Submitted by POLIA Handbook
Objectives:
Content:
Cultural:
Language: Content Obligatory
Language: Content Compatible
Learning Strategies / Social and Skills Development:
Time Frame:
Materials Needed:
Description of Assessment (Performance Project):
LESSON 3: Forming hypotheses about the target culture and beginning to gather information about the target culture
The teacher asks students to consider their own individual hypotheses about Germans' perceptions of males and to record these on the Arbeitsblatt handout in the appropriate section of the grid.
The teacher then asks the class (in a large group) to predict how they believe Germans perceive men. How might men's roles in Germany be described? On a new overhead, the teacher keeps a record of the students' predictions and provides new vocabulary and draws students' attention to structure as necessary. Each student is then able to record any additions on the Arbeitsblatt handout based on the class discussion.
Again, the same process is repeated by having students predict Germans' perceptions of women. How might women's roles in Germany be described? At this point, the top four sections of the grid on the Arbeitsblatt handout will have been addressed and students will have added vocabulary and phrases to each section.
The teacher explains that the class will be sending e-mail messages to students in Germany to ask them questions regarding gender roles. The class brainstorms questions while the teacher reviews appropriate structures for question formulation. The teacher should ask questions to encourage students to think about how roles may be different depending upon other issues such as age (different generations), ethnic groups, social class, etc. Half of the small groups are instructed to send e-mail messages with questions about male roles and half the groups with questions about female roles.
The class breaks into its e-mail groups, prepares and types a list of questions on the issue of female/male roles in Germany to send to high school students in Germany. [Note: this activity assumes that the teacher has already established e-mail connections with classrooms in Germany; useful WEB sites and e-mail addresses are listed in the "References and Resources" section for teachers needing to establish such connections.]