Using Yildiz heißt Stern

Heyne Isolde 
LANGENSCHEIDT
  ISBN: 3468496958

Vorbereitet von Mary Ashcraft maryashcraft@adelphia.net

 

Yildiz ist ein junges türkisches Madchen, das in Deutschland geboren und aufgewachsen ist. Sie besucht das Gymnasium und möchte spßter studieren. Sie spricht nur wenig Türkisch und empfindet Deutschland als ihre Heimat.  Ihre Familie hat einen Gemüseladen in einer Kleinstadt, und ihr Leben ist ganz normal - bis Yildiz eines Tages von Skinheads angegriffen wird.

 

I. Background Information- Pre-Reading

A. Introduce concept of prejudice and hate groups with references from current news reports from here and abroad. 

B. Brainstorm important concepts and make a vocabulary list. This can be done in groups which then report to the class.  (Handout)

C. Provide students with information concerning the history of and current statistics regarding immigrants in Germany.  The Tufts site http://www.tufts.edu/as/ger_rus_asian/auslaender/ausl.html provides an excellent overview and the Statisches Bundesamt Deutschland http://www.destatis.de/basis/d/bevoe/bevoetab4.htm  contains the most current numbers. 

D. Use the many web and textbook resources to focus on Turkish immigrants, Neo-Nazi extremists, and efforts to find peaceful resolutions.  http://www.usafa.af.mil/dff/goethe/index.htm has a wealth of information which ties into Yildiz heißt Stern.  (Handout)

E. Introduce students to popular music on the topic.  (Handout)  http://www.umass.edu/neh

E. Have students read Haus ohne Hoffnung for an easy introduction to a longer text.  Access vocabulary list and comprehension questions at http://ml.hss.cmu.edu/FacPages/amgreen/projects/level3.htm  (Handouts)

II. Reading

A. Access vocabulary and comprehension questions from http://ml.hss.cmu.edu/FacPages/amgreen/projects/level3.htm  (Handouts)

B. Use the supplementary materials from Literatur im Unterricht : Yildiz heißt Stern.  Dehmel, Elke et al. 

C. Have students summarize individual chapters or scenes with the Kurzfassung summary sheet.  (Handout)

D. Make scripts of scenes so that small groups of students can easily dramatize for the class.  (Handout)

E. Check reading comprehension with a readers’ response exercise in which students copy an excerpt of the reading assignment (short paragraph) on one side of a piece of folded paper, then write either their response to it or questions about it on the other half.  Teacher collects papers, directs the class to the excerpt, reads the response, then asks for discussion.

F. Have students make a table of important themes in the book and note chapters or scenes and characters for which these themes play a role:  ie. Gewalt, Multikulturelle Gesellschaft, Zwischen zwei Kulturen leben, Stolz und Ehre, Angst, Rache, Ausseiter sein, die Role der Frau, Schweigen

III. Writing

A. Have students use a journal to record all assignments from Yildiz heißt Stern.  They can personalize their journals by decorating the cover and/or individual pages with illustrations of important symbols, people and themes.  A star motif on the cover provides an introduction to Yildiz, the main character.

B. Start student assignments with a word bank taken from the vocabulary, then have students compose their own word banks before they start their compositions.

C. Use significant phrases from a chapter and have students write about their meaning and significance.  (Handout)

D. Set up a dialog journal situation in which one student writes a reaction to a quotation and a second student in turn reacts to that.

E. Create a first person poem in which Yildiz reveals who she is.  Begin with the following concept:  Ich bin aus. . . This can include such information as heritage, parents, family, neighborhood, home, cherished objects, favorite books or music, friends, school, interests, values, strengths and weaknesses, future plans, goals,dreams.

IV. Culminating Activities and Projects

            A. Create a persona and write an epitaph or obituary of the murdered Skinhead.

            B. Create a travel brochure on Turkey and include information about Amasya.

            C. Add a character (i.e. Murat’s girlfriend) and describe reactions to events.

D. Choose an artifact (i.e. barrette, masking tape) and describe its significance.

E. Draw Graffiti expressing pro-diversity sentiments.

F. Use construction paper to make a mosaic of a small aspect of the story and describe the contents of the mosaic on the back.  When students share their mosaics they ask class members to identify, then read their interpretations.

G. Use crayons to make a tapestry representing a story theme.  The tapestry must be completely colored with a repeated symbol as the border.

H. Use a web to illustrate the characters and their relationships with one another.  Indicate the nature of the relationships and assign each character a meaningful symbol.  Provide explanation in a key.

V.   Evaluation

A. Project the future and have two characters correspond with one another.  (Handout)

B. Make a series of drawings or representations of the five most important scenes in the book and write summaries of the action.

C. Possible essay topics:  Reassimilation in Turkey – Pros and Cons, Yildiz must choose between boyfriend and family, How does it feel to be Turkish in Germany – use an example from your own life where you felt you were not a part of the group, “Angst provoziert Gewalt genauso wie Schweigen provoziert Gewalt” – Reaktionen (Ken Joling, AATG Listserv)

 

Adapting assignments to writing types:

Narrative – Write a letter from Yildiz to Markus in which she describes her life in Turkey, write a dialog between Serdal and Murat in which the father tries to explain his regret for bringing his family to Germany

ExposititoryExplain why Yildiz does not go to the police with her story earlier, explain how students can work in school and social settings to eliminate prejudice and violence
Persuasive – Write a conversation in which Yildiz convinces her parents the family shouldn’t move to Turkey, persuade Mehmet that he really doesn’t want to live in Germany, convince your classmates that they have to speak out against hatred and division

           

           

 

 

Useful Sites on the topic of Auslaenderfeindlichkeit

 

http://www.usafa.af.mil/dff/goethe/index.htm  Learning scenarios based on the Deutschstunde videos viewed in Quicktime.  The transcript and comprehension questions are included for each scene.  The unit Multikulturelle Gesellschaft contains 12 segments, providing a short history of German/Turkish relations and interviews with young people whose stories closely parallel story lines in Yildiz heißt Stern. 

See http://ml.hss.cmu.edu/FacPages/amgreen/projects/lyon/ausland.html for an internet exercise based on the transcripts.

 

http://www.umass.edu/neh

 Musik gegen Hass”, “Deutsche Identität” and “Ich bin aus Deutschland”are standards-based thematic units produced in a NEH Summer Institute led by Donna Van Handle.  These units provide tons of information, teaching tips and links. 

 

http://www.basta-net.de/  The motto of this site for young people is “Nein zur Gewalt”.  The site offers reports on attacks against foreigners, current initiatives to prevent further violence, practical tips, a chat room and instructional materials for teachers.

 

http://www.tufts.edu/as/ger_rus_asian/auslaender/ausl.html Great site for an introduction to the topic with definitions, tables, laws and more.

 

http://www.serve.com/shea/gerks.htm  Robert Shea’s compilation of articles, links, and resources.  A real goldmine for teaching the topic.

 

http://www.heimat-in-deutschland.de/top.html  Great source for texts concerning foreigners and diversity in German culture.  Original texts are easily adaptable for classroom use and there’s even a multi-kulti game with question cards and a game board to print.

 

http://www.uq.net.au/~zzkmunr1/german/exercises/a-ausla.htm  Katherine Munro comes through again with links to exercises.

 

http://www.destatis.de/basis/d/bevoe/bevoetab4.htm  Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland provides all the statistics you’ll ever need.

 

http://www.uncg.edu/~lixlpurc/GIP/german_units/Foreigner.html  A collection of interesting sites and internet exercises for beginners, intermediate and advanced learners.

 

Support Materials

 

 Diversity and Multiculturalism in the German Classroom: Strategies and Resources. AATG Minorities Steering Committee, AATG, Item #4-64412DP.

Funk, Hermann et al. Sowieso 3  A German Course for Young People.  New York,  Langenscheidt, 1997.  (3-468-47690-6)

Heyne, Isolde. Yildiz heißt Stern.  Berlin: Langenscheidt, 1996.  (ISBN: 3-468-49695-8)

Leblans, Anne, et al. Was ist deutsch?  Boston:  Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.  (0-395-88534-5)

Literatur im Unterricht : Yildiz heißt Stern.  Dehmel, Elke et al.  Berlin: Goethe-Institut and Langenscheidt, 2001.  (3-468-49696-6) 

Moeller, Jack, et al. Kaleidoskop: Kultur, Literatur und Grammatik. 6th ed.  Boston:  Houghton Mifflin Co., 2002.  (ISBN  0-618-10312-0)

Wells, Larry D. MitlesenMitteilen: Literary Texts for Reading, Speaking, Writing, and Listening. 2nd ed.  Florida:  Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1995. (ISBN  0-03-72471-6)

 

Films

Der Schwarzfahrer

Yasemin

 

Song Lyrics

http://www.songfire.de/

http://www.golyr.de

 

Making Cloze Exercises

http://www.Goethe.de/z/50/uebungen/

 

Useful Resources on Reading and Writing

Blaz, Deborah.  A Collection of Performance Tasks and Rubrics: Foreign Languages. New York, Eye on Education, Inc., 2001.

(1-930556-06-3)

Blaz, Deborah.  Foreign Language Teacher's Guide to Active Learning.  New York, Eye on Education, Inc., 1999.  (1-883001-75-7)

Moffit, Gisela.  Oya? – O, ja!  Reading Jugendliteratur in the German Classroom.”  Die Unterrichtspraxis 31 (1998): 116-124.

Shrum, Judith L. and Eileen W. Glisan.  Teacher's Handbook: Contextualized Language Instruction.  NY, Heinle & Heinle, 2000.

(0-8384-0879-6)

 

 

 More Rubrics for Grading Written Work

Advanced Placement German Composition Rubric  (Handout)

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php