Introducing German
Lesson 14
CONTENT:
 at the zoo
OBJECTIVE:
 students will understand that going to a zoo is a typical German weekend activity
 students will review words related to animals, animal sounds, and adjectives
 students will see the difference between singular and plural nouns
MATERIALS:
 animals [overhead]
 audio tape
 Das Deutschbuch: pp. 24, 32-34
PROCEDURE:
A. Review (approx. 3 min)
Review colors and other adjectives.
B. Animal song (approx. 5 min)
Play and sing the first stanza of Alle meine Entchen. Teach the song to the students and sing it
together with them a couple of times.
C. Prepare to visit the zoo (approx. 10 min)
Tell the students that they will visit a German zoo today. Explain that German parents like
taking out their children to the zoo on weekends. Brainstorming:
Welche Tiere gibt es in einem Zoo?
Write the animals named by the students on the board and add the plural forms next to each
animal. Explain that there are usually more than just one animal of a kind at a zoo:
Im Zoo gibt es immer mehr als 1 Tier. Es gibt 2, 3 oder noch mehr Tiere!
Add a couple of interesting animals to the list:
der Eisbär (-en)
das Zebra (-s)
das Nashorn (Nashörner)
der Elefant (-en)
Review animal sounds and ask students to describe the animals:
Wie ist der Tiger?
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Introducing German
You will have to help them with this. Always ask them to repeat correct descriptions as a group.
[Remind students to look on page 24 of Das Deutschbuch for a list of adjectives.]
Ask students to do the exercise on pages 32/33 of Das Deutschbuch.
D. Song (approx. 5 min)
Teach students the Zoo song on page 34 of Das Deutschbuch.
E. Creating a zoo (approx. 12 min)
Explain to class that you will now be creating a zoo and that you need approx. 10-12 students to
impersonate animals. Choose 5-6 interesting animals and ask the volunteering students which
animal they would like to be:
Wer will ein Tiger
… ein Bär
… ein Krokodil sein?
There should always be two students playing the same kind of animal. Once a pair gets
appointed and moves up to the board to occupy their allotted spaces, say:
Ah, ein Tiger. Das sind zwei Tiger.
Ah, ein Bär. Das sind zwei Bären.
Tell the rest of the class that this is a game and that those students who participate most will get
rewarded by getting to feed the animals.
Then ask:
Wie macht (or: spricht) der Tiger / der Bär?
and have the students utter animal sounds. Tell them where their cage is:
Hier ist der Tigerkäfig.
Encourage the students to act like the animal they are impersonating.
F. Visiting the zoo (approx. 7 min)
Explain to the class that they will all be visitors (Besucher) to the zoo. Add the singular
(Besucher) and the plural form (Besucher) to the already existing list of nouns on the board.
Then, while the class remains seated, take a walk among the animals. Ask the class questions,
for instance:
Wo sind die Kamele?
Was sind das für Tiere?
Sind das Schlangen?
Wie macht der Elefant?
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Introducing German
You may also ask the students to describe the animals for you:
Der Tiger ist gelb-schwarz. Er ist groß und gefährlich.
G. Feeding the animals (approx. 3 min)
Tell the students that the main attraction (die Hauptattraktion) of the day is the feeding of the
animals. Call the 2-3 students who participated most in the previous game. Hand them the food
and have them feed each pair of animals. Encourage the animals to act out devouring the meal:
Hier ist Fleisch für die Tiger.
Hier ist Heu für die Kamele.
Hier ist Fisch für die Eisbären.
Hmmm, das ist gut!
As the students go back to their seats, have a big round of Applaus for everyone involved.
H. Song (approx. 2 min)
Sing the Auf Wiederseh'n song.
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