Chris here again. Today I would like to share a recent activity I used to wrap up units on Salzburg and Vienna. This was for an advanced German class so one would need to simplify the activity for lower levels.
In order to test students' knowledge on the various topics covered for both cities I decided on using a debate framework along with mini presentations to bring out the students' best. Students were organized into two groups with each group representing one of the cities. The groups had two days to research as much information as possible on their respective cities with topics ranging for sightseeing to local cuisine and architecture, travel and lodging costs. Each group member would be responsible for a specific area as well as having a general knowledge of their city.
The goal of the activity was to present the best possible arguments as to why one should visit either Salzburg or Vienna. Students had to try to convince one another that their city was in fact a better place to visit. Groups would be given points based on breadth of knowledge as well as their ability to effectively debate and support their arguments. Groups were given free reign as to how to present their information and could use anything from PowerPoints to handouts. The activity itself was setup as a debate with groups being seated in rows facing one another and two podiums setup at the front of class.
The activity was a success and students were really motivated to demonstrate that their city was the better one to visit. Students were very creative and managed to incorporate a great deal of information not presented in their textbooks to support their arguments. There was a great deal of back-and-forth discussion and students spent the entire class period speaking in German!
Questions and comments welcome!
Posts
