Submitted by Linda Uscola

Objectives:

Content:
Students will:
· gain understanding of why people of all cultures form/join groups
· examine types of groups that exist and whether these are universal or culture-linked
· identify the common characteristics (if such exist) of members of each type of group

Cultural:
Students will:
· gain some understanding of the history of all targeted cultures and how it affects the types of groups formed within those cultures
· develop some understanding of interests/priorities of teenagers in Germany and Switzerland and how these relate to a "national identity"
· understand how identity and groups are culturally constructed

Language: Content Obligatory
Students will:
· use orally and in writing the following vocabulary related to the theme:

Identität Gruppenzugehörigkeit Organisation Hilfsorganisation Gruppe Klub Jugendklub

Verein Schülerverbindung jugendlich Jugend christlich politisch Politik

sportlich Sport musikalisch Musik Minderheit Kennzeichen Kultur

kulturverbunden zustimmen wichtig typisch was für glauben

denken wenn denn weil dass meiner Meinung nach

· use comparative structures to discuss similarities and differences among teens: mehr/weniger, öfter, seltener, ähnlich, ganz anders, genau so aus, so-wie
· create questions to request information
· use the present tense, subject/verb agreement to express opinions
· use the present perfect tense accurately to discuss results of surveys
· use separable verbs (See Lesson 2 for an explanation.)

Language: Content Compatible
Students will:
· use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions
· use vocabulary/terminology from historical developments in the target cultures, eg. political and religious groups, etc.
· use provided subjunctive case vocabulary for hypothesizing: wäre, würde, hätte, könnte, möchte
· use nominative, accusative, and dative case articles

Learning Strategies / Social and Skills Development:
Students will:
· summarize and interpret information.
· discuss possibilities and probabilities

Time Frame:

Three 50 minute class sessions

Materials Needed:

Completed compilation forms (Note-taking forms used in Lessons 2 and 3)
Diagram showing the comparison/contrast of groups found in the 3 targeted cultures (see "Attachments")
Student Guide for talk show discussion (see "Attachments")

Description of Assessment (Performance Project):

1. Once e-mail surveys have been received from Europe, students will compile the data and then discuss in German the results via the talk-show host approach. (See "Attachments" section.) (two class sessions)

2. Using the comparison/contrast diagram, they will compare their hypotheses with their survey results. (one partial class session)

3. Students will then discuss (as much as possible in German) why there would be differences (if there are found to be differences) in the types of groups and the reasons for joining them in Germany, Switzerland, and the U. S. The concept of universality vs. culture-linked groups would be emphasized. (one class session) Final notes from the author:
For Novice Low learners: Discussions and collages could be done in English. Fewer activities could be incorporated. Instead of using the video "Swing Kids," something like "The Goonies" or even a Disney video, such as "The Lion King" could be used to emphasize thimportance of group identity in our development of self-identity.

For advanced levels: All discussions and the entire collage could be done in German. Students could find members of each general type of group in the Internet (See "References and Resources" for website URL's.) and interview them. (The lesson as written deals only with individuals who we know and have established prior contact with. Dealing with individuals unknown to the group and contacted through the internet brings certain risks that only older students could be expected to deal with.) This could then be followed with a sharing of information about all general types of groups.

Assessment:

A multitrait rubric for the talk show discussion is included in the attachments. Students observing each discussion could also peer-assess.

Attachments:

NOTE: some attachments are in PDF form (get Acrobat Reader)

Diagram showing the comparison/contrast of groups found in the 3 targeted cultures

Student guide for talk show discussion

Rubric for talk show group discussion

A Lesson from the CoBaLTT Project
/cobaltt
Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition
University of Minnesota