Course Syllabus

In German 2A, students will learn to share information about their lives and the world around them as they continue to develop their communicative language skills. They will learn to talk about physical and mental health and identify solutions to common health problems. Students will also learn to describe past events from their everyday lives, such as what they did last weekend. Throughout the course, students will continue to follow the fictional journey of Frau Brauns SchülerInnen, the story of three students learning German. One of them is even preparing to depart for a study abroad program. Through this lens, students will explore programs on their own and learn about the potential benefits of participating in an exchange program, while preparing to answer mock interview questions in a discussion-based assessment with their instructor. German 2A is the first semester of a two-semester course, which builds on the foundation of language skills acquired in German 1A and 1B. The class takes a proficiency-based approach which is informed by current language acquisition research and the ACTFL performance descriptors for novice language learners. A heavy focus is placed on meaningful language use, with grammar being learned implicitly through input and meaning-based activities. Prerequisites:German 1

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to...

• Introduce themselves in a mock interview format, including where they live and where they come from.
• Describe their community, including buildings and types of transportation.
• Write and present a story about a person’s health and fitness journey.
• Answer questions about their daily routine, past technology use, and past stressful experiences.
• Give information about a historical event.
• Write and illustrate an account of a past trip.
• Create a portfolio of materials they have produced.
• Write a reflection on their learning experience.

Course Outline:

Module 1: Im Ausland

Module 2: Gesundheit!

Module 3:Heute und Gestern

Module 4: Ins Ausland gehen

Resources Included: German courses provide students with a Flipgrid account with which to upload video recordings and interact with classmates for language speaking assignments. Online lesson instruction and activities, opportunities to engage with a certified, online instructor and classmates, when appropriate, and online assessments to measure student performance of course objectives and readiness for subsequent academic pursuits.

Additional Costs: None.

Scoring System: Michigan Virtual does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue transcripts or diplomas. A final score reported as a percentage of total points earned will be sent to students upon completion of a course. Your school mentor is also able to access this score within the Student Learning Portal. Schools may use this score for conversion to their own letter grading system.

Time Commitment: Semester sessions are 18-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1 or more hours per day in the course to be successful. Summer sessions are 10 weeks long: Students must be able to spend a minimum of 2 or more hours per day, or about 90 hours during the summer, for the student to be successful in any course. Trimester sessions are 12-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1.5 or more hours per day in the course to be successful.

Technology Requirements: Students will need a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube. NOTE: Students must possess a working microphone and webcam on their device in order to record and submit audio and video files using either the embedded recording tools within the Brightspace learning management system or another means of recording and submitting audio and video files for world language performance assessments.

Please review the Michigan Virtual Technology Requirements: https://michiganvirtual.org/about/support/knowledge-base/technical-requirements/

Instructor Support System: For technical issues within your course, contact the Customer Care Center by email at [email protected] or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Instructor Contact Expectations: Students can use email or the private message system within the Student Learning Portal to access highly qualified teachers when they need instructor assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside the learning management system. The Instructor Info area of their course may describe additional communication options.

Academic Support Available: In addition to access to a highly qualified, Michigan certified teacher, students have access to academic videos and outside resources verified by Michigan Virtual. For technical issues within the course, students can contact the Michigan Virtual Customer Care by email at [email protected] or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Required Assessment: Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, instructor-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building and other forms of authentic assessments.

Technical Skills Needed: Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to:

• Download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
• Download and install software
• Use a messaging service similar to email
• Communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
• Open attachments shared in messages
• Create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
• Edit file share settings in cloud-based applications, such as Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides
• Save a file as a .pdf
• Copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
• Insert images or links into a file or html editor
• Search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
• Work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
• Activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
• Use presentation and graphics programs
• Follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
• Use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
• Create and maintain usernames and passwords

Additional Information: Students will require a computer device with a webcam, speakers and a microphone. Students are required to contact their instructor to schedule one or more live speaking assessments during the course.