Unit 7 — Mediation: A Teen Magazine

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 mediate a German teen-magazine article into 5–6 English sentences for a peer.
  • I can keep dates, advice, and key facts; drop ceremony and decorative phrasing.
  • I can use 5 reporting verbs (says, explains, advises, warns, recommends).

Bildungsplan alignment Link to heading

  • 3.2.1 Soziokulturelles Orientierungswissen / Themen
  • 3.2.3.5 Schreiben
  • 3.2.3.6 language mediation (Sprachmittlung)
  • 3.2.3.7 Verfügen über sprachliche Mittel – Wortschatz

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

Lead-in story Link to heading

Jonas’s German cousin sent him a teen-magazine article about phone use at night. Jonas’s English-speaking pen-pal had asked: what do German teen mags say about this? Jonas read the article twice. Then he closed it and wrote five English sentences from memory.

1. Activate Link to heading

Drop or keep? Slide shows five lines from a German article. With your partner, mark each as essential / paraphrase / drop depending on the addressee.

2. Input Link to heading

Source — German teen-mag article (excerpt) Link to heading

Studien zeigen, dass Jugendliche, die ihr Handy nachts neben dem Bett liegen haben, im Schnitt 30 Minuten weniger schlafen als ihre Mitschüler. Experten empfehlen, das Gerät außerhalb des Schlafzimmers zu laden. Eltern sollten dabei mit gutem Beispiel vorangehen.

Mediation — three rules Link to heading

  1. Who is reading? — adjust greeting and tone.
  2. What do they need to know? — keep facts, drop decoration.
  3. What is the smallest version that gets them there?

Reporting verbs Link to heading

to say, to explain, to advise (someone to), to recommend, to warn (someone about), to mention, to claim, to point out.

  • Studies show that …
  • Experts recommend that …
  • Parents are advised to …

3. Practise Link to heading

Niveau E — controlled Link to heading

  1. Match German verb to English: empfehlen — ?, warnen — ?, erklären — ?, behaupten — ?.
  2. Choose: say / explain / recommend — Studies __________ that teens lose sleep. Experts __________ that the phone be charged outside the bedroom.

Niveau E — productive Link to heading

  1. Build a 4-sentence English mediation of the source article above for an English-speaking friend.
Answer key

Controlled. 1. recommend / warn / explain / claim. 2. show or say / recommend.

Productive. 3. Open. Sample: A German teen magazine reports that teens who keep their phones by the bed sleep about 30 minutes less than others. Experts recommend charging phones outside the bedroom. Parents are advised to set the example.

4. Produce Link to heading

mediation (“Mediation”), 6 sentences. Read the German source above. Write 6 English sentences for an English-speaking friend who has asked what the article says. Use 3 reporting verbs.

Sample Link to heading

Hi Jordan, here’s the gist of that German article. It says that teenagers who keep their phones next to the bed sleep about 30 minutes less on average than those who don’t. Experts recommend charging the phone outside the bedroom. Parents are advised to set the example. The article also points out that this is not about willpower — it’s about how the brain reacts to screens at night.

5. Reflect Link to heading

  • I can mediate a German article into 6 English sentences.
  • I can keep facts and drop decoration.
  • I can use 3 reporting verbs.

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.

“Studien zeigen, dass Jugendliche, die ihr Handy nachts neben dem Bett liegen haben, weniger schlafen. Experten empfehlen, das Gerät außerhalb des Schlafzimmers zu laden.”

  1. Topic: ___ . 2. Effect: ___ . 3. Expert advice: ___ . 4. Source-language: ___ .

Task 2 — Reading (12 BE) Link to heading

Read the German source above. Answer in English.

  1. The study finding (one sentence). 2. The expert recommendation. 3. The role of parents. 4. The addressee of the article.

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

Reporting-verb fill-in.

  1. The article __________ that teens lose sleep. (says)
  2. Experts __________ charging the phone elsewhere. (recommend)
  3. Parents __________ to set the example. (are advised)
  4. The author __________ that this is not about willpower. (points out)

Task 4 — Writing (13 BE) Link to heading

Mediate: write 5 English sentences from the German source for a peer. Use 3 reporting verbs.

Answer key
T1. phones at night, less sleep (about 30 min), charge phone outside bedroom, German. T2. Teens with phones by the bed sleep about 30 min less. Experts recommend charging phones outside the bedroom. Parents are advised to set the example. Addressed to teens (and parents). T3. says / recommend / are advised / points out. 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

  • Literal translation kills mediation. Reward addressee-fit.
  • Carrying over German salutations into a peer message.
  • recommend to do (informal) is increasingly used; recommend that someone do is more formal.

Further reading / listening Link to heading

  • Goethe-Institut — Beispiel-Aufgaben language mediation (Sprachmittlung) Englisch (Sek I).
  • Landesbildungsserver BW — mediation (“Mediation”)-Beispielaufgaben.

Downloads

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