Unit 5 — Digital Friendships

Track E · Klasse 8 · Niveau E

Template: Activate → Input → Practise → Produce → Reflect.
Niveau: E. class test (“Klassenarbeit”) at Niveau E (45 BE).

Learning objectives Link to heading

  • I can describe a digital friendship using present perfect (simple).
  • I can use for / since / ever / never / just / already / yet.
  • I can write a 120-word reflection on online friendship.

Bildungsplan alignment Link to heading

  • 3.2.1 Soziokulturelles Orientierungswissen / Themen
  • 3.2.3.1 Hör-/Hörsehverstehen
  • 3.2.3.5 Schreiben
  • 3.2.3.7 Verfügen über sprachliche Mittel – Wortschatz
  • 3.2.3.8 Verfügen über sprachliche Mittel – Grammatik

(Source: https://www.bildungsplaene-bw.de/,Lde/LS/BP2016BW/ALLG/SEK1/E1)

Lead-in story Link to heading

Jonas has a friend in Iceland whom he has never met in person. They have been writing to each other on a shared map app for two years. They have already exchanged 287 photos of clouds. They have not yet spoken on the phone. Jonas says, “It’s a friendship. It just looks weird.”

1. Activate Link to heading

Quick poll. Stand up if you have ever played a game online with someone you don’t know in person. Sit if you have never. Notice. No comment yet.

2. Input Link to heading

Listening — The Cloud-Sender Link to heading

Jonas and his Icelandic friend Ari started writing to each other on a map app two years ago. Each one drops photos of the sky in their location. Jonas has sent 287 cloud photos. Ari has answered 287 times. They have never met. They have not yet spoken on the phone. Jonas says he just doesn’t see the point of phones for this kind of friendship.

Grammar — present perfect simple Link to heading

Form: have/has + past participle.

for + duration: for two years. since + start point: since 2024. ever / never: Have you ever met him? — No, I have never met him. just (recent): I have just sent the photo. already (sooner than expected): We have already exchanged 287 photos. yet (not yet completed, in negatives/Q): We haven’t spoken on the phone yet.

3. Practise Link to heading

Niveau E — controlled Link to heading

  1. Insert for or since: I have known him __________ two years. I have lived here __________ 2024.
  2. Place just / already / yet: I have ___ sent the message. They have ___ replied. We haven’t met ___ .

Niveau E — productive Link to heading

  1. Build 4 present-perfect sentences about a friendship: 1 with for, 1 with since, 1 with never, 1 with yet.
Answer key

Controlled. 1. for / since. 2. just / already / yet.

Productive. 3. Open.

4. Produce Link to heading

Reflection, 120 words. Write about a friendship that exists mostly online (or one you imagine could exist). Use 4 present-perfect structures and one because-clause.

Sample Link to heading

I have been writing to Ari for almost two years. We started because of a school project, but we have kept writing because his cloud photos make my afternoons better. We have already exchanged 287 photos. We have never spoken on the phone. We just don’t need to. Sometimes I worry that I haven’t met him yet, and that the friendship will stay flat. Then he sends another photo of a strange-shaped cloud and I laugh, and the worry feels like the wrong size for the situation.

5. Reflect Link to heading

  • I can use present perfect with for/since/ever/never/just/already/yet.
  • I can describe a digital friendship in 120 words.
  • I can spot when present perfect is wrong (with past time markers).

One thing in your notebook: Write one sentence using something you learned in this Unit.

Exam example Link to heading

class test ("Klassenarbeit") — Niveau E (45 minutes)
Time. 45 minutes. Total. 45 points.

Task 1 — Listening (10 BE) Link to heading

Listen twice.

“Jonas has been writing to Ari for almost two years. They have never met. They have already exchanged 287 photos of clouds. They haven’t spoken on the phone yet. Jonas says they just don’t need to.”

  1. How long: ___ . 2. Met in person: ___ . 3. Photos: ___ . 4. Phone: ___ .

Task 2 — Reading (12 BE) Link to heading

Read.

“I have known my best friend Lia for six years. We met in primary school. Last year she moved to Munich. Since then we have written every week and have already met up three times. We haven’t decided yet which Christmas to spend together.”

  1. How long: ___ . 2. Where met: ___ . 3. Move: ___ . 4. Christmas: ___ .

Task 3 — Use of English (10 BE) Link to heading

Present perfect.

  1. I __________ (know) him for two years.
  2. We __________ (not / meet) yet.
  3. They __________ (already / send) 287 photos.
  4. ___ you ___ (ever / play) chess online?

Task 4 — Writing (13 BE) Link to heading

Write 120 words about an online friendship (real or imagined). Use 4 present-perfect structures.

Answer key
T1. almost two years, never, 287 cloud photos, not yet — they don’t need to. T2. six years, primary school, to Munich last year, not yet decided. T3. 1. have known, 2. haven’t met, 3. have already sent, 4. Have … ever played. T4. Open.
Notenschlüssel (von 45)
| 42–45 | 1 | 36–41 | 2 | 30–35 | 3 | | 22–29 | 4 | 13–21 | 5 | 0–12 | 6 |

Downloads Link to heading

**Slide deck timing.** 45 minutes total. Lead-in 4 min · Activate 5 min · Input 14 min · Practise 8 min · Produce 11 min · Reflect 3 min.

Differentiation. Below Niveau E (mixed group): provide a support card with the key structure. Above Niveau E: extension question linking to the next Unit.

Common pitfalls Link to heading

  • I have seen him yesterday → ✗ — past time marker → past simple.
  • I have met him since two years → ✗ / for two years → ✓.
  • Already in negatives sounds odd; prefer yet.

Further reading / listening Link to heading

  • BBC Learning English — Present perfect lessons.
  • ChildLine UK — Online friendships topic.

Downloads

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