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Parent guide · Grade 3 German · Unit 2

Lesson 2.2 Bis zwanzig und rechnen

Written for the parent. The Read aloud parts are written to your child; read them as they are. Do this parts are for you. Answers for you are marked Listen for.

At a glance

Time
3 sessions of 20–30 minutes
Goal
Count from 13 to 20 in German. Say additions and subtractions in German. Check Dürer’s magic square in German.
You need
  • Paper with a 3 × 3 grid
  • A pencil
  • Nine small paper squares numbered 1 to 9
  • A sketchbook or plain paper, and crayons
  • A King James Bible
Print
Worksheet A · the lesson page (it also has a short video (9:18))

Steps

  1. Do this together: Count from zero to twelve in German. What comes next? In English, thirteen is three-teen. German does the same thing: three-ten. Let’s go!

  2. Read aloud: Teens in German. Just as English says three-teen, German says three-ten: dreizehn, vierzehn, fünfzehn, achtzehn, neunzehn. Watch three tricky ones: sechzehn (16) drops the s, siebzehn (17) drops the en, and zwanzig is twenty. So: dreizehn, vierzehn, fünfzehn, sechzehn, siebzehn, achtzehn, neunzehn, zwanzig.

    Read aloud: Doing math in German. 3 + 4 = 7 is drei plus vier ist sieben. 10 − 2 = 8 is zehn minus zwei ist acht. You may also say gleich (equals) instead of ist. To ask a math question: Wie viel ist fünf plus sechs? (How much is five plus six?)

    Read aloud: Dürer’s magic square. Look at the rows: 16, 3, 2, 13 / 5, 10, 11, 8 / 9, 6, 7, 12 / 4, 15, 14, 1. Add any row, any column or either diagonal, and you always get 34. Even the four corners add up to 34: sechzehn plus dreizehn plus vier plus eins! Say the numbers in German as you add.

  3. Do this: Say each word clearly; your child says it back twice. Point to a picture or the real thing when you can.

    • dreizehn [DRY-tsayn]: thirteen
    • sechzehn [ZEKH-tsayn]: sixteen
    • siebzehn [ZEEP-tsayn]: seventeen
    • zwanzig [TSVAHN-tsikh]: twenty
    • plus [PLOOS]: plus
    • minus [MEE-noos]: minus
    • ist [IST]: is, equals
    • vierzehn [FEER-tsayn]: fourteen
    • fünfzehn [FÜNF-tsayn]: fifteen
    • neunzehn [NOYN-tsayn]: nineteen

  4. Show: Say 9 + 6 = 15 in German.

    Say this: “Nine is neun; six is sechs.”

    Say this: “Plus is plus; equals is ist.”

    Say this: “Fifteen is fünfzehn.”

    Answer: Neun plus sechs ist fünfzehn.

    Show: Say 17 − 4 = 13 in German.

    Say this: “17 is siebzehn (no en).”

    Say this: “Minus is minus.”

    Answer: Siebzehn minus vier ist dreizehn.

  5. Do this: Ask out loud. Let your child try first; help only after a real try.

    Ask: Say 14 in German.

    Listen for: Vierzehn.

    Ask: Say 20 in German.

    Listen for: Zwanzig.

    Ask: Say 16 in German.

    Listen for: Sechzehn.

    3 more on the lesson page.

  6. Read aloud: Make your own 3 × 3 magic square and check it in German.

    Steps:

    1. Put the numbers 1 to 9 into the grid so that every row, column and diagonal adds to 15. (Hint: 5 goes in the middle.)
    2. Check each row out loud in German: zwei plus sieben plus sechs ist fünfzehn.
    3. Copy your finished square neatly.
    4. Compare it with Dürer’s 4 × 4 square.

    Tips for you:

    • Check Dürer’s columns in German too.
    • Challenge a parent to solve your square.

    Done when your child can say:

    • My magic square works: every line adds to 15.
    • I can say the sums in German.

  7. Do this: Your child picks one or more; you write the date.

    1. In your German notebook, write the numbers 13 to 20 in German. Write three additions and three subtractions in German words.

  8. Read aloud: Magic squares were known in China and India long before Dürer. Dürer’s square is the first one in European art, and it is still the most famous.

    • Writing sechszehn. The s drops: sechzehn.
    • Writing siebenzehn. The en drops: siebzehn.

  10. A parent says a problem in German: Wie viel ist neun plus vier? The first to answer in a full German sentence scores a point. Take turns being the asker.

  11. Say this: “Tell me what you learned today.”

    Listen for: Count from 13 to 20 in German.; Say additions and subtractions in German.; Check Dürer’s magic square in German.

  12. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

    Psalm 90:12 (KJV)

    In the Luther Bible (1912): <i lang="de">Lehre uns bedenken, daß wir sterben müssen, auf daß wir klug werden.</i> Moses asked God to teach us to number our days, so that we use our time wisely. Luther put it: teach us to remember that we must die, so that we become wise. Every day is a gift to use well.

Spread over the week

3 sessions of 20–30 minutes. Stop while it is still going well.

  1. Session 1. Warm-up, then read and teach the new idea and the new words. Show how.
  2. Session 2. Practice together, then start the project. Finish the project, then the sketchbook.
  3. Session 3. Narration, the game and the Scripture.