Unit 2 — The World of Work

Track G+M · Klasse 10 · Niveau G/M

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

Learning objectives Link to heading

  • I can read a short job-profile and pick out 6 facts.
  • I can use the present perfect continuous (I have been working …).
  • I can hold a 3-minute job-interview role-play.

curriculum framework (“Bildungsplan”) alignment Link to heading

  • 3.3.1 Soziokulturelles Orientierungswissen / Themen
  • 3.3.2 Interkulturelle kommunikative Kompetenz
  • 3.3.3.2 Leseverstehen
  • 3.3.3.3 Sprechen – an Gesprächen teilnehmen
  • 3.3.3.7 Verfügen über sprachliche Mittel – Wortschatz

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

Lead-in story Link to heading

Sam is doing a one-day work-shadowing visit at a small bakery in the city. He arrives at 5 a.m. The owner, a woman called Mrs Dahl, is already kneading. “You’re early,” she says. “For me,” Sam says, “this is early. For you, it’s mid-morning.” She smiles. Welcome, she says, to the only profession where ‘mid-morning’ is at five.

1. Activate Link to heading

Job-shadow scan. With your partner, list four jobs you would actually want to spend a full day shadowing. Then, the harder one: name a job you would NOT shadow and one specific reason.

2. Input Link to heading

Vocabulary — workplace Link to heading

shift, line manager, colleague, deadline, expectation, salary, wage, contract, probation, feedback, promotion, performance review, headquarters, branch, freelance, gig work, remote, hybrid.

Reading — A Day at the Bakery (extract) Link to heading

Mrs Dahl has been running the bakery for thirty-two years. She has been kneading dough by hand for most of that time. Her three apprentices have been showing up at five every morning, six days a week. “It is not romantic,” she said when Sam asked, “but it is honest.”

Grammar — present perfect continuous Link to heading

Form: have/has + been + -ing. Use: an action that started in the past and is still going on (or recent enough to feel ongoing).

  • Mrs Dahl has been running the bakery for 32 years.
  • I have been waiting for the apprenticeship letter.
  • They have been working since 5 a.m.

Compare with present perfect simple:

  • I have written five applications. (completed actions, focus on result)
  • I have been writing all morning. (focus on duration / activity)

3. Practise Link to heading

Niveau G Link to heading

  1. Choose: present perfect simple or continuous: Mrs Dahl __________ (run) the bakery for 32 years. I __________ (write) three applications this morning.
  2. Match: shift → 8-hour block; deadline → due date; feedback → review.

Niveau M Link to heading

  1. Build 4 sentences with present perfect continuous about your real recent activity.
Answer key

G. 1. has been running / have written. 2. all true.

M. 3. Open.

4. Produce Link to heading

Job-interview role-play. Pairs. 3 minutes each direction. Interviewer asks 5 questions; interviewee uses 2 present perfect continuous + 2 third conditional structures.

Sample Link to heading

— What experience do you bring? — I have been doing weekend shifts at my aunt’s café for two years. If I had started earlier, I would have more management experience, but I have learned the basics — shift handover, customer questions, food safety.

5. Reflect Link to heading

  • I can pick out 6 facts in a job-profile.
  • I can use present perfect continuous correctly.
  • I can run a 3-minute job-interview role-play.

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. 45 points.

Task 1 — Listening (10 BE) Link to heading

Listen twice.

“Mrs Dahl has been running the bakery for 32 years. She has been kneading dough by hand for most of that time. Her three apprentices have been showing up at five every morning, six days a week.”

  1. Years running: ___ . 2. Method: ___ . 3. Apprentices: ___ . 4. Days per week: ___ .

Task 2 — Reading (12 BE) Link to heading

Read.

“Sam has been visiting different workplaces this term: a bakery, a small electrician’s, a graphic-design studio. He has been writing one paragraph after each visit. So far the bakery has surprised him most — because of the silence at 5 a.m.”

  1. Activity: ___ . 2. Three workplaces: ___ . 3. After-visit task: ___ . 4. Most surprising: ___ .

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

Present perfect simple or continuous?

  1. Mrs Dahl __________ (run) the bakery for 32 years.
  2. I __________ (write) three applications this morning.
  3. They __________ (work) since 5 a.m.
  4. We __________ (have) two interviews this week.

Task 4 — Writing (13 BE) Link to heading

Write 150 words about a workplace you would like to shadow for a day. Use 3 present perfect continuous structures.

Answer key
T1. 32, kneading dough by hand, three, six days a week. T2. visiting workplaces; bakery / electrician’s / graphic-design studio; one paragraph after each visit; the bakery — silence at 5 a.m. T3. has been running / have written / have been working / have had. 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. Niveau G: scaffold card with the key structure. Above Niveau M: extension prompt linking to Klasse 11 (or post-Klasse-10 path).

Common pitfalls Link to heading

  • I am working since 2023 → ✗ / I have been working since 2023 → ✓.
  • Some verbs (know, believe, have in I have a car) don’t take continuous forms.
  • Have of possession can’t be progressive: I have been having a car → ✗.

Further reading / listening Link to heading

  • BBC Worklife — short articles.
  • The Guardian — Working Lives.

Downloads

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