Sitting peacefully in class, a German 1 student least expects a hand to suddenly grab his ankle and for German Teacher Ms. Judy Graunke to let out a bloodcurdling scream as he’s dragged out of class. Little does the student know, he’s just been the victim of Krampus, the dark companion of Saint Niklaus.
In German tales, Saint Niklaus goes around houses asking parents if their children have been good as Krampus looms in the background. For Ms. Graunke’s German 1 classes, two Krampuses dressed in black scare students to bring the tradition to life.
Aside from the surprise Krampus visit in German 1, the class creates advent calendars. Ms. Graunke tells the students a little about German Christmas customs and then the students write a story about them, with every window of their calendar displaying another sentence of it. German 2 students read the calendars and pick out the best stories and the chosen are rewarded with prizes, such as Nuremberg gingerbread cookies.
In German 2, students must find a creative way to interpret and recite the “Night Before Christmas” in German, whether it’s singing or rapping the poem to make it snappy and expressive. The focus is on the flow of the language. After burning the audio onto a CD, Ms. Graunke picks the top 10-15 recordings and plays them for the German 3 class, who select prizes for those they like best.
As for the German 3/4 students, they recite Christmas songs, with the focus being on getting the feel of the song and interpreting the poetic feel of the words. The top 10-12 students picked by Ms. Graunke will recite their songs in a program on Dec. 17 at 4:30 p.m. in the Media Center, where there will be hot apple cider and cocoa and students can bring their parents and participate in Christmas caroling.
“I like to infuse my class with a lot of culture,” Ms. Graunke said. “I think that part of learning a language is that you have to make the language come alive and experience it.”
TCHS School Newspaper