Animals and Adjectives

Lesson Overview

• Subject: German
• Year Group: Year 7
• Skill Areas: Vocabulary (adjectives), Grammar (grammatical genders; pronouns "er", "sie", "es")
• Curriculum Area: KS3 Modern Foreign Languages
• Focus: Developing descriptive skills for animals using basic adjectives and understanding the role of grammatical gender in German sentences.
• Duration: 60 minutes
• Class size: 32 students

---

Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. Recall and use at least five new adjectives to describe animals.
2. Understand the concept of grammatical gender in German and use "er", "sie", and "es" correctly to refer to animals.
3. Construct simple sentences to describe animals including their colour, size, and a personality trait.

---

Resources & Materials

• Flashcards with animal pictures (as visuals help retention for Year 7 learners).
• German adjective word bank sheet (to scaffold vocabulary).
• Mini whiteboards and markers (for quick grammar exercises).
• A “mystery animal” PowerPoint with animals hidden behind clue adjectives.
• Printed challenge extension activity sheet for higher ability learners.

---

Lesson Structure

Welcome and Starter Activity (5 minutes)

1. Attendance and Hook: Greet the class in German (e.g., "Guten Tag!") and ask them a simple warm-up question to recall prior vocabulary:
   • Was ist deine Lieblingsfarbe?
   • Hast du ein Haustier?
2. Introduce the day’s learning objectives, briefly tying in prior knowledge of animal names and colours.

---

Part 1: Vocabulary Introduction (15 minutes)

Activity 1: Building Adjective Knowledge

• Display flashcards with pictures of animals (e.g., ein Hund, eine Katze, ein Vogel) alongside new adjectives.
• Teach 5 new adjectives, focusing on familiar concepts:
  • schnell (fast), langsam (slow), laut (loud), leise (quiet), freundlich (friendly).
• Model pronunciation and ask students to repeat in unison.
• Highlight adjective agreement does not change yet, and demonstrate the singular/natural use.

Interactive Task: Adjective Actions Game

• Call out an adjective and show an animal flashcard. Students stand up if the adjective could describe the animal or sit down if not.
  • E.g., For "Ein Elefant ist schnell" (an elephant is fast), sitting shows disagreement.

---

Part 2: Grammar Focus – Grammatical Genders (15 minutes)

Teach Gender

• Explain that in German, nouns have grammatical genders and introduce the three options:

  • Masculine (der - er)
  • Feminine (die - sie)
  • Neuter (das - es).

• Provide animal examples:

  • Der Hund (he = er)
  • Die Katze (she = sie)
  • Das Pferd (it = es).

Pronoun Learning Activity

• Split the whiteboard into three gender zones.
• Write an animal name in German and ask students to work in pairs to:
  • Identify its gender (from a word sheet).
  • Write the correct pronoun to replace it.
• For example:
  • “Der Hund ist laut. ___ ist laut.” (Answer: Er)

Encourage peer correction and scaffold for students still developing this skill.

---

Part 3: Sentence Building and Application (20 minutes)

Model Sentences

• Write a simple descriptive sentence on the board and annotate it:
  • Das Pferd ist schnell und freundlich.
• Explain how the adjective order can vary, but a verb is always the second idea in a German sentence.

Group Challenge: Describe an Animal Break the class into small groups (pairs or trios for mixed ability), give each group a different animal image, and instruct them to discuss:

1. Its colour.
2. An adjective that fits its personality or behaviour (from the taught list).
3. Which pronoun to use if referring to it.

• Example solution (for a cat):
  • “Die Katze ist klein und leise. Sie ist freundlich.”

Share:

• Have 3-4 groups present their sentences to the class.

Extension for Higher Ability Students:
Using the challenge sheet, ask students to add weil (because) into a sentence for a basic subordinating clause.
Example:

• Der Hund ist laut, weil er glücklich ist.

---

Plenary and Reflection (5 minutes)

Guess the Mystery Animal

• Show a series of clues using adjectives and gender-specific pronouns without revealing the animal. E.g.:
  • Es ist groß und langsam. Es ist grau.
• Students guess (das Elefant!) and earn points.

Exit Question

• Ask each student to give one sentence describing their favourite animal in German before they leave the room.

---

Assessment

• Use live questioning to gauge understanding during activities.
• Monitor how well students apply gender-pronoun rules and adjectives in their animal descriptions.
• Evaluate sentence complexity for higher ability students during group tasks.

---

Homework/Extension

• Design a mini poster or flashcard for an animal (real or imaginary), labelling:
  • Its German name.
  • 2 adjectives to describe it.
  • A simple sentence (e.g., Der Tiger ist groß und laut. Er ist schnell.).

Students will present these in the next lesson.

---

Differentiation

1. For Lower Ability: Provide a simplified adjective sheet and scaffolded sentence templates for guidance.
2. For Higher Ability: Include "weil" clauses and more complex adjective combinations in tasks. Provide vocabulary sheets with other adjectives like gefährlich (dangerous) or süß (cute).

---

By exploring adjectives and grammatical gender in this fun, interactive lesson, students will build both their vocabulary and confidence in forming grammatically correct German sentences!