Ask for spelling: the alphabet, nouns, articles and the accusative case
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can ask how to spell a word in German and distinguish between nominative articles with 'sein' and accusative articles with other verbs, and use them in speaking and writing.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- Ask 'Wie schreibt man das?' to ask how to spell a word in German.
- 'Wie heißt ...?' or 'Wie heißen ...?' (What is it/are they called?) are alternatives to 'Wie sagt man ...?'.
- Definite articles - 'der, die, das, die' - and indefinite articles - 'ein, eine, ein' - are used before nouns.
- The accusative case shows us the direct object in a sentence.
- Masculine articles change in the accusative case ('den; einen'). Feminine, neuter and plural articles do not change.
Keywords
Heißen - verb meaning 'to be called'
Article - word such as 'the' (der, die, das) or 'a' (ein, eine, ein) used before a noun
Accusative case - case used for the direct object in a sentence, after most verbs and some prepositions
Common misconception
The German alphabet has the same number of letters (26) as the English alphabet.
The German alphabet also includes the letters 'ä, ö, ü, ß' and so consists of 30 letters.
Teacher tip
Students could practise the alphabet in pairs by playing Hangman.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the German and the English.
to drive, go (transport)
to learn, learning
to live, living
to go, going
I don't know
isn't it
Q2.Match the German and the English.
man, Mr
hand
window
shape
question
house
Q3.Which of these is the correct description of the nominative case?
Q4.Fill in the missing word in the following translation: 'I have a problem. This of shoes is unfortunately much too small.' ('Ich habe ein Problem. Dieses Paar Schuhe ist leider viel zu klein.').
Q5.Put the words below into the correct order to make a question.
Q6.Words for ‘the’ and ‘a’ change according to the grammatical of the noun.
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.How many letters are there in the German alphabet?
Q2.Match the German to the English.
rug
mirror
big
bye
unfortunately
here
Q3.Which of these is the correct description of the accusative case?
Q4.Put the words below into the correct order to make a sentence.
To help you plan your 8 German lesson on: Ask for spelling: the alphabet, nouns, articles and the accusative case, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 8 German lesson on: Ask for spelling: the alphabet, nouns, articles and the accusative case, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 German lessons from the An exchange: present tense, 'haben' and 'sein', formal 'Sie' vs 'du', cases unit, dive into the full secondary German curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.