This series has been produced to build on the key grammar requirements identified in the Modern Languages KS3 National Curriculum Programme of Study in England, and with both the current GCSE and GCSE (for first teaching in 2024) in mind.
So leben wir in Deutschland
Vloggers Tina and Malik are off to Frankfurt, to visit their friend Heidi.
It’s their first time in the country, so they’re eager to document their journey and showcase it to their many followers back home, as well as tapping into a German audience too.
Although they know some basic words and phrases from learning it at school, they are lacking in grammar knowledge.
Luckily, Heidi is on hand to help them learn the rules.
The present tense. video
This episode places emphasis on the verbs gehen, essen, besichtigen and verstehen.
The perfect tense with haben. video
How to use the perfect tense with the verb haben and how to form the past participle of the verb.
The perfect tense with sein. video
How to use the perfect tense with the verb sein. Additionally, the episode places emphasis on the verbs gehen, ahren, and fliegen.
The future tense with werden. video
How to use the future tense with the verb werden.
Making things negative (changing to the opposite meaning) video
How to make things negative using nicht and kein.
The imperfect of haben and sein. video
How to use the imperfect forms of the verbs haben and sein, and the modal verb forms of können and wollen, which are regularly used when talking about the past.
Modals. video
Modals, which help when talking about what one has, wants, and is allowed to do.
Word order - starting with a time phrase. video
How a word order main clause inversion functions in German.
Asking questions. video
How to ask questions using the question words Wer, Was, Wo, Wann and Wie.
Word order with subordinating conjunctions. video
How subordinating conjunctions change the order of words in a sentence.
Curriculum notes
The ten episodes are as follows:
1: The present tense
2: The perfect tense with haben
3: The perfect tense with sein
4: The future tense with werden
5: Making things negative
6: The imperfect tense of haben and sein
7: Modals
8: Word order - starting with a time phrase
9: Asking questions
10: Word order with subordinating conjunctions
The episodes are standalone and can be used during and/or after teaching sequences on each grammar point.
And whilst the locations and vocabulary used suggest specific topics or contexts, the grammar points can be exploited across any of the current and new GCSE contexts with the grammar point a useful lynchpin to promote use of high frequency vocabulary in different contexts and to students in revisiting and consolidation of both grammar and vocabulary.
England
This series has been produced to build on the key grammar requirements identified in the Modern Languages KS3 National Curriculum Programme of Study in England, and with both the current GCSE and GCSE (for first teaching in 2024) in mind.
Overarching requirements:
The KS3 Programme of Study notes that ‘a high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes.
These views are echoed in the subject aims for the 2016 GCSE, where teaching should enable students to apply their knowledge and understanding of grammar in order to develop their ability to communicate confidently and coherently with native speakers in speech and writing, conveying what they want to say with increasing accuracy. It will also encourage them to express and develop thoughts and ideas more spontaneously and fluently.
The new (2024) GCSE subject content states that students should develop their ability and ambition to communicate independently in speech and writing with speakers of the language for authentic purposes and about subjects which are meaningful and interesting to them.
In addition, the inclusion in this series of authentic locations, discussion topics of interest to young people, foods and occasional use of idiom aids in developing awareness and understanding of the culture and identity of the countries and communities where the language is spoken.
For grammar specifically, this series builds on the KS3 Programme of Study, which requires pupils to:
- identify and use tenses or other structures which convey the present, past, and future as appropriate to the language being studied.
- use and manipulate a variety of key grammatical structures and patterns, including voices and moods, as appropriate.
- develop and use a wide-ranging and deepening vocabulary that goes beyond their immediate needs and interests, allowing them to give and justify opinions and take part in discussion about wider issues.
The grammar points identified in each episode are key requirements for GCSE to allow the students to use a range of vocabulary and grammatical structures accurately, including some more complex forms, with reference to past, present and future events
In of vocabulary, the emphasis in the series is on use of high frequency vocabulary, as the new GCSE subject content requires 85% of the words to come from the 2000 most frequently used words. Every effort has been made to adhere to this, and any words not within the most frequent 2000 are included in the current GCSE lists.
Scotland
This series also meets the aims for teaching languages within the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) in Scotland, specifically to:
- develop a secure understanding of how language works, and use language well to communicate ideas and information in English and other languages
- develop young people’s ‘communicative competence so that they are able to use and enjoy the language effectively in real situations, in relevant and realistic contexts
It also s the objectives within the National 4 and 5 qualifications in ing students in applying grammatical knowledge and understanding in productive skills (speaking and writing)
Wales and Northern Ireland
This video series fits in with the current curriculum in Wales and Northern Ireland in of pupils taking German GCSE. Whilst the Languages, Literacy and Communication section of the new Curriculum for Wales (2022) gives greater flexibility on the teaching of International Languages (including German) the content of this series will the development of core grammar knowledge within the broader aims of the curriculum.