8th grade bilingual Gemeinschaftskunde
Lesson Topic: Comparison of German and US Naturalization Processes
Prior to this lesson:
Students had had a full unit on the process of becoming a German citizen, including the
number of years of residency, working requirements, etc.
Lesson outline:
1. Lesson takes place in the computer room and is a double period.
2. Students are each at a computer and are given a link to an online practice citizenship test
for German citizenship. Students take the test on their own and after everyone is done we
discuss, teacher collects feedback and students’ opinions on the test.
German citizenship test:
http://www.welt.de/politik/article110936111/Einbuergerungstest-Erster-Teil.html
3. Watch video on becoming a US citizen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDb9_CqPUTQ
4. Discuss the differences between the requirements and processes for becoming a US citizen
and becoming a German citizen.
5. As a class, teacher pulls up a couple of pre-selected questions from the US citizenship test
and students talk to partner and then share as a class to try to answer the questions.
List of the 100 US Citizenship Test Questions:
http://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learners/study-test/study-materials-civicstest/100-civics-questions-and-answers-mp3-audio-english-version
6. Compare the US and German tests, teacher collects feedback.
Reflection:
This could definitely be expanded an improved and used for anyone in any country – which is why I
am putting this lesson online.
If I may take a personal moment to vent – this was soooo difficult for me to do as a bilingual lesson. I
prepared the vocabulary I thought I would need to know in German, but it ended up not being even
half of what I needed. This was also toward the beginning of the school year, before my German was
really strong enough and before I had really figured out how to motivate my students and provide
tasks that kept them engaged.
My students are 8th grade and should be mature enough an understanding enough to accept that I
am not a certified and trained bilingual Gemeinschaftskunde teacher – I was substituting for the lead
teacher instead of team teaching with him or at the very least having him in the back of the class,
being available for support if I needed it.
Some of the students were understanding and patient while we looked in dictionaries for words that
I did not know to help students understand – but some were … less than patient and understanding.
Which I can understand, but man was it frustrating and it did not feel like students were benefitting
very much from me.
This lesson took place in the 8th and 9th period (so the end of the day), and the lead teacher was not
present – so it was a greattttt challenge and learning moment for me and all I can say is – this is
probably a GREAT bilingual lesson for someone who is really proficient in the technical, legal
vocabulary necessary in the students’ L1 to carry it out effectively.
It went ok – but the class lost attentiveness when I had to look up words, which was frustrating at the
time. In hindsight, it is clearly a lesson I should have done in a team teaching style rather than
bilingual on my own. . . Good luck!
Students’ Reactions to the German Citizenship Test:
 Much too easy
 Different questions for everyone: pro = no one can cheat off of you. Con = maybe someone is
lucky and gets all the easy questions, or maybe someone is unlucky and gets all the hard
questions
 Schöffe? ? ? – Jury. (ask teacher to make sure)
 European Parliament – for how many years are members elected?
 Some specific questions were really hard.
Students’ Reactions to the US Citizenship Test:
 6 out of 10 is kind of a lot to get correct with few opportunities.
o Actually a similar percentage to the German test
 Speaking aspect makes it much more difficult
 Questions seem very difficult
Students’ Comparison of the Two Tests:
 German test may be easier to pass, because you have more questions
 US test questions were more general and some German test questions were more specific