The Impact of Coronavirus in Germany
Case Studies with Activities for A Level German
Alles im Lockdownland
Explore the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic in Germany through 12 fascinating real life case studies and accompanying activities.
Students will love this resource
Read or listen to a variety of German people talk about their experiences through interviews, articles, Zoom videos and emails. Each case study is accompanied by key vocabulary and varied activities to support comprehension and encourage discussion, analysis and further research. All case studies are cross-referenced to the 2016 specification topics, and include a range of cultural, political and social issues to expand students’ wider knowledge of Germany.
This resource is rich in content and pedagogically sound, both in terms of language development as well as its approach to the teaching contemporary German culture
Key features:
- Authentic and topical content to engage students
- Varied activities to practise reading, writing, speaking and listening independently and in groups
- Discussion and further research tasks to stretch and challenge students - perfect preparation for university study!
- Linked to specification topics to prepare students for exam topics and the independent research project
Plus! Answers provided for easy marking!
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What do teachers say about this resource? (10880)
This resource is impressive and thorough. The content is very informative and interesting and layout clear. It has been researched carefully and is up to date. The inclusion of the weblinks is a useful addition at a time when students are increasingly being taught online as well as face to face sessions in the classroom.
I found the content of the case studies very interesting. There are a wide range of age groups represented and the experiences of different professional people will undoubtedly extend knowledge and crucially understanding of the pandemic. Many of the case studies refer to the changing use of technology and the different reactions to this, e.g. the Richter and Computer expert. The texts will add up to date authentic materials to course books. This should motivate sixth formers to do independent research. The author has considered the chronology of the case studies very well, i.e. the progression from the start of the A level pathway through Y12 and into Y13.
A few years ago, I was involved in research into transition between A level studies and university degrees conducted by CILT and I feel that this resource would help prepare sixth formers for the more independent study at university. The research was looking at the gap between A level and degree courses and questionnaires were given to teachers of A level and university lecturers. This resource would serve to bridge gaps. I particularly like the extension materials and links for the IRPs. There are ample opportunities for students to investigate sources more deeply and conduct their own research. They are encouraged to reflect and develop their own opinions and debating skills. This is important and helps students to achieve good grades. The highest grades are achieved by students who are able to listen to others, weigh up things for themselves, think deeply and work hard on debating in speaking and on their writing skills. 2020 has been a year of deep reflection for many and this resource provides students with excellent source material, new vocabulary and tasks that will help them be successful.
There are good ‘stepping stone’ tasks throughout which will support students. The case studies develop different linguistic skills. The range of different activities following each text prepared extend vocabulary and support effective learning well. Vital key skills will be developed. The translation tasks are well prepared and as already stated students are continually encouraged through the materials and exercises following them to respond to what they have read and heard and form their own opinions on the subject matter. This is key to success at A level. The educational value of the resource is therefore high. Differentiation is evident, well thought out with extension tasks to stretch and challenge, which may help teachers who have native speakers in their groups who speak fluently but need to improve their writing skills.
Generally excellent.
This resource is rich in content and pedagogically sound, both in terms of language development as well as its approach to the teaching contemporary German culture.
The author’s suggestions regarding the teaching of vocabulary, sequencing of activities and links to the specification and the assessment appear to be based on extensive experience of teaching German at A-Level as well as a thorough understanding of how students at this stage in their language development learn and progress.
The author suggests activities and teaching strategies that support all four skills and practice the format and task types of all three A-Level exam papers.
The activities are varied and interesting, ranging from pair- and group work, to independent research, written and oral presentation, as well as activities designed to encourage whole class discussion and debate. The sheer variety and diversity of task types and teaching strategies is evidence of the author’s extensive experience in teaching languages at A-Level.
The exercises for each case-study have been constructed so that they resemble the types of questions that feature in the examination papers. They range from true/false, positive/negative, multiple choice and gap fill activities, to answering questions, translations and suggestions for discussions and further research.
Many tasks appear to be differentiated or open-ended, adding additional stretch and challenge for the more able students, whilst ensuring that they are accessible to all.
I like the questionnaire: this follows the 12 case studies and guides the students, similar to a writing frame, through a description of themselves during the lockdown. It has an authentic feel, giving the impression that the preceding case studies were based on the questions asked. This authenticity will motivate students to write their own account, providing an additional case study based on their own experiences. This is a very clever pedagogical device to develop students’ linguistic skills, but also to encourage students to reflect on themselves and their experience during a time that must surely be one of the most significant periods of their young lives.
The answer section is not only a time-saving device for the busy language teacher but would also allow a student to work through the resource independently and to check their answers as they go along.
There are numerous suggestions for further research in the form of links to additional useful websites. This makes the publication a very useful resource for students having chosen an aspect of the German response to the pandemic for their Individual Research Project (IRP) or as research practice for any other potential IRP topics.
The author has very helpfully marked possible further research opportunities as such, and, in some cases, even suggests possible IRP titles.
The resource meets a range of objectives: language development at advanced level, preparing for the task types encountered in the Paper 1 of the exam, practicing the use of picture stimuli for Part 1 of the Speaking Paper, supporting students with researching for their IRP topics, teaching aspects of German contemporary society, all this whilst focussing on a very current and pressing episode of global importance.
Both the content and the language tasks for each case-study have clear links to the German A Level specification. On page 4 there is a useful “Case Studies Topic Reference” which gives a very good overview of how each case study links to the A-Level sub-topics, thus demonstrating how this a resource that can be used throughout the two years of the A-Level course as a valuable and up-to-date additional resource to the textbook schools might be using to teach the topics.
The content of the case studies is explicitly cross-referenced to the themes and sub-themes of the specification, so there is plenty of opportunity to focus on more general themes, besides a discussion of the pandemic in Germany: the changing state of the family, the digital world, youth culture and music, festivals, cultural life in Berlin, politics and youth and the identity of the individual German federal states. The case studies follow chronologically through the Y12 and Y13 A-Level topics, linking each to the respective units in the scheme of work. Each case study starts with an image – resembling the kind of stimulus students might encounter in the first part of their speaking exam.
[Would you purchase this resource?] Yes – definitely. It’s the ideal sort of supplementary material I’m always looking for. I like the range of skills developed by each case study and the fact that these skills are directly relevant to the exam (translation to/from German; developing and defending ideas relevant to the speaking test etc) whilst the content is completely and utterly relevant to 2020.
I particularly liked the vocabulary exercise at the beginning because without these basics, the students will not be able to access the case studies. It is often the case that teachers are in a hurry to get to the “meat” (case studies) and forget the “bread” (core vocabulary) in their haste to do so.
I also especially liked the fact that the case studies come from every region of Germany and touch upon most areas of the AS & A Level specification, making their relevance to and incorporation into the SoW straightforward for teachers.
Naturally, the SoW and exam specifications don’t change much year on year and so the value of this resource is that it brings the content of the A Level bang up to date whilst not taking time away from the study of the content needed for success at A Level. I think it is an ideal supplementary resource and will prepare students for the exam well – I expect questions on COVID to come up in future exams as there will be plenty of source material available for examiners to use!
I like the use of relevant pictures and additional videos within each case study, to make the resource visually appealing. This is very important in my opinion as the case studies are academically rigorous and so breaking the case studies into sections, with thought given to visual appeal and accessibility, are likely to mean that students engage more fully & willingly with the materials.
The teacher introduction which matches case studies to AS & A Level topics is invaluable to me as a teacher when deciding when I can best make use of each case study.
The suggestions for IRP consideration are also invaluable as students often struggle to come up with a viable idea which is neither too broad nor too narrow in range. The case studies could be used in class with the whole group and then developed by an interested individual for their IRP without contravening any exam board requirements.
These case studies are brilliant. They give real life examples of German life and not only cultural insights how people suffered during the lockdown. They highlight problems that deaf people faced because they could not lip read and teachers who had to prepare online lessons.
I liked the variety of tasks. There were lots of different reading tasks that could be done individually, pair work activities, group activities and research projects. There is a lot of emphasis on reading and translations. The translation tasks were from German into English and from English into German. That is fantastic for text comprehension.
There were lots of links and websites given. That is excellent for home study.
I think, that the author made a huge effort to go into every possible detail when exploring this sensitive topic. We learn about young people in lockdown, the elderly, the judge, the politician, the church etc.
Yes. It is a fantastic authentic resource. One notices immediately that the author knows much about youth culture. Therefore the students will love this resource.
This resource is informative and clearly a lot of effort was put into making it. The articles are very informative and allows for developing general reading skills and expanding vocabulary.
It enhances learning through expanding of vocabulary and developing general reading skills. It also provides general cultural knowledge of Germany and an insight into how different sections of society coped with various aspects of the Corona Crisis. It contains texts at a range of different levels of German which allows for differentiation.