1 - Twenty Seconds on Yourself ~5 mins
You have twenty seconds to tell someone who you are. Name, age, where you live, one thing you like: what makes the cut?
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- String four or more facts about yourself into a short German profile
- Say your name, age, home, likes and a little more in German
- Notice how German says age compared with other languages
The board work runs to about 47 minutes; the last quarter of an hour is the Activity Book page at their desks.
Take three quick English profiles, no more. Keep the energy high and do not correct content yet; the point is that four facts already feel like a real introduction. Tell the class they will soon build the same kind of profile in German, ready for a German pen pal or a short video hello.
2 - Eight About-me Phrases ~10 mins
Here are today's eight about-me phrases. We will hear each one, then say it back together in two short rounds.
Round 1: name, age, home, likes.
Round 2: birthday, favourite colour, favourite food, something you can do.
Then watch how a full profile stacks several facts in a row.
A classmate-style profile:
Ich heiße Aoife. Ich bin 11 Jahre alt. Ich wohne in Galway. Ich mag Fußball. (My name is Aoife. I am 11 years old. I live in Galway. I like football.)
A German pen-pal style profile:
Ich heiße Lukas. Ich bin elf Jahre alt. Ich wohne in Hamburg. Ich mag Handball. Meine Lieblingsfarbe ist blau. (My name is Lukas. I am eleven years old. I live in Hamburg. I like handball. My favourite colour is blue.)
Two rounds, not one dump. Open the word-table. Round 1: chorus Ich heiße (ish HIGH-suh), Ich bin ... Jahre alt (ish bin … YAH-ruh alt), Ich wohne in (ish VOH-nuh in), Ich mag (ish mahg) twice each (whole class, then by table). After Round 1, do a quick personal oral pass: every pupil says just their name line and age line about themselves (whisper to a neighbour is fine). Round 2: chorus Mein Geburtstag ist am… (mine guh-BOOTS-tahg ist am), Meine Lieblingsfarbe ist… (MY-nuh LEEB-lings-far-buh ist), Mein Lieblingsessen ist… (mine LEEB-lings-ess-en ist), Ich kann… (ish kan). Then one more short personal pass: each pupil adds one Round 2 fact about themselves.
Age numbers (keep on a sticky note if you need them): pupils may write the digit (e.g. Ich bin 11 Jahre alt) which is clear and correct for this stage. If you want the German words: 8 acht (ahkht), 9 neun (noyn), 10 zehn (tsayn), 11 elf (elf), 12 zwölf (tsvuhlf), 13 dreizehn (DRY-tsayn). Stress that German capitalises nouns such as Jahre, Geburtstag, Lieblingsfarbe, Lieblingsessen.
Support banks for later writing and partner talk (say and leave visible): likes / can-do options with simple spellings: Fußball, Handball, Musik, Lesen, Hunde, Pizza, schwimmen, malen. Place names stay as in English (Galway, Cork, Dublin). Birthday months they already know from earlier in the unit.
Warm beat: challenge the class to fire four facts in one breath as a silly speed run, then again slow and clear. Model both worked profiles slowly before you leave the table on screen.
3 - Listen for the Facts ~10 mins
We will hear a short clip twice on the class speakers. Listen for the same kinds of facts we have just practised: names, ages, where people live, and what they like. Then help answer the questions together.
You play the clip on the class speakers (pupils have no desk devices). Books closed for the first play; second play before anyone answers. Reassure the class that they do not need every word; they are hunting for the four fact types from today's profile work (name, age, home, likes), even if the clip is about a family rather than a single self-intro.
Answer-key focus (fact types, not word-perfect transcript): after both plays, collect as a class which fact types appeared (e.g. someone's name, an age with Jahre, a place with wohnen / living, a like). Ask which German chunks felt close to today's stems (heißen, bin … Jahre alt, wohnen, mag). Then one 20-second follow-up: pupils turn to a neighbour and say two of their own facts using today's stems, so listening snaps back to first-person production.
If the clip's wording is third person, name that aloud: "Same fact types, different person words. Your job is still the four fact types."
4 - Into Your Copy ~3 mins
Open your copy. Copy and complete four sentences about yourself from the board. Do not invent spellings: use the stems and the word banks on screen.
Stems (copy and finish):
- Ich heiße …
- Ich bin ... Jahre alt (a digit is fine: 10, 11, 12…)
- Ich wohne in … (place name as in English)
- Choose one: Ich mag … / Mein Lieblingsessen ist … / Meine Lieblingsfarbe ist … / Ich kann …
Word bank: Fußball, Handball, Musik, Lesen, Hunde, Pizza, schwimmen, malen
German nouns keep a capital letter: Jahre, Lieblingsessen, Lieblingsfarbe, Fußball.
Pause the board and keep the word-table plus this scaffold on screen while everyone writes. This is the only three minutes where every pupil's pen is moving. They should copy-and-complete, not write unaided from memory. Check that each sentence is complete: Ich heiße …, Ich bin 11 Jahre alt, Ich wohne in …, plus one more fact. Watch for missing capitals on Jahre and noun likes. Place names stay English-style. If someone needs an age word, point to the digit rule rather than coaching every German number mid-flow. Do not collect these; they become the prompt card for the next step.
5 - Four-fact Partner Profiles ~10 mins
Work with a partner. You are practising a short intro for a German pen pal. One of you gives a full profile of at least four facts; the other listens, then swaps. Both of you speak. Keep your copy open as a prompt card if you need it. The stems stay on the board.
Leave the eight stems (with respellings) pinned on the IWB for the whole slot.
At-a-glance stems for circulating:
- Ich heiße … (ish HIGH-suh)
- Ich bin ... Jahre alt (ish bin … YAH-ruh alt) — digit OK
- Ich wohne in … (ish VOH-nuh in)
- Ich mag … (ish mahg)
- Mein Geburtstag ist am … (mine guh-BOOTS-tahg ist am)
- Meine Lieblingsfarbe ist … (MY-nuh LEEB-lings-far-buh ist)
- Mein Lieblingsessen ist … (mine LEEB-lings-ess-en ist)
- Ich kann … (ish kan)
Model one full four-fact profile with a volunteer first (use the Lukas or Aoife model, then a real pupil volunteer). Pair pupils face to face if seating allows. Answerers may hold their copy as a prompt card. Circulate and listen for four linked facts in a sensible order rather than perfect accents. If a pair freezes, point at one stem on the board and smile them into starting.
Warm beat: if a pair lands all four facts clearly, give a quick high-five or class snap.
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