Unit 11 Karneval der Tiere (‘Carnival of the Animals’)
Learning Objectives
This unit is based on the “Carnival of the Animals” by Saint-Saëns. Pupils will learn to describe animals
characterized by the music and to talk about their habitats. They will also learn how to tell the time on the hour
(analogue only). Phonic focus will be on w, a, ö, ü and z.
Section 1 – week 1.
Resources
Learning objectives:
Pupils will name some animals and give
a physical response to something they
hear.
Notes (including phonic
focus and daily activities)
KS2
Framework
Objectives for
the section
Practise questions and answers learnt so
far with soft ball, role play, games,
match up exercises, writing to a partner
school.
Wie heißt du? (unit 1)
Wie geht’s? (unit 1)
Wie alt bist du? (unit 1)
Was ist dein
Lieblingsspiel? (unit 2)
Wann hast du Geburtstag?
(unit 3)
Was kannst du gut
machen? (unit 3)
Was ist deine
Lieblingsfarbe? (unit 4)
Hast du Geschwister?
04.2
04.3
LLS
KAL
Ideas for language
games document
(unit 4)
Hast du Haustiere? (unit
5)
Magst du…? (unit 6)
Wie kommst du zur
Schule? (unit 7)
Wo wohnst du? (unit 7)
Was für Sport machst du?
(unit 10)
Ask pupils which names of animals they
know in German.
Explain about the “Carnival of the
Animals.” The composer of “Le
Carnaval des Animaux”, Camille SaintSaëns, was born in Paris in 1835. He
died in 1921. The work comprises a set
of short orchestral pieces, which
represent a particular animal by
mimicking its sounds or characterising
the way it moves.
Introduce the names of the animals with
pictures or actions:
Pupils will know der
Hund, die Gans, die Kuh,
die Ziege, die Maus, das
Huhn, das Schwein, das
Pferd, das Schaf and das
Kaninchen from unit 2 and
and pets from unit 5. Note
the 3 words for “the” for
singular nouns – der
(masculine), die
(feminine) and das
(neutral).
Der Fisch (fish)
Der Löwe (lion)
Der Hahn (cockerel)
Der Kuckuck (cuckoo)
Der Elefant (elephant)
Der Esel (donkey)
Der Vogel (bird)
Die Schildkröte (tortoise)
Die Henne (hen)
Das Känguru (kangeroo)
Give pupils a set of mini-picture
flashcards of the animals. Display large
flashcards on the board one by one, as
you say the word. Pupils listen and
point to their corresponding miniflashcard.
Show a large picture flashcard of an
animal and say the word. Pupils repeat
the word and hold up the correct miniflashcard.
Play Wiederholt wenn es richtig ist
(Repeat if it’s True). Say the word and
hold up a picture flashcard. If the two
Fish
Luh-vah
Hahn
Cook-cook
El-ay-fant
Ay-zel
Foe-gehl
Shild-kruh-ta
Henna
Keng-goo-roo
match, pupils repeat. If they don’t, they
remain silent.
Show the flashcard and pupils say the
word.
Play an extract from the “Carnival of the
Animals”. Play it again and ask pupils
to discuss with a partner which animal
they think it is. Have support on the
board, i.e. pictures, possibly with
der/die/das + the first letter of the
animal, e.g der E. Encourage pupils to
say the words in German, e.g. Das ist
der Elefant.
All nouns start with a
capital letter in German.
Activity where pupils match picture of
animal with word – done with or
without extracts of the music being
played. Draw pupils’ attention to
cognates/near cognates.
Play Name that Tune. Divide the class
into 2 teams and play the first bars of
each musical extract. Ask Welches Tier
ist das? (What animal is it?). Pupils
respond by saying which animal they
Well-hess tier isst dass?
(ch sound as in the
English word “loch”).
have heard.
A flashcard could be shown or a mime
done instead.
Introduce adjectives to describe music
and animals:
Die Musik ist/das Tier ist:
Schnell (fast)
Langsam (slow)
Laut (loud)
Leise (quiet)
Das Tier ist:
Groß (big)
Klein (small)
Some pupils could give this as a reason
for choosing the particular animal.
Put word cards of the animals on the
board and ask pupils to put in
alphabetical order – Ordnet die Tiere
(Put the animals in order).
Alternatively, pupils could be called to
the front to each hold a word card and to
stand in alphabetical order.
Kuckuck,
Kuckuck ruft's
aus dem Wald.
Lasset uns
singen, tanzen
und springen.
Frühling,
Frühling wird
es nun bald.
Kuckuck,
Kuckuck lässt
nicht sein
Schrei'n:
Komm in die
Felder,
Wiesen und
Wälder.
Moo-zeek/tier
Sh-nell
Lang-zam
Laut
Lie-za
Gross
kline
Ord-net dee tier-a
Introduce the traditional German song
“Kuckuck Kuckuck ruft’s aus dem
Wald”. Display the words and let pupils
listen to a recording. Read aloud the
words that pupils will know – with
actions – Kuckuck, singen, tanzen,
springen and Winter. Go through each
line in English, then ask pupils to read
aloud all the words beginning with W.
Draw pupils’ attention to the change in
sound in Wald and Wälder.
Sing/play the song again, and this time
pupils do an action when they hear the
w sound or the ä sound (läßt, räumt and
Wälder). Sing/play the song again and
encourage pupils to join in.
Pupils could be given a copy of the
words in pairs and asked to highlight
words that contain the following
phonemes: w, äu, ü.
Play Human Phonemes to help the
pupils build phonetically regular words.
Give out large phoneme cards such as
Frühling,
Frühling,
stelle dich ein.
Kuckuck,
Kuckuck,
trefflicher
Held.
Was du
gesungen, ist
dir gelungen.
Winter,
Winter
räumet das
Feld.
Cuckoo, cuckoo,
calls from the
forest,
Let us sing,
dance and jump,
Springtime,
springtime will
A w in German is
pronounced like a v
Valt/vald-air
Lest, roy-mt
Throughout the week
practise animal names by
playing games such as
Charades.
Use the music of
“Carnival of the Animals”
for writing poetry or for
descriptive writing in
literacy. Pupils write non-
w, au, m, a, f, il, al, d, s, sch, say a
word and ask the pupils to arrange
themselves to form that word. Possible
words to try include Wald, Schaf, Maus,
wild.
be here soon.
fiction reports on the
animals.
Cuckoo, cuckoo,
doesn’t stop
Research the instruments
calling
used in the Saint-Saëns
Come into the
piece.
fileds, meadowns
and forests,
Springtime,
springtime come
along!
Cuckoo, cuckoo,
splendid hero,
What you have
sung has now
happened,
Winter, winter,
leave the field!)
Section 2 – week 2.
Learning objectives:
Pupils will name some animals and
recognise some words to describe the
music.
Resources
Notes (including phonic
focus and daily activities
KS2
Framework
Objectives for
the section
Revise animal vocabulary from the
previous session by playing Pictionary.
Draw pictures on the board, asking after
each stroke Welches Tier ist das?
Pupils guess the animal and say the
word in German.
Pupils have a selection of coloured pens
or pencils. Give an instruction to draw,
for example, eine grüne Schildkröte (a
green tortoise). They draw this on paper
or on a mini-whiteboard.
04.2
04.3
LLS
KAL
Eye-na grew-na shilt-kreuta
Make an animal sound in the way that
would be familiar to a young German
child, e.g. in English you’d say a hen
goes cluck. In German you’d say a hen
goes gack.
Roarr! Lion
Kikeriki! Cockerel
Tröröö! Elephant
Kuckuck! Cuckoo
Iaah! Donkey
Piep piep! Bird
Gack! Hen
Roh-ahr
Keek-air-eekee
Treur-eu
Kuhk-kuhk
Ee-ah
Peep peep
Gaak
Miau! Cat
Määhhh! Sheep
Wau wau! Dog
Muh! Cow
Mee-ow
May
Vow vow
Moo
Ask Welches Tier ist das? Pupils guess.
Compare German animal sounds with
English ones and display in a table on
the board.
Discuss the job of the orchestra
conductor. Teach the adverbs laut
(loudly), leise (softly), schnell (quickly)
and langsam (slowly) with hand signals,
as a conductor might.
“Conduct” the class as they make one of
the German animal sounds. Give them
instructions using the German adverbs
and hand signals. Pupils could then
play in pairs or groups.
Add “er” to the adverbs, for example,
schneller.
Create a soundscape. Divide the class
Der Dirigent (diri-gent)
Throughout the week,
practise animal words and
sounds through games.
For example, pupils find
the animal card that
corresponds to a given
sound.
Experiment with
into groups. Give each group a different
animal sound to make. Give them a few
minutes to come up with a rhythm for
their sound. Conduct the class, using
instructions, e.g. schnell, to create a
soundscape. Individual pupils can then
take the role of conductor.
Record soundscapes conducted by
pupils and play them back to the class.
instruments to create
different animal sounds.
Section 3 – week 3.
Resources
Learning objectives:
Pupils will understand the time and give
a physical response to something they
hear.
This session is best taught in a hall or
large space.
As pupils to move around the room in
the style of a particular animal. Use
commands such as schnell and langsam
to vary the movements.
Notes (including phonic
focus and daily activities)
Pupils stand in a circle to play Gib den
Ball weiter (Pass the Ball) to revise
numbers 1-12. Say eins and pass the
KS2
Framework
Objectives for
the section
04.2
04.3
L4.4
LLS
Gib dain bahl veye-ter
ball to a child, who says zwei and passes
the ball to someone else, and so on.
Use a large clock as you say times on
the hour, e.g. ein Uhr, zwei Uhr, etc.
Pupils listen and repeat.
Early Start 2 – Ch 7
Oohr
Notice eins becomes ein
when saying/writing ein
Uhr. This is similar to
when you say/write 21 –
einundzwanzig.
Practise saying Wie spät ist es? (What
time is it?). Pupils chorus the question
and you respond with a time in German,
e.g. es ist sechs Uhr. Pupils stamp their
feet or clap their hands six times in
response.
Play a variation of What’s the Time Mr.
Wolf? Change the name of the animal
so that pupils move in the appropriate
style, e.g. Wie spät ist es Herr Elefant?
Stand at one end of the room and call
out a time, e.g. es ist drei Uhr. Pupils
take three steps forward in the style of
the chosen animal. If you call Lecker!
Vee sh-pate ist es
Throughout the week, ask
pupils the time on the
hour. What’s the Time
Mr. Wolf? can be played
with pupils standing
behind their chairs and
pacing out steps on the
pupils must run back to the start, in the
style of that animal. The first pupil to
reach you or to be caught when they run
back becomes the animal in the next
round.
Pupils who become the animal can
choose a partner to come with them if
they are not yet confident with the
language.
Show pupils word cards of the numbers
1-12. Ask pupils to copy-write them,
making large letters in the air with their
writing hand. Pupils could then repeat
this activity in pairs.
Section 4 – week 4.
Resources
Learning objectives:
Pupils will understand and say a number
of adjectives and understand the three
definite articles.
Display pictures of the animals. Show
pupils a selection of adjectives on word
cards, e.g. stark (strong), langsam
spot. They sit down when
they hear lecker! The last
one to sit down becomes
the animal in the next
round.
During the week select
extracts from “Carnival of
the Animals”. Pupils
move around the room in
the style of the animals
portrayed by the music.
They work in groups to
create a dance to perform
to the rest of the class.
Notes (including phonic
focus and daily activities)
Sh-tark
KS2
Framework
Objectives for
the section
04.1
L4.1
KAL
(slow), schnell (fast), groß (big/tall),
klein (small), schüchtern (shy) and wild
(fierce). You could also add some
colours.
Ask pupils what they think these mean.
Give clues with actions. Always check
that all pupils understand the meaning.
Ask pupils to come out and stick the
adjectives next to the animal they think
they describe.
Ask pupils to mime these.
Divide the board in three and ask pupils
to suggest animals. As pupils suggest
them, write the name in blue in one
column if they are masculine, in red in
the next column if they are feminine and
in green in the third column if they are
neutral. Alternatively, draw three
rectangles on the interactive whiteboard,
one in each colour. As children suggest
animals, type them in black. Change the
colour of the definite or indefinite article
Lang-zam
LLS
Sh-nell
Grow-s
Kline
Sh-uhch-tairn (as the ch in
the English word “loch”).
to white (or the colour of the
background outside the coloured
rectangles) so that it is invisible until
moved into the coloured rectangle.
Ask pupils if they can guess why the
names have been written up in three
groups. Explain that some are
masculine and some are feminine and
some are neutral nouns. Use the
German terms
Maskulinum/Femininum/Neutrum.
Refer back to groß and klein. Display
these on word cards written in black.
Mask-oo-lee-nuhm
Fem-een-een-um
Noy-truhm
Describe the animals in a sentence,
beginning with masculine ones, e.g. Der
Elefant ist groß. Der Fisch ist klein.
Die Schildkröte ist langsam. Das
Känguruh ist schnell.
Sing the song Alle Vögel sind schon da,
or play a recording of it. Pupils do an
action when they hear the w sound or
the ö sound. Sing the song again and
This is a traditional song,
which is useful for the
phonic sounds v, w, ü and
encourage them to join in.
Alle Vögel sind schon da,
alle Vögel, alle!
Welch ein Singen, Musiziern,
Pfeifen, Zwitschern, Tiriliern!
Frühling will nun einmarschiern,
kommt mit Sang und Schalle.
All the birds are already there,
All the birds, all!
What singing, music making,
Whistling, twittering, trilling!
Spring wants to march in now,
Comes with song and sounds.
Pupils do an action when they hear the
ö and also offers many
verbs for making music.
Mama Lisa’s World –
for the tune.
See link below to find
the tune – scroll down
the page.
http://www.mamalisa.c Alla feu-gel zint shown
om/?p=255&t=es&c=3 dah
8
Alla-feu-gel alla
Vellch eye-n zingen, moozee-ts-ear-en
Pf-eye-fen, ts-vit-shern,
tier-eel-ear-en
Frew-ling vill nuhn eye-nmarsh-ear-n
Kohmt mit zang uhnd
shall-a
w sound or the ö sound. Sing the song
again and encourage them to join in.
Section 5 – week 5.
Learning objectives:
Pupils will say the names of some
habitats, say where some animals live
and understand that German definite
articles change after the prepositions in
and auf.
Revise gender of nouns by drawing a
picture of a large or small elephant. Ask
Welches Tier ist das? Das ist ein
Elefant. Ask ist der Elefant groß oder
klein? Der Elefant ist.../er ist...Repeat
for eine Schildkröte and ein Känguru:
Das ist eine Schildkröte.
Ist die Schildkröte groß oder klein?
Die Schildkröte ist…/sie ist...
Das ist ein Känguru.
Ist das Känguru groß oder klein?
Das Känguru ist…/
Es ist…
Resources
Notes (including phonic
focus and daily activities)
KS2
Framework
Objectives for
the section
Pupils could be told that
instead of repeating the
noun they can use a
pronoun instead
(reminding them that a
pronoun replaces a noun):
Er ist (masculine nouns)
Sie ist (feminine nouns)
Es ist (neutral nouns)
04.1
L4.1
KAL
LLS
Display pictures of the 4 habitats where
animals from the “Carnival of the
Animals” live:
Der Wald the forest
Der Bauernhof the farm
Die Savanne the savannah
Das Meer the sea
and draw pupils’ attention to the gender
of the 4 habitats.
Say:
Ein Kuckuck lebt im Wald (a cuckoo
lives in the forest)
Eine Henne lebt auf dem Bauernhof (a
hen lives on a farm)
Ein Löwe lebt auf der Savanne (a lion
lives on the savannah)
Ein Schwan lebt im Meer (a swan lives
in the sea)
Dare valt
Dare b-ow-airn-hohf
Dee zavanna
Dass mare
Im
Ow-f dame
Ow-f dare
Im
Note that the verb leben is
used to refer to wild
animals, but wohnen is
used to refer to people
living in flats, houses or
towns.
Ask pupils to listen out for what has
changed, e.g. der Wald changes to im
Wald, etc., then show text cards for the
above sentences on the board. The end
of each text card can be in the colours
used previously to distinguish between
masculine, feminine and neutral. You
can ask pupils to say which part of the
first sentence means lives, which part
means a cuckoo and which part means
in the forest.
Take the text cards off the board and use
some differentiated questioning:
Eine Henne lebt auf der Savanne – ja
oder nein?
Eine Henne lebt auf dem Bauernhof
In German the definite
article changes after the
prepositions in and auf.
The examples below are if
an animal lives or is in a
certain place:
Der Wald = the forest
Im Wald = in the forest
(im is short for in dem)
Der Bauernhof = the farm
Auf dem Bauernhof = on
the farm
Die Savanne = the
savannah
Auf der Savanne = on the
savannah
Das Meer = the sea
Im Meer = in the sea (im
is short for in dem)
oder auf der Savanne?
Wo lebt eine Henne?
Show animal pictures from previous
sections. Ask pupils to discuss in pairs
where the animals live. Individual
pupils come out to stick the animals on
the appropriate habitat picture.
Using animal pictures or puppets, model
the question Wo lebst du? Ich
lebe…Ask pupils to guess what you are
saying each time. Get them to repeat
the question and 4 answers, each using
one of the 4 habitats, then get them to
practise in pairs. Each pair can have a
picture/puppet. Text cards of im Wald,
etc., can be placed on the board for
support.
Play blockbusters. Prepare a grid with a
range of phonemes such as au, ä, ie, ei,
ch, sch, ö, ü, pf, w, ig, z, j and v.
Prepare a range of questions to elicit
answers relating to the letter sounds, e.g.
Pupils could do display
work based on this
section, e.g. a picture of
one of the animals with its
habitat in the background
and a caption in German.
ich bin ein Tier. Ich galoppiere. Ich bin
braun oder weiß. Was bin ich?
Answer: ein Pferd. Split pupils into 2
teams. They take turns to choose a
phoneme, answer the associated
question and try to get a straight line
across the grid.
Section 6 – week 6.
Learning objectives:
Pupils will understand simple roleplays, ask and answer questions on
different topics and perform in front of
an audience.
Revise the time with a guessing game
played as a team game. A pupil comes
to the front of the class and is given a
toy clock with moving hands. They
select a time on the hour and say Wie
spät ist es? Other pupils have to guess
by putting their hands up and saying, for
example, Es ist vier Uhr. The pupil who
gives the correct answer gains a point
for their team and takes the place of the
pupil at the front.
Resources
Notes (including phonic
focus and daily activities)
KS2
Framework
Objectives for
the section
04.1
04.4
IU4.1
KAL
LLS
Introduce the phrase Es ist
Karnevalszeit (it’s carnival time).
Pupils chorus.
Use this session as preparation for an
end-of-unit performance based on the
“Carnival of the Animals”. This can
involve music, dance, dialogue and
soundscapes.
Pupils work in groups or pairs. They
take on animal roles and work out
dialogues using questions and answers,
for instance:
A Hallo!
B Hallo!
A Wie heißt du?
B Ich heiße Löwe. Wie heißt du?
A Ich heiße Vogel. Wie alt bist du?
B Ich bin acht Jahre alt.
A Ich lebe im Wald.
B Ich lebe auf der Savanne.
Car-nay-vals-tsight
A Wie spät ist es?
B Es ist fünf Uhr.
(Zusammen (together) Es ist
Karnevalszeit!).
Tsoo-zah-men
Encourage pupils to use
language from previous
units, in addition to this
one, in their role-play as
extension, e.g. Wie
geht’s?, ich bin wild.
Some pupils will need
word question/statement
banks to assist with the
above task. Some pupils
may prefer to perform a
shorter dialogue.
Practise the dialogues
throughout the week.
Pupils perform their pieces to the class
Masks can be made and
and/or to another class. Later the
performances could be done in
assembly. The class evaluate the
performances. They discuss effects and
how they were achieved. If the
performances are recorded, they can be
played back for the evaluation.
dance included in the
performances.