Der gestiefelte Kater

In this intermediate level unit, spanning over four 50min sessions, students learn both about the history and the genre of the Märchen (fairy tale) as an oral tradition, and read the popular story of Puss in Boots in its original German, as the version written down by the Grimm brothers.

This is a fun and engaging way for students to re-encounter a character and a story most are already familiar with, and to practice conversational German by talking about their favorite childhood bedtime stories, the custom of Vorlesen (reading out loud for others), and symbolism present in fairy tales.

Breaking off each reading for the next class with a "cliffhanger," this lesson integrates practice of subjunctive II (present and past tenses) and two-part conjunctions. This is done by asking students to speculate about what happens next, and to write a Fortsetzung (continuation of the story) before they actually get to read the next part. With questions such as:

Was täten Sie an der Stelle des armen Müllersohns? Was könnte man ihm raten?

Hätten Sie dem Kater Stiefel machen lassen? Oder hätten Sie lieber ein Paar Handschuhe aus ihm gemacht?,

students learn to use the subjunctive, including modal verbs (s. Fig. 1). Asking them to imagine having a cat, too, that brings home gold every day, they use the newly learned conjunctions to express what they might do with such riches (s. Fig. 2):

Ich könnte entweder die Mühle von meinem Bruder kaufen, oder eine Weltreise machen.

This unit also pays attention to themes such as gender, by asking students to react to how the princess is said to be "given away" to the protagonist, and by letting them come up with a brief monologue for her, fleshing her out as a more developed character, instead of a mute, unnamed figure.