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"Der Lehrling" (ein neues Erfrischungsgetränk): A Lesson Plan for Advanced German Students
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by Juan Carlos Morales
Miami Palmetto Senior High
Pincrest, Florida
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Plans for the Activity
The idea behind this activity came from a popular TV show on which contestants had to redesign a popular cola's new bottle as a marketing challenge. I thought it would make a fun activity for my mixed German 3/AP class to attempt such a challenge by coming up with a similar marketing plan for something they create themselves.
Before the Activity
In preparation for the first day, I explain to the students what we will be doing and instruct each student to bring a bottle of soda, fruit juice, or other mixable drink to class. Every student has to bring something different, and each gets to choose what it is. I also ask them to bring pitchers, mixing spoons, plastic cups, and paper towels (lots!).
Day 1
Students are divided into groups of four based on whom they want to work with. (With about 20 students in my class, I have five groups.) Depending on the size of the class, teachers may make the groups larger, but groups of four seem to be ideal for this activity.
On this day, the students concoct their new drink. They are instructed to speak only in German while mixing and trying their drinks, and they are required to include at least three different sorts of drinks in their mix (which will avoid recreating stuff that is already out there). Students mix, try the drinks (this teacher has been offered many, many sips, and you will be surprised that everything turns green!), and then rate each one. By the end of the class, they will have to choose their new drink as far as ingredients go. The homework is to review the day's activities and to reflect upon the experience.
Day 2
Students start out by sharing their Zusammenfassung and telling each other what they did and how they felt about it. (When I do this project with my class, we are learning um . . . zu . . . clauses and . . . damit . . . clauses, so this activity is part of that lesson.) They share their homework (less confident speakers can read their Zusammenfassung to their group) and then report on it to the class by sending a representative from the group.
After this, students come up with a product name by doing a free association with words for their drink. They must produce two or three names. I tell them to avoid any name that ends in "Cola." (My students have invented some interesting names, such as "Exodurst" and "Frischmisch.")
After the name has been decided, the students must then create a short slogan and a jingle. The jingle tends to take students longer so it may well be that this day's activities may go into another day in some classrooms.
Days 3, 4, and 5
Once the preliminary job of creating a name, jingle, and slogan is finished, students start making the advertisements. I require a TV ad and a radio ad that include the jingle. The ads are then taped on video and recorded on cassette or CD. Students are given complete free rein on ideas (and my class, at this point, has completed much of a lesson on Werbung in the Komm Mit textbook). All ideas must be approved by the teacher before the students begin work. In addition to these ads, a poster must be made for the presentation of the product to the other German class. Some teachers may wish to have the students create a bottle for their drink as well.
Post-Activity
Once all of the in-class work is done, I invite my groups to come on two separate days to present their product to my German 2 students. All the German 2 students receive the Bewertungsblatt at the end, and, using the two days before winter break when things tend to slow down, I let them miss one day of class to present to German 2. (I allow them to miss my class later that day in order to attend the class they missed.) In the German 2 class, they have to give each student a sample of their drink (in small paper cups) and then present their product, with all members speaking. Using their poster, they have to "sell" it by saying why their drink is best -- and they are not allowed to mention the competition. Then they present their video ad, radio ad, and jingle, as well as their slogan. The German 2 students rate them, and while this is not part of their grade, the groups are told which group got the most points and which drink is the most successful.
My students in levels 2, 3, and AP have all enjoyed the activity. The advanced students are proud of their productions—some of the ads have been played in the morning announcements as ways to entice students to come to German Club and to take German as their foreign language—and the level 2 students have been excited to do the activity next year.
 Handouts and rubrics for this activity.
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