Scaffolding writing

Year 9/10 German: Der Löwe und die Maus

Der Löwe und die Maus�Eine Fabel von Aesop

A Wordless Picture Story Book

Pinkney, J. (2010). The Lion and the Mouse. London: Walker Books.

Introduction

This learning sequence is aimed at students who are in their third or fourth year of learning German. At this stage, students have been introduced to past tense (perfect or imperfect) and would have mainly written shorter texts.

Here students use their knowledge of narratives in English or their home languages, specifically fables and work collaboratively to produce a longer piece of German text. The intention is to build students’ confidence to write by providing significant scaffolding and allowing students to work collaboratively. Differentiated options are provided to enable students at all levels to experience challenge and success. Showing students that their English literacy knowledge is useful when learning another language is important here.

From a literacy perspective, students are encouraged to use their experience of narratives they’ve read previously, to activate and share their knowledge of narrative structure, form, features and functions to help them write a German narrative text with peers. Teachers are using literacy techniques such as ‘building the field’, using oral language to mediate written language and demonstrating modelled and shared writing techniques. The written sequence of plan, draft, edit, publish and give/receive feedback is familiar to students from their study of English.

Finally, it should be noted that working collaboratively to jointly construct a text is important. The focus is on student agency and not on creating a piece of work to be formally assessed. Students are encouraged to use their full linguistic repertoire with the teacher modelling translanguaging. Opportunities to explore traditional narratives from other cultural groups represented in the class can be explored as part of this learning sequence.

Lesson 1

Optional consolidation activities

• Memory game matching English and German vocabulary
• Charades: one student chooses a word and mimes its meaning. Their partner must guess the word.
• Bingo – students select 9 words and write them in a grid. The teacher gives clues about the word and the students must guess the word. For example, it is a small animal with a long tail (mouse).

Lesson 2

• Quickly revise the Lesson 1 vocabulary
• Students work in small groups with a set of cards. They sequence the cards in an order that makes sense.
• Students use the vocabulary cards from Lesson 1, placing each word card on an image that illustrates the meaning.
• Student take turns to make sentences describing the images using the vocabulary items.
• Groups report back on their sequencing, describing each card orally, and the teacher makes an agreed sequence using larger picture cards.

Success Criteria

I can:

• use my knowledge of fables and other narratives to sequence the pictures logically;
• demonstrate my understanding of the vocabulary by placing the vocabulary cards appropriately on the picture cards;.
• use the vocabulary in a German sentence referencing the picture (with support)

Extension

• use my knowledge of German vocabulary and grammar and experiment with creative sentences which include rich and engaging details and literary devices

Lesson 3

• Brainstorm what students know about narratives. Use prompts such as: purpose, structure, language features, different forms (fairy tales, fables, traditional tales) etc
• Distribute copies of the narrative graphic organizer and use the large picture cards to re-sequence the fable. This can be done as a class or in small groups.
• Explain to students that they are going to write narrative about The Lion and the Mouse. Students work in pairs to plan the narrative using the graphic organizer, vocabulary (German and English) and pictures to support them. Model one sub-section if needed.
• Create a simple oral narrative based on the pictures. Students listen and raise their hands when they think you’ve moved to a new section of the narrative.
• Stop at the moral sub-section. Discuss what the moral could be and how it might be formulated in German.

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Success Criteria

I can:

• share my knowledge of the features, structure, purpose and language features of narratives;
• use a graphic organizer to plan a written narrative;.
• show my understanding of the different elements of a familiar narrative when it is read aloud
• contribute to a discussion and translation of possible morals for the fable

Lesson 4

• Revisit the structure of a narrative. Use flash cards with one element on each and distribute the cards to 7 different students. Ask them to come to the front and line up in order.
• Discuss what each element means and its function.
• Discuss the Learning Intention and co-create the success criteria. (What would a good text contain?)
• Students work in pairs or small groups using their plan to write the narrative (fable) of The Lion and the Mouse. You might want to model writing the orientation using a think aloud strategy.
• Differentiated options are shown on the left

1. Create your own text and make it into a cloze activity. Students work in pairs to add missing words and complete the narrative.
2. Create your own simple text. Jumble the sentences up. Provide the students with worksheet showing the key pictures in order. Students cut up the text, read the sentences and match them to the correct picture.
3. Create a worksheet with the key images and add speaking bubbles. Students write simple direct speech capturing what the characters would say at each stage of the narrative
4. Change the tense to match students’ language level (present, perfect or imperfect)
5. You act as a scribe and co-construct the text with a small group of students

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Possible next steps

• Model the editing process and have students check for typical errors (e.g. forgetting capital letters, agreement, word order)
• Students publish their work (create a good copy) and then swap their versions with another group. They give each other peer feedback based on the agreed success criteria.
• Provide the students with a PowerPoint of the story (one image per slide). Students record themselves reading the text aloud.
• Collect student work samples to create a ‘Bump it up wall’ to use in the future.
• Students could translate or create a German version of a traditional tale from their heritage or an Indigenous Australian story to share with a German-speaking audience.

Possible assessment task

Even though the product of this lesson sequence is not intended as an assessment task, teachers could create an additional task which allows students to demonstrate their capacity to write about past events and show their knowledge of the new vocabulary. The task shown on the right is a recount from the perspective of the mouse (or the lion).

You are the mouse. You’ve had an interesting day. Retell the key events to your family. Finish off by telling them what can be learnt from the experience.