07 Weather v2 - Early Start Languages

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1.9 Wie ist das Wetter?
9. Wie ist das Wetter?
What’s the weather like?
In this section pupils learn to talk about
the weather. As part of your class routine,
children can do their daily local weather
report in German.
Using the internet, they can also observe
the changing weather in Germany from day
to day - perhaps comparing with the climate
patterns in your own country.
Children can build on their knowledge about
different places and regions in Germany
from chapter1.7. This links with images of
christmas in chapter 1.15.
DVD / VIDEO: film 9
8 phrases to describe weather are introduced:
Good weather - The Lorelei enjoys nice weather:
Lorelei: “Es ist schön.”
Bad weather -The Lorelei sits on her rock in
horrible weather:
Lorelei: “Es ist schlecht.”
Wet weather:
Animation: Es regnet.
Child saying that it is raining: “Es regnet.”
Cold weather:
Animation: Es ist kalt.
Child saying that it is cold: “Es ist kalt.”
Warm weather:
Animation: Es ist warm.
Child saying that it is warm: “Es ist warm.”
Sunny weather:
Animation: Es ist sonnig.
Child saying it is sunny: “Es ist sonnig.”
Windy weather:
Animation: Es ist windig.
Child saying that it is windy: “Es ist windig.”
NEW WORDS AND PHRASES
Wie ist das Wetter?
What’s the weather like?
es ist schön
es ist schlecht
es ist warm
es ist kalt
es ist sonnig
es ist windig
es regnet
es schneit
-
it’s nice
it’s nasty
it’s warm
it’s cold
it’s sunny
it’s windy
it’s raining
it’s snowing
CD Track 33
Scene from film 9: Girl on Rhine steamer -“Es ist windig.”
Snowy weather:
Animation: Es schneit.
Child saying that it is snowing: “Es schneit”.
Question & answer: We hear the question
“Wie ist das Wetter?” and the replies ...
...children out and about in Boppard on a
nice day: “Es ist schön.”
... at the swimming pool: “Es ist warm.”
... using sun protection cream and playing
under a sunshade: “Es ist sonnig.”
Scene from film 9: Lorelei on her rock-“Es ist schlecht”.
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... flags flying in the wind:“Es ist winding.”
... snowdrifts and skiing: “Es schneit.”
... snowboarding on a winter’s day: “Es ist kalt.”
... children taking part in a running race in the
pouring rain: “Es regnet.”
KEY SOUNDS
Listen and enjoy copying these
typical sounds: where have you
heard them before?
“ ” as in warm windig Wetter
Heard before in:
wohnst wie
“ ” as in sonnig
Heard before in:
windig
ich nicht Leipzig
“ ”[an example in English is dish]
as in...
schön schlecht schneit
“ ” as in schön
Heard before in:
Scene from film 9: “Es schneit.”
CD Track 33
Asking what the weather is like today:
“Wie ist das Wetter heute?”
... rambling in the countryside:“Es ist schön
heute.”
... eating icecream; buildrers working in the
heat; riding on the “nautic jet”: “Es is warm
heute.”
... wearing sunglasses: “Es ist sonnig heute.”
... horrible weather - hail and sleet falling:
“Es is schlecht heute.”
... people with umbrellas: “Es regnet heute.”
... trees blowing in the wind: “Es ist windig
heute.”
... huge snowdrifts: “Es schneit heute.”
M
zwölf
Activities
1. Warm up
You could start the lesson with a large map of
Germany, and talk about what children think
the weather might be like in different parts.
Which parts will be warmest in summer? What
would it be like in the Bavarian Alps or other
mountains in winter? See “talking point”.
2. Watch the film
❑ Watch film 9: “Wie ist das Wetter?” to
introduce the new words.
DVD MARKERS
3. Get used to the sounds
1. Weather phrases - introduces new words
2. Germany in different weather
- reinforcement
3. What’s the weather like today?
- new phrase with previous words
4. Written words
❑ Echoing: Make flashcards from the weather
pictures on the activity sheets -or display on
the OHP/whiteboard.
Show each picture and say what kind of weather
is represented, e.g. “Es ist kalt”. Pupils echo the
phrase. Look out of the window and say what
the weather is actually like today, e.g. “Es ist
windig”. Pupils echo the phrase.
Can they spot the different structures? Most
are like: “es ist sonnig” (it is sunny), but a few
are like:“es regnet” (it rains).
Use the skip key on your remote control
Planning your lessons
Before watching the film, talk about the
patterns of weather in Germany compared
with where you live.
Children will need plenty of activities to get
used to the different structures introduced
in the film.
4. Respond with understanding
❑ Make copies of the weather pictures activity
sheets and give ONE picture to each pupil.
You call out, e.g. “Es ist sonnig”; pupils with the
“it’s sunny” card hold up it for everyone to see.
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1.9 Wie ist das Wetter?
Some extra visual clues may help pupils at this
early stage, e.g. shiver as you say “Es ist kalt”
and fan yourself as you say “Es ist warm”.
● To make this into a game, divide the class
into two teams. Each team has an identical set
of weather pictures (one for each child).
When you call out the weather, e.g. “Es schneit”,
the pupils holding the snow picture try to be
first to jump up and echo “es schneit”.
By using pictures as well as “props”, you can
tell whether pupils understand the phrases.
Some items in the dressing up boxes may be
appropriate for more than one kind of weather.
❑ Make multiple copies of the weather pictures
from the activity sheet. Give a picture to each
child in the class. Move around the room
asking each pupil, “Wie ist das Wetter?”. Pupils
respond according to the picture they hold.
For these activities, collect a large
box of dressing-up “props” linked
with weather, e.g. wellies, kite,
sunglasses, beach hat, fan, woolly
hat, gloves, scarf, umbrella ...
5. Working in pairs
❑ Pupils can use multiple copies of the pictures
on the activity sheet to play “snap”.
❑ Pupils can use their puppets to have
conversations about the weather.
❑ Dressing-up box activities:
You say what the weather is, e.g. “Es ist kalt”.
Pupils take it in turns to go to the box and
choose any items that represent “it’s cold”.
When a child has put on, for example, the
woolly hat and gloves, s/he says: “Es ist kalt”.
6. Watch the film again
❑ Show film 9: “Wie ist das Wetter?” again.
Pupils may notice some children say “-ig” rather
than “-ich” at the end of words like:“windig” this is a regional accent.
7. Look again at sounds
❑ Now that the new words and sounds are
familiar, play either “listen to the sounds” or
“find the sound” (see chapter 1.2).
Introducing the written word
When pupils are familiar with hearing and
saying the new words, show the final part of
film 9, which repeats them with text on-screen.
❑ Play “word snake”
Display on the board, OHP or whiteboard, a
sentence with the spaces and punctuation
removed, e.g. “Esistwarmheute”.
Ask the class to help you put them back, then
you say the sentence: “Es ist warm heute”.
When children have got the idea, give them
other “word snakes” to do in pairs.
■ You ask “Wie ist das Wetter?”
Pupils take turns to go to the box and select one
or more items. The rest of the class then has to
guess what weather they are trying to show.
■ Prepare two boxes, each containing the same
set of props to do with weather: e.g. an umbrella,
sunglasses, gloves....
Next to each box, arrange sets of weather
pictures (use the flashcards, or cut out pictures
from magazines); place them face up on tables.
Divide the class into two teams. You call out,
for example, “Es ist sonnig”. A pupil from each
team runs to the box, selects an appropriate
item, e.g. a pair of sunglasses, picks up the
picture representing “Es ist sonnig” from the
table and brings it to you.
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
❑ Daily routines: “What’s the weather?”
Ask pupils“Wie ist das Wetter?” each morning
as part of your routine of greetings, taking the
register, asking the date, etc.
❑ Geography/science: Pupils can announce
their daily weather readings in German, e.g.
“Es ist warm heute. Es ist 30 grad.” (See “extra
words and phrases”).
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❑ Geography/Technology - a weather dial:
Pupils can design and make a weather dial for
the class weather board (and a game).
They cut a large circle from card, and divide it
into segments like slices of a cake - illustrating
each segment with different weather symbols.
Fix a “pointer” in the centre to turn like a clock
hand, and set it to indicate today’s weather.
Prepare a large map of Germany (you could
enlarge the map from ch.1.7). Label towns that
are relevant to your pupils. Make sets of weather
symbols from the activity sheet, laminate them
to withstand regular use, and find a way to
stick them to the map (e.g. velcro).
temperature
rain
cloudy
sunny
snow
stormy
windy
The dial can also be used for a game, played in
pairs. One pupil spins the pointer and asks
the other, “Wie ist das Wetter?”
Pupils take it in turns to be TV weather
presenters. As they place symbols on the map,
they say “In Berlin es ist sonnig..”, etc.
If you need to prompt anyone, you can ask,
“Wie ist das Wetter in Berlin heute?” In their
“TV presenter” role, pupils can greet the
viewers and say goodbye in German.
❑ Daily routine/ICT/Geography:
“Wie ist das Wetter?”
Pupils can use the internet to research what the
weather is like in Germany - possibly focusing
on a town or area you have links with.
❑ Music: singing about the weather:
Pupils could write a weather song to a familiar
tune, e.g. “Frère Jacques”: “Es ist sonnig, es ist
windig,...” Discuss possible rhymes, and how
syllables fit with the tune.
❑ Drama: Play “the miming game”
Pupils work in pairs. Give each pair a picture
showing a kind of weather. They have 5 minutes
to prepare a mime to represent this weather.
They can use speech only if it is in German
(e.g. greetings, asking someone how they are)
but NOT, of course, to say what the weather is!
Each pair performs their mime to the rest of the
class, who guess what the weather is.
EXTRA WORDS AND PHRASES 1
Find today’s weather in Germany on the Internet.
See www.earlystart.co.uk for a link to the official
German weather web site.
Ask your partner school to send photographs
and pictures which show their town and
surrounding areas at different times of year.
■ Ask pupils to compare the two climates.
es ist heiß
es ist naß
es ist wolkig
es ist neblig
es donnert
es blitzt
regnet es?
ist es schön?
❑ Geography: TV weather presenters
Pupils will be familiar with the way weather
forecasters use symbols to show what the
weather is like in different parts of the country.
- it’s hot
- it’s wet
- it’s cloudy
- it’s foggy
- there’s thunder
- there’s lightning
- is it raining?
- is it nice?
CD Track 33
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1.9 Wie ist das Wetter?
OSTZEE
Talking point
NORD
ZEE
Germany’s climate
Continental weather inland
As you go inland towards the centre of Europe,
the weather gets more extreme: summers can
be baking hot, and winters freezing cold.
Much of Germany has “continental” weather
like that.
Milder weather towards the coast
The North and West of Germany tend to be
rainier and milder: as you get nearer the North
Sea coast (towards Köln and Bremen), the winters
are not so cold and the summers not so hot.
Berlin
Bremen
Köln
München
ALPS
MAP of GERMANY: height above sea-level, and some cities.
= over 1500 m (mountains)
= 300 - 1500 m
= under 300 m (much is flat plain)
Winds blowing from the sea are not only moist,
bringing rain, but also carrying milder
temperatures to North Germany.
Eastern Germany
The Ostzee (Baltic Sea) is shallower, and there
can be ice on the sea in cold winters: the
weather is not so mild on the Baltic coast.
So eastern Germany (towards Berlin) has a
more “Continental” climate: we see a typical
hot summer in Berlin.
A mild winter in Boppard: people walk in the rain by the
Rhine. Germany gets wetter and milder as you go North.
This is the effect of the Nordzee (North Sea) and
the Atlantic Ocean. The deep seas are slow to
heat up, and slow to cool down compared with
land surfaces. While central Europe heats
up quickly in summer, the sea stays quite cool.
In winter, central Europe gets bitterly cold;
the deep sea gets chilly but remains unfrozen.
Freezing in Bavaria: people in central Europe have to be
well-prepared for cold and snowy winters.
A hot summer in Berlin: people dance in the streets during
the July “Love Festival” (see Ch.1.7).
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Health conscious
It can get very sunny and hot in German
summers, especially in the south towards
Munich, where people like to sit outside like in
Italy (which is quite close).
Winter snow in the mountains: a Christmas card scene...
In North Germany, we see children and parents
completing a keep-fit fun-run through town
streets in the mild summer rain!
Mountains
As go climb higher in the mountains, it gets
cooler whatever the season. In the mountainous
regions (like the Alps in Bavaria) there is lots of
snow in winter, and lakes and canals freeze
with temperatures well below freezing.
People make their houses with steep-sloping
roofs, so the snow slides off; and all bunched
up with thick walls, so they keep warm inside.
Skiing is a popular sport; many Germans also
take summer walking holidays in the
mountains.
■ What can you do to enjoy a cold winter?
■ Make a listof the good points and bad points about
cold, snow and ice.
■ What can people do to prepare themselves so that
they can carry on doing everyday things even when
it is very cold?
■ Talk with the class about why it can be dangerous
to risk getting sun-burnt in hot summers.
What precautions can you take?
See www.earlystart.co.uk for more information
and links to official advice. You could talk with
children about what policy your school could
have about risks of sun-burn and also icy days.
Fun-run: parents and children finish in the summer rain.
Mountain snow: a chance for winter fun and sport.
Sunburn: a net curtain protects a family from harmful rays.
Many Germans are as conscious of keeping
themselves fit and healthy as they are of looking
after the environment. Government officials
warn parents to protect children’s skin with
sun-block, and not to stay out in the fierce midday sun for too long.
Children need sun-block cream in the strong summer sun.
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Wie ist das Wetter?
This page may be photocopied for classroom use
Ich heiße.........................
© 2005 Early Start Languages
Wie ist das Wetter?
This page may be photocopied for classroom use
Ich heiße.........................
© 2005 Early Start Languages
Wie ist das Wetter?
This page may be photocopied for classroom use
Ich heiße.........................
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© 2005 Early Start Languages