Fairy tales and poetry: da- and wo- compounds, imperfect
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use wo- and da-compounds to ask and answer questions about fairy tale events.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- Use the imperfect tense in German to narrative past events, mainly in writing.
- Infer the likely meaning of an unfamiliar word by knowing surrounding words and by the structure of the word itself.
- Da-compounds are used to replace and refer back to inanimate (non-living) nouns which have already been mentioned.
- Use wo-compounds to ask questions with prepositions, putting wo- at the start of the question before the preposition.
- Use dar- and wor- for da- and wo-compounds for prepositions starting with a vowel.
Keywords
Imperfect - German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing; e.g., 'war', 'hatte', 'gab', 'fand'
Infer - work out the likely meaning of an unfamiliar word based on knowledge of the surrounding words in the text and the structure of the word itself
Da-, dar- (compound) - prefix added to prepositions to avoid repetition of the noun
Wo-, wor- (compound) - prefix added to prepositions to form questions
Common misconception
Form questions with prepositions in the same way as in English, by adding a preposition at the end, e.g., 'What does he find out about?'.
German doesn't leave prepositions hanging at the end of questions like in English. Form questions by placing the prefix 'wo-' or 'wor-' before the preposition at the start of the question.
Teacher tip
Encourage pupils to search up a simple German version of their favourite fairy tale and suggest they write some wo-compound questions and answers based on the German story text, which could be exchanged with a partner in a starter activity in a subsequent lesson.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the German and English.
you were able to, could
you wanted to
you had to
Q2.'Das Theaterstück? Ich habe keine Zeit __________.' Choose the correct missing word.
Q3.Order the words to say: 'She finds out about nature.'
Q4.Order the words to say: 'I always take a good book with me.'
Q5.Write in English: 'viele große Zähne'.
Q6.Write in German: 'I need your (singular informal) help'.
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.'Mein Bruder kauft eine Geige, denn er ist musikalisch.' What does 'Geige' mean?
Q2.Which question correctly asks 'What are you waiting for?'?
Q3.'Das Wetter? Ich habe Angst '. Write the correct word for 'of it'.
Q4.Write in German: 'I saw a stone'. Use the imperfect tense.
To help you plan your 9 German lesson on: Fairy tales and poetry: da- and wo- compounds, imperfect, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 German lesson on: Fairy tales and poetry: da- and wo- compounds, imperfect, 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 Storytelling: imperfect tense unit, dive into the full secondary German curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.