Kollegstufe — Assessment Framework

This document is intended to describe the “floor” for Kollegstufe participants; what will KTs who participate in Kollegstufe gain from their participation. In other words, if someone—a parent, a fellow camper, Karl—asks Just what does it mean that this KT earned a Kollegstufe bead this year?... this is the answer.

Communicative Functions

Participants in Kollegstufe should show mastery in the following communicative tasks:

Interpretive:

• Read and understand complex written instructions and texts

• Understand spoken and sung German through songs, films, and spoken instructions

Interpersonal:

• Engage in complex dialogues over topics covered. These topics could be from German magazine or newspaper articles, excerpts from literature, films or other recordings, etc.

• Engage in written pen-pal relationships with other KTs or LKTs in which the villagers use new grammatical structures

• Assist counselors in planning educational programming such as simulations and Abend/Sonntagprogramme.

Presentational:

• Demonstrate understanding of material covered during class through reports (powerpoint, posterboard, film, recording, written)

• Demonstrate proficiency with new grammar by explaining it to their classmates and answering their questions

• Present a new piece of information every day. This could be information about a German author, historical event, musician, etc. This presentation should include the grammatical structures covered in class (eg. Adjective declensions, tenses, cases etc.)

Waldsee Goals

Participants in Waldsee’s credit program adopt the following Waldsee-specific goals:

• To gain knowledge and understanding of one’s self as a cultural being as well as the cultural practices, products, and perspectives of German speakers

• To cultivate an appreciation for German-speaking culture through increased proficiency in reading and writing skills

• To learn about significant events, people, and works in contemporary and historical German-speaking culture according to a predetermined theme each week (music, environment, politics etc.)

• To learn practical skills to express and understand sophisticated ideas and instructions holistically including through the interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational modes of communication.

Participants in Kollegstufe should make progress toward these goals in the following ways:

• Progress beyond simply repeating words and phrases, but understanding the grammatical reasons behind why the phrases are such

• Educate fellow villagers through brief presentations on issues of cultural or historical significance Creating a two week mini-portfolio to take home as a means of assessment for counselors and parents as well as an educational tool and reminder for the Villager

Waldsee Curriculum: Frage des Tages

Participants in Kollegstufe at higher language levels (Aufbaukurs und Fortgeschrittenenkurs) can demonstrate their linguistic abilities by participating in the following activities, organized according to the relevant Frage des Tages.

[The idea of this section is not so much to challenge each kid to check a certain number of boxes — the intent is to give the leader of Kollegstufe a better idea of what language level each kid has; i.e., we know this Villager was Aufbau because they were able to communicate in the following ways:]