GCSC

2018

What has changed?

Core content

Students study all of the following themes on which the

assessments are based.

Theme 1: Identity and culture

Theme 2: Local, national, international and global areas

of interest

Theme 3: Current and future study and employment

Assessments

GCSE German has a Foundation Tier (grades 1–5) and a

Higher Tier (grades 3–9). Students must take all four

question papers at the same tier.

LISTENING

What's assessed

Understanding and responding to different types of spoken language

How it's assessed

•Written exam: 35 minutes (Foundation Tier), 45 minutes (Higher Tier)

•25% of GCSE

Questions

•Foundation Tier and Higher Tier Section A – questions in English, to be

answered in English or non-verbally

•Section B – questions in German, to be answered in German or non-verbally

SPEAKING:

How it's assessed

•Final Exam- conducted by teacher

•7–9 minutes (Foundation Tier) + preparation time

•10–12 minutes (Higher Tier) + preparation time

•25% of GCSE

Questions

Foundation Tier and Higher Tier:

1 role play card

1 photocard

General Conversation Questions- prepared in advance, students choose one

topic they would like to talk about, teacher asks questions on another topic

chosen by the exam board.

•The format is the same at Foundation Tier and Higher Tier, but with different

stimulus questions for the Photo card and different stimulus materials for the Role-

play. The timings are different too.

READING:

How it's assessed

•Written exam: 45 minutes (Foundation Tier), 1 hour (Higher Tier)

•25% of GCSE

Questions

•Foundation Tier and Higher Tier Section A – questions in English, to be answered in

English or non-verbally

•Section B – questions in German, to be answered in German or non-verbally

•Section C – translation from German into English (a minimum of 35 words at

Foundation Tier and 50 words at Higher Tier)

WRITING:

How it's assessed

•Written exam: 1 hour (Foundation Tier), 1 hour 15 minutes (Higher Tier)

•25% of GCSE

Questions

•Foundation Tier Question 1

•student produces four sentences in response to a photo

•Students write a short passage in response to four brief bullet points, approximately 40

words in total.

•Translation from English into German (minimum 35 words)

•Structured writing task (student responds to four compulsory detailed bullet points, producing

approximately 90 words in total)

•Higher Tier

•Structured writing task (student responds to four compulsory detailed bullet points, producing

approximately 90 words in total)

•Open-ended writing task (student responds to two compulsory detailed bullet points,

producing approximately 150 words in total

•Translation from English into German (minimum 50 words)

GCSE builds directly from KS3

• vocabulary and grammar

• spontaneous speaking

• extended writing (from memory)

• translation

• use of literary texts / authentic material

• vocabulary and verbs (grammar)

• (spontaneous) speaking

• writing & translation

• comprehension skills

Learning and testing vocabulary

• Which words?

(cognates, families, high-frequency, verbs, non-

cognates)

• How to retain?

(recycling, little & often)

Vocabulaire

Creating memories

• Word-image association

• Word-gesture association

• Music/Song/Rhythm

• Sentence/Text-based contextualisation

• Independent pronunciation- Text to speech

text-to-speech.imtranslator.net

• Production with support- revision cards / booklets

• Production from memory- post its on the fridge!

• Little-and-often recycling (homework and in lessons)

• Sentence-level vocabulary testing

Two heads are often better than one when it comes to

learning vocabulary. Working with someone else helps you to

concentrate for longer and makes learning fun.

1 Tandem testing. Take a

section of words and test your

partner. Begin by testing

Spanish into English and then

say the English and ask for

the Spanish.

2 Beginnings and endings. Your

partner says the start of a word

and you have to finish it. (You

need to be working with a set of 8

– 16 words).

3 Mini spelling bee.

- to learn

- aprender. A-P-R-E-N-D-E-R.

- ¡Muy bien!

4 Give clues.

- Empieza con ‘I’

- IR?

- ¡Sí!

5 Use it in a sentence.

- inteligente.

- Mi gato es muy inteligente.

6 Make revision activities for your

partner. [E.g. anagrams, missing

letters, odd one out, secret code,

definitions, word search…]

Little and often. Learning vocabulary is like

growing plants. The seed needs watering little

and often for it to grow. Your vocabulary

knowledge likewise needs regular attention.

Vocabulario

Consolidation

in class and at

home for HW.

Partnerarbeit

1 Tandem testing. Test your partner.

Say the German and your partner says

the English.

60 Sekunden

Start

2 Say the English and

your partner says the

German.

3 Repeat the ones

s/he didn’t know till

s/he improves.

4 Swap roles.

Text

Sentence

Word

Text

Sentence

Word

Some quotations from David Crystal’s 'A twenty-first century grammar bridge‘

• ‘Put the word in a sentence and then we will know what you mean’

• ‘Only by using words in sentences are we able to ‘make sense’ of them’

• ‘Without sentences words are vague, ambiguous things’

1 The teacher (male) is nice.

2 I like science(s).

3 I study English.

4 What do you study?

5 ICT is interesting. (You have to use ‘the ICT’)

6 Music and PE are fun. (Use ‘the’…)

7 The maths teacher (male) is strict.

8 The history teacher (female) is unfriendly.

9 Technology is useful, but a bit boring. (Use ‘the’)

10 My Spanish teacher (female) is not strange!

¡Tengo la novia!¡Tengo una novia!

Prueba de vocabulario

1. You cannot come to my party? What a shame!

2. I use Google to look for information for my homework.

3. I download songs from Spotify to my phone.

4. My friends and I share photos on Instagram because it’s so easy to use! We upload all the time.

5. I don’t use Skype to meet new people because it’s dangerous.

6. YouTube gets you hooked and it can be a waste of time.

7. I think that WhatsApp is very convenient as a means of communication.

8. My friends and I send each other messages.

9. I am not hooked on FB but it is my favourite social network.

1. No puedes venir a mi fiesta? ¡Quépena!

2. Uso Google para buscarinformación para mis deberes.

3. Descargo canciones de Spotify a mi móvil.

4. Mis amigos y yo compartimosfotos en Instagram porque es tan fácil de usar! Subimos todo el tiempo.

5. No uso Skype para conocer a nueva gente porque es peligroso.

6. YouTube te engancha y puedeser una pérdida de tiempo.

7. Pienso que WhatsApp es muycómodo como canal de comunicación.

8. Mis amigos y yo nos mandamosmensajes.

9. No estoy enganchado/a a FB pero es mi red social favorita.

Infinitives conjugated verbs

• se disputer

• s’entendre bien avec

• s’intéresser à

• se confier à

• s’occuper de

• se fâcher contre

• se chamailler

1. They argue often.

2. I get on quite well with my parents.

3. He is interested in his grand-children.

4. My sister confides in my mum.

5. I look after my cousin at the weekend sometimes.

6. My parents never get angry with us.

7. My brother and I bicker often.

Simple verb starter

Infinitif PrésentPassé

composéImparfait Futur proche Futur simple

jouer (je)

faire (nous)

manger (ils)

General conversation

• Prepare developed answers to topic questions for homework (1++++ answers = 5 clauses) – length and complexity

• Practise those in class (to confident mastery) in speaking lines

• Recycle the topics from time to time (e.g. Y11 now recycling questions from the start of Y10)

• Ensure that students curate their best work together in one place for the general conversation (Speaking and Writing Booklets)

• Use FLA time to practise previous topics with students

1 Comment t’appelles tu?

2 Où habites-tu?

3 Tu es comment?

4 Tu es drôle? Tu es intelligent?

5 Quel est ton sport préféré?

6 Quelle est ta passion?

7 Quelle est ton équipe préférée?

8 Qui est Rény?

9 Tu as des frères ou des soeurs?

10 Comment s’appelle ton frère?

11 Ton frère, il est comment?

12 On se dispute?

13 Qu’est-ce qu’on fait ensemble?

14 Qu’est-ce que tu aimes faire avec ton frère?

Rachel Hawkes

Say something else

J’habite dans un village.

Chez nous il y a beaucoup de pollution.

A Cambridge on peut faire les magasins.

Le weekend on va souvent au centre de loisirs.

Mon frère va normalement au stade.

Mes copains vont à la piscine.

A

Präsens

B

Vergangenheit

C

Zukunft

Was?

Wo?

Wann?

Mit wem?

Wie oft?

Wie ... /?

Warum?

normalerweise letztes Jahr nächstes Jahrmachen

¿Est-ce que tu joues au basket?

Où?

Quand…?Pourquoi…?

Avec

qui…?

¿Qué hay en la foto?

¿Cómoes …?

¿Dóndeestá…?

¿Quéhacen?

People

Action

Location

Mood

(Weather)

Language functions/structures Examples from the model answer

Physical description tiene el pelo largo y marrón

Actionestán comiendo y charlando, todos están

sonriendo

Location

en la foto hay…, en el centro, a la derecha, al

lado del (padre), en el fondo, están sentados, en

una mesa, fuera,

Mood están contentos, están sonriendo

Weather hace mucho sol y calor

Speculation / Hypothesis

A lo mejor, podría ser, quizás, a mi parecer, en mi

opinión, podrían estar, pienso que, parece,

posiblemente, por lo visto, parecen, creo que

Reasons / Justifications porque, pero, aunque, porque

Negation – i.e. Saying what isn’t

there

no es un picnic, no se puede ver mucho en el

fondo, no hay regalos ni tarta

General specific vocabulary

un grupo de personas una familia el padre, la

madre, una chica

un event especial / una celebración un cumpleaños

des infinitifs

to be*

to learn

to work

to write

to teach

to read

to speak

to wear

être

apprendre

travailler

écrire

enseigner

lire

parler

porter

there is/are = il y a

The teacher

One boy

One girl

The pupils

The people

le/la prof

un garçon

une fille

les élèves

les gens

1. It is a school.

2. There are some pupils.

3. The teacher is teaching geography.

4. The pupils are working on computers.

5. They are not wearing a school uniform.

6. They are learning geography.

7. The teacher is speaking.

8. The pupils are not speaking.

Database of RP prompts from the SAMS

Approaches to reading

Read for different purposes

Read a variety of material

Combine reading with speaking and

writing

Combine reading with listening

Read to develop vocabulary

Read to translate NB: Reading should always require thinking!

Reading strategies and skills

Recognise high frequency and other key

language

Use cognates and near cognates to work out

meaning

Use context to work out meaning

Use skimming to get the overall idea

Use scanning to find specific details

Deduce and infer meaning from clues

Use grammatical clues to work out meaning

and especially tenses.

Synonyms / synonymous phrases =

words and phrases that suggest the same

idea or share an association.

asignaturas pasatiempos dieta relaciones

exámenes reglas planestareas

domésticas

1 Cuando termine el bachillerato, espero ir a la universidad.

2 Nunca como carne, porque prefiero comer sólo verduras.

3 Quiero sacar buenas notas y tener éxito en el colegio.

4 Se me dan bien en ciencias y en idiomas.

5 Después del colegio, me encanta leer.

6 A menuo ayudo en casa; plancho la ropa y pongo la mesa.

7 No se permite llegar tarde al colegio.

8 No me llevo bien con mi hermano porque es muy molesto.

1 normas

2 pruebas

3 régimen

4 intenciones

5 actividades de ocio

6 amistades

7 trabajos

8 materias

A B C D

E F G H

Distractors = additional pieces of information that tempt

you to jump to the wrong conclusion. They often come

before the information you really need.

Example:

Question: “When is the market open?”

Text: “El mercado está abierto todos los días salvo el martes.”

If you don’t know the word “salvo” or don’t read carefully you might think the answer

is either “every day” (todos los días) or “Tuesday” (martes). However, if you note the

word “salvo” you will be able to give the correct answer of “every day except

Tuesday”. Other words for ‘except’ in this context include ‘menos’, ‘excepto’, ‘con la

excepción de’ and ‘aparte de’.

TENSES: Overlap questions often test students’

ability to differentiate between three time

frames.

To get these questions right,

make sure you:

1) read the tense of the

question VERY CAREFULLY

2) use time phrase clues

3) pay close attention to the

verb forms

Question: “Who has recently

been swimming?”

Ania: Mis amigos y

yo nadamos ayer.

Ignacio: Nunca hago

natación.

Elena: Vamos a ir a

la piscina mañana.

Listening strategies and skills

•A good knowledge of vocabulary, high frequency words and synonyms

•Prediction

•Ability to spot opinions and changes of opinion

•Avoidance of distractors and sustained concentration

• Infer and make associations from synonymous phrases

• Ability to cope with unfamiliar language / manage the panic!

•Ability to recognise and decode cognates

Opinions can be expressed in many different ways, and

often without using the familiar verbs of opinion..

Changes of opinion can often be signalled by conjunctions

or adverbs: pero, sin embargo, aunque,

des(afortunadamente), por otro lado, mientras que

COGNATES: At higher tier, you are expected to

cope with some unfamiliar vocabulary. Often key

words heard are cognates. If you can write down

what you hear with correct spelling, you can often

recognise the meaning more easily, especially words

with ‘ci’,’ce’ and silent ‘h’ sounds.Write these words down as you hear them and try to work out their

meaning.

Spanish word heard possible meaning

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Spanish word heard possible meaning

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

cancelar

inicio

cómplice

contribución

servicio educativo

zona

huracanes

contacto humano

vida nocturna

sentido común

objetos de valorcoincide con

malísimo

carísimo

pasado mañana

anteayer

MEMRISE:

www.memrise.com

GOOGLE CLASSROOM

SENACA LEARNING

www.senecalearning.com

https://www.audio-lingua.eu

http://www.phschool.com/atschoo

l/realidades/program_page.html

http://www.spanishlistening.org/http://es.maryglasgowplus.com/teachers

http://www.veinte

mundos.com/en/http://es.maryglasgowplus.com

/teachershttp://www.google.es

http://www.practicaespanol.com/

http://noticiasmuycuriosasverparacreer.blogspo

t.co.uk/

https://hablacultura.com/cultura-textos-

aprender-espanol/

http://zachary-jones.com