Unit 8 — School Around the World

Track G+M · Klasse 6 · Niveau G/M

Template: Activate → Input → Practise → Produce → Reflect.
Niveau: G/M parallel. class test (“Klassenarbeit”) at Niveau M (30 BE).

Learning objectives Link to heading

  • I can compare two school days using comparatives.
  • I can name 8 differences between schools in 3 countries.
  • I can write a 100-word comparison text.

Bildungsplan alignment Link to heading

  • 3.1.1 Soziokulturelles Orientierungswissen / Themen
  • 3.1.2 Interkulturelle kommunikative Kompetenz
  • 3.1.3.2 Leseverstehen
  • 3.1.3.5 Schreiben
  • 3.1.4 Text- und Medienkompetenz

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

Lead-in story Link to heading

Lina has a pen-pal in Tokyo. Sam has a pen-pal in Cape Town. The three of them compare their school days by e-mail. Tokyo: 8:00 to 15:30, six lessons and a cleaning duty. Cape Town: 7:45 to 14:30, with a break that involves actual fruit. Stuttgart: 7:55 to 13:20, no fruit, no cleaning. “We are very specialised,” Lina jokes.

1. Activate Link to heading

Three columns. On the board: Stuttgart, Tokyo, Cape Town. Class fills in school day facts under each.

2. Input Link to heading

Reading — Three school days Link to heading

In Tokyo, students clean their classroom every day after lessons. In Cape Town, the school year starts in January. In Stuttgart, students have free periods if a teacher is absent. In Tokyo, lunch is served at school. In Cape Town, many students bring fruit. In Stuttgart, lunch is at home or in the canteen.

Grammar — comparatives revisited (Klasse 6) Link to heading

Short adjectives: + -er: long → longer. Long adjectives: more + adjective: interesting → more interesting. Irregular: good → better, bad → worse. than introduces the second item: Tokyo’s school day is longer than Stuttgart’s.

3. Practise Link to heading

Niveau G Link to heading

  1. Build comparatives: long → ___ , short → ___ , interesting → ___ , good → ___ , bad → ___ .
  2. Compare: Tokyo / Stuttgart / school day / longer → ___ .

Niveau M Link to heading

  1. Build 4 comparison sentences about Stuttgart vs. another country’s school day.
Answer key

G. 1. longer / shorter / more interesting / better / worse. 2. Tokyo’s school day is longer than Stuttgart’s.

M. 3. Open.

4. Produce Link to heading

Pen-pal comparison letter. Write 100 words to a pen-pal abroad describing your school day and comparing it to theirs (real or imagined). Use 5 comparatives.

Sample Link to heading

Hi Hiro, my school day is shorter than yours, but I think yours is more interesting because you clean your classroom together every day. We don’t do that, but I think it would be a better tradition than the one we have. We finish at 1:20 and I am always hungrier than my brother by lunchtime.

5. Reflect Link to heading

  • I can build short and long comparative forms.
  • I can compare two school days in 4 sentences.
  • I can write a 100-word pen-pal letter.

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

Exam example Link to heading

class test ("Klassenarbeit") — Niveau M (45 minutes)
Time. 45 minutes. Total. 30 points.

Task 1 — Listening (8 BE) Link to heading

Listen twice.

“In Tokyo, lessons start at 8:30. The day is longer than ours. Students clean their classrooms every day. The break is shorter, but lunch is served at school. The school year is also longer than ours.”

  1. Tokyo start: ___ . 2. Day length: ___ . 3. Daily task: ___ . 4. Lunch: ___ .

Task 2 — Reading (8 BE) Link to heading

Read.

“South African schools start their year in January. The summer holiday is in December. Many schools wear uniform. Lessons end earlier than in Germany, but afternoon clubs are common.”

  1. Year start: ___ . 2. Summer: ___ . 3. Uniform: ___ . 4. Lessons end: ___ .

Task 3 — Use of English (8 BE) Link to heading

Build the comparative.

  1. Tokyo’s school day is __________ (long) than Stuttgart’s.
  2. Cape Town’s break is __________ (short) than ours.
  3. The Tokyo school year is __________ (interesting) than mine.
  4. Their cafeteria food is __________ (good) than ours.

Task 4 — Writing (6 BE) Link to heading

Write 100 words to a pen-pal comparing your school day with theirs (real or imagined). Use 4 comparatives.

Answer key
T1. 8:30, longer than ours, clean classrooms, served at school. T2. January, December, common, earlier. T3. longer / shorter / more interesting / better. T4. Open.
Notenschlüssel (von 30)
| 28–30 | 1 | 24–27 | 2 | 20–23 | 3 | | 15–19 | 4 | 9–14 | 5 | 0–8 | 6 |

Downloads Link to heading

**Slide deck timing.** 45 minutes total. Lead-in 3 min · Activate 4 min · Input 12 min · Practise 8 min · Produce 13 min · Reflect 5 min.

Differentiation. Niveau G: extra picture support and a printed reference card. Above Niveau M: extension question linking to the next Unit.

Common pitfalls Link to heading

  • more longer → ✗ / longer → ✓.
  • more better → ✗ / better → ✓.
  • L1 trap: German als → English than; German wie in comparisons (so groß wie) → English as … as.

Further reading / listening Link to heading

  • BBC Bitesize — School around the world.
  • British Council Schools Online — pen-pal projects.

Downloads

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