Unit 6 — Interview and Portrait

Track E · Klasse 9 · 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 prepare 8 open interview questions.
  • I can hold a 5-minute interview and report it back in writing.
  • I can write a 150-word portrait of a real person.

curriculum framework (“Bildungsplan”) alignment Link to heading

  • 3.2.1 Soziokulturelles Orientierungswissen / Themen
  • 3.2.3.3 Sprechen – an Gesprächen teilnehmen
  • 3.2.3.5 Schreiben
  • 3.2.4 Text- und Medienkompetenz

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

Lead-in story Link to heading

Naima is interviewing the school caretaker, Mrs. Brock, who has worked at the school for 21 years and claims to remember every student’s name. She is almost certainly exaggerating. Naima has prepared eight open questions and one fall-back question, tell me about a student you remember, in case the interview stalls.

1. Activate Link to heading

Open vs. closed. On the slide are six interview questions. With your partner, mark each as open or closed. Rewrite two closed ones as open ones.

2. Input Link to heading

Interview vocabulary Link to heading

interview, interviewer, interviewee, open question (Wh-), closed question (yes/no), follow-up, transcript, off the record, on the record, quote, paraphrase.

Open question forms Link to heading

  • Tell me about …
  • Could you describe …?
  • What was it like when …?
  • How did you decide to …?
  • Why did you choose …?
  • What do you remember most about …?

Reporting an interview in writing Link to heading

Direct: “I remember the day,” she said. Reported: She said she remembered the day. Mixed (allowed in journalism): use one short direct quote per paragraph + reported speech around it.

3. Practise Link to heading

Niveau E — controlled Link to heading

  1. Mark open or closed: Did you enjoy your job? — Tell me about your first day. — How long have you been here?
  2. Rewrite as open: Did you have a favourite student? → ___ .

Niveau E — productive Link to heading

  1. Prepare 8 open interview questions for an imagined interviewee.
Answer key

Controlled. 1. closed / open / open. 2. Tell me about a student you remember.

Productive. 3. Open.

4. Produce Link to heading

Interview + 150-word portrait. In pairs, run a 5-minute interview based on 8 open questions. Then write a 150-word portrait of your interviewee with at least one direct quote and 4 sentences of reported speech.

Sample Link to heading

Mrs. Brock has worked at our school for 21 years. She says she remembers every student’s name, and the way she said this, leaning forward slightly, made me almost believe her. “You forget faces but you remember voices,” she told me. She came to the school because her sister-in-law had worked here in the 90s. She added, smiling, that her favourite part of the job was the empty corridor between 7:30 and 7:55 in the morning. “Best minutes of the building,” she said. “Everything is about to start, and nothing has gone wrong yet.”

5. Reflect Link to heading

  • I can prepare 8 open interview questions.
  • I can run a 5-minute interview.
  • I can write a 150-word portrait with one direct quote.

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.

“Tell me about your first year here, Mrs. Brock. — It was a strange year. The boiler broke twice, but the children were calm. — What do you remember most? — The day the heating failed in February — we wore coats in lessons.”

  1. Open question 1: ___ . 2. First-year fact: ___ . 3. Open question 2: ___ . 4. Memorable day: ___ .

Task 2 — Reading (12 BE) Link to heading

Read the portrait sample above. Answer.

  1. Years at school: ___ . 2. One direct quote: ___ . 3. How she came to the school: ___ . 4. Favourite minutes: ___ .

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

Direct → reported.

  1. “I remember every name,” she said. → ___
  2. “Where do you live?” he asked. → ___
  3. “Did you enjoy it?” he asked. → ___
  4. “I am proud of the children,” she said. → ___

Task 4 — Writing (13 BE) Link to heading

Write a 150-word portrait of a real person you can imagine interviewing. Include one direct quote.

Answer key
T1. Tell me about your first year.; boiler broke twice / children calm; What do you remember most?; February — heating failed. T2. 21 years; “You forget faces but you remember voices” / “Best minutes of the building”; her sister-in-law had worked there in the 90s; 7:30–7:55 morning corridor. T3. She said she remembered every name. He asked where I lived. He asked if I had enjoyed it. She said she was proud of the children. T4. Open.
grading scale (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: scaffold card with the key structure. Above Niveau E: extension prompt linking to Klasse 10.

Common pitfalls Link to heading

  • Reading questions off a list robotically — listen and follow up.
  • Direct quote without inverted commas → ✗.
  • Transcribing every word — pick the one quote that lands.

Further reading / listening Link to heading

  • BBC News — In Pictures / portrait journalism.
  • The Guardian — Long reads (selected).

Downloads

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