created to their social media.
Why I do it: It helps hold students accountable for their learning. They're more engaged with participation, with seeking out the language and culture outside of what we do in class. All of these activities are otherwise optional, but the Euros help encourage students to become engaged and pursue their interests outside of class (or to participate in class).
How many Euros: This fluctuates from month to month. I start them at €35 in September when we start school and slowly increase it each month. By the time we hit may, it's up to €60 (and then back down to €20 in June). The amounts you collect might change because of snow days or because of the dynamics of your class. I know the teacher I got the idea from had her students earning somewhere near €75 by the end of the year, but I found that quota too high for the groups I work with.
What do they look like: I printed a bunch of colorful Euros. I didn't do a good job matching them with the actual colors of Euros - it was more what colors I had handy when I made them. I started with a whole bunch of €5 notes that I used when I started, which was perfect for that particular class, but then the next year I had to create the larger notes because I had some students who went above and beyond and wanted to trade in for larger bills.
How can I start: Here are some links to some of the resources I use for myself and students...
- Five Euro Notes
- Larger Euro Notes
- Das Euro System: reference for students and letter home
How do you motivate students to participate in class? How do you get them motivated to engage with the language and culture outside of school?
- Frau Leonard
