Projekttag - Project Day at DANK German Language Schools
By Dr. Silvia Schmid
Parents may wonder what their children do and learn in German school during an entire school year. Our schools in Arlington Heights IL and Palatine IL have been waiting for just this moment to give a glimpse at some of the projects that the students have been working on and to present them with pride and accomplishment.
Projekttag! It is the year-end celebration where the students invite their families and friends to the cafeteria where the room is completely transformed into a big exhibit hall. It is an active place where students interact with their visitors.
Our youngest students, age 3 and 4, prepared crafts and games for everyone to participate. It was a hands-on table where everyone liked to linger. With the Kindergartners and Stufe 2, the visitors learned about the Gebrüder Grimm and the well-known fairy tales. Level 1 prepared an ABC book with the theme "Alles über mich", and with "Deutsches Essen" for level 3, visitors could learn about Spätzle, Rouladen, Krapfen, and more.
Then came the poster presentations. The topic for level 4 took us on a city tour like Genf, Hamburg, Innsbruck. And the students of level 5 prepared posters about themselves and their interest like Ringen, Krokokile, Autos. Of course an Olympic theme needed to be present. Level 7 researched Team Deutschland in Pyeung Chang 2018 which captured everyone's interest vom Skispringen und Eislaufen zu Bobfahren. Level 6 and Level 8 showed the presentations that the students prepared diligently and masterfully for the German exams A2 and A2/B1. And our adult class explored the life of painter, printmaker, and theorist of the German Renaissance Albrecht Dürer.
Needless to say, the exhibits, crafts, and games kept our photographer busy as he tried to capture many moments of this successful day of projects.
As the culmination of the morning, we celebrated the many awards for the AATG, A1 and A2 exams. Kaffee und Kuchen, of course, is a given. Happy and satisfied, the school year 2017-18 came to an end. See you next year!