RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR GERMAN DAY, MARCH 2, 2005

To ensure an overall pleasant German Day, teachers are reminded that any coaching from the sidelines will disqualify their students. Please refrain from interfering in judges' decisions. Judges' decisions are final!

Activites:

Spelling Bee (level I and II)

Verb Bee (level II and III)

Poetry/Declamation Contest (three levels)

Song Contest (all levels)

Skit Contest (two levels)

Poster Contest (all levels);

T-shirt contest (all levels),

"Einstein Bowle" (two levels).


 

SPELLING BEE (open to students in Levels I and II only)

Contact: Beverly Moser, moserba@appstate.edu

Rules:

Words (primarily nouns and verbs) will be selected from the main words (not related words) from the 1000 Vis-Ed vocabulary cards. These flash cards (ISBN: 1-55637-006-7) are available in many bookstores or from Visual Education Association, 581 W. Leffel Lane, PO Box 1666, Springfield, OH 45501. We will take care to select high-use words so that teachers don't need to buy the flashcards to prepare .

Words will be spelled using ENGLISH spelling; this allows the serious student who is less comfortable with German pronunciation to excel and minimizes the chance that strong but nervous spellers disqualify themselves by miscuing on competing vowels in English and German ("e", "i" "a", etc.).

Format:

  1. The judge will pronounce each word in German twice.
  2. The contestant will repeat the word, spell in ENGLISH, and repeat the word, after which no corrections can be made. If a word is missed, it is passed to the next contestant.
  3. In the event of a stalemate at the end of 30 minutes, a sudden-death round will be held. Words selected for the sudden-death round will be more obscure and less likely to have been encountered by students in levels I and II. All decisions of judges are final.

VERB BEE (open to students in Levels III, IV and above)

Contact: Beverly Moser, moserba@appstate.edu

Rules:

Verbs will be selected from the reference work 501 German Verbs and will therefore include regular (weak) verbs, irregular (strong) verbs, and irregular weak verbs and their derivatives. Therefore, students should be familiar with separable and inseparable prefixes so they can respond to verbs which are not expressly listed in the verb book (ex: abreisen from verb reisen). We will in general select high-use verbs.

Format:

  1. Verbs will be pronounced in GERMAN; the student provides the English infinitive.
  2. The judge will pronounce each verb in German one time.
  3. The contestant will repeat the word, give the three principle parts in the third person singular (present tense, past tense, and present perfect) followed by the infinitive in English. Once a verb form has been spoken, no corrections may be made, and pronunciation mistakes (e.g. a missing umlaut) disqualify the candidate. Once a verb has been missed, it will be passed to the next contestant.
  4. In the event of a stalemate at the end of 30 minutes, a sudden-death round will be held. In this round contestants will be faced with sets of two verbs which are confusingly similar (for example, setzen and sitzen) and will provide the principle parts of both. All decisions of judges are final.

POETRY DECLAMATION

Contact: Brigitte Woloszyn, bwoloszy@wsfcs.k12.nc.us

Guidelines:

  1. All contestants have to recite the poem chosen for their level.
  2. Level 1 is for beginning students, Level 2 for intermediate students, and Level 3 for advanced students.
  3. The poem has to be delivered entirely from memory without use of script or prompter.
  4. The performance is being judged in three areas: pronunciation, fluency, and interpretation. No special visuals are allowed to enhance the poem except for gestures and clothing (optional).
  5. Native or near-native speakers may participate but need to identify themselves as such. They will be judged within their own group.
  6. Five minutes are allotted for each individual presentation and its judging. There are at least two judges for each event, and their decisions are final.
  7. There is a limit of two contestants per school in each category



Poetry L. 1 HERMANN HESSE: Schmetterling

 

Flügelt ein kleiner blauer

Falter vom Wind geweht,

Ein perlmutterner Schauer,

Glitzert, flimmert, vergeht.

So mit Augenblicksblinken,

So im Vorüberwehn

Sah ich das Glück mir winken,

Glitzern, flimmern, vergehn.

 

Poetry L.2 WILHELM BUSCH: Es sitzt ein Vogel auf dem Leim

 

Es sitzt ein Vogel auf dem Leim,

Er flattert sehr und kann nicht heim.

Ein schwarzer Kater schleicht herzu,

Die Krallen scharf, die Augen gluh.

Am Baum hinauf und immer höher

Kommt er dem armen Vogel näher.

Der Vogel denkt: Weil das so ist

Und weil mich doch der Kater frisst,

So will ich keine Zeit verlieren,

Will noch ein wenig quinquilieren

Und lustig pfeifen wie zuvor.

Der Vogel, scheint mir, hat Humor.

 

Poetry L.3 CHRISTIAN MORGENSTERN: Der Hahn

 

Zu Basel warf einst einen Hahn

der hohe Magistrat ins Loch,

dieweil er eine Tat getan,

die nach des Teufels Küche roch.

Er hatte, wider die Natur,

ein Ei gelegt, - dem Herrn zum Trotz!

Doch nicht genug des Frevels nur, -

er schien auch reulos wie ein Klotz.

So ward er vor Gericht gestellt,

verhört, gefoltert und verdammt,

und Rechtens dann, vor aller Welt,

ein Holzstoß unter ihm entflammt.

Der Hahn schrie kläglich Kikeriki,

der Basler Volk sang laut im Kreis.

Doch plötzlich rief wer: "Auf die Knie!

Gottlob! jetzt schrie er - Kyrieleis!"

 

SINGING CONTEST

Contact: Anita Campitelli, jadams4@triad.rr.com

Guidelines:

  1. Presentation: An individual German song or a medley done a cappella.
  2. Time: One to four minutes.
  3. Group Size : 2 - 8 participants
  4. Divisions or Levels: 2. ( Beginner and Intermediate/Advanced)
  5. Judging Criteria include: Sound Quality/ Musicality, Clarity (Diction), Memory, Expressiveness/Body Language, Smoothness of Presentation
  6. Actual Judging Criteria Grid: 1-2 points(inferior-mediocre), 3 points (good), 4 points (excellent)

No props, no instruments, no sound systems!

SKIT CONTEST

Contact Karin Baumgartner, baumgartner@uncg.edu

Guidelines:

  1. Each school may send two teams
  2. Two levels: beginners, advanced
  3. Language of skit is German
  4. Each skit may have up to 8 participants
  5. Time: One to Five minutes
  6. Motto: Verdeutsch dich!
  7. Judging Criteria include: pronounciation/diction, memory, expressiveness (verbal and non-verbal clues), and originality/creativity of scene

Students may bring "portable" props, set up time will be 3 minutes, no exceptions.

POSTER CONTEST

Contact: Karin Baumgartner, baumgartner@uncg.edu

Guidelines:

Classes are asked to design posters on the theme of "Verdeutsch dich!". Students should bring their poster submissions to German Day, where they will be on display in a designated area. All participating teachers and judges will be asked to cast a vote for their favorite poster, and the winners (first, second, and third place) will be announced at the awards ceremony.
 
 

T-SHIRT LOGO CONTEST:

Contact: Karin Baumgartner, baumgartner@uncg.edu

Classes are asked to submit logos, which illustrate the theme "Verdeutsch dich! " The design should include the words "German Day 2005", which can be incorporated into the design or appear somewhere outside of it. Deadline for submission is February 5, 2005.  We will scan the entries and the NC/AATG board will vote on the t-shirts electronically.  Please remind your students that they should use just one color (black) in their drawings and that intricate details usually cannot be reproduced.  If you are good with a scanner, please consider sending me the t-shirt logos electronically (Baumgartner@uncg.edu). We cannot consider late submissions. You will be able to preview the winning logo on the NC/AATG website.  T-shirts bearing the chosen logo will be for sale on German Day for $ 8.00 (red and yellow) and $ 9.00 (black) per person.  Due to logistics, t-shirts must be pre-ordered by February 18, 2005 (mail, e-mail, or phone to: Karin Baumgartner, Department of German, Russian, and Japanese, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, PO. Box 26170, Greensboro, NC 27402; fax to 336-334-5885). The artist of the winning logo will be recognized at the awards ceremony.

EINSTEIN BOWLE

Contact: Scott Denham (scdenham@davidson.edu)

Please note that each teacher is asked to contribute 25 questions to the "Einstein Bowle." Categories are History, Culture, Famous People, Geography, and "Wildcard." Please send your entries to Scott Denham, Dept of German & Russian, Box 6932, Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035. Phone: 704.894.2855; Fax: 704.894.2782. The deadline for submission is February 11, 2005. Earlier submission appreciated!

Guidelines:

1.      The competition will have two levels, German I and II students, and a "Kluge Koepfe."

2.      Each school may enter two teams, each consisting of three students. No member of a teacher's household, exchange student, or German national may be a team member.

3.      A requirement for school participation is the submission of twenty-five questions on history, culture, geography, famous individuals, and a wild-card category on any topic such as sports, customs, literature, companies, expressions, etc. At least four of the questions should be more difficult and maybe in German. The other questions shall be fairly easy and written in English (containing, if necessary, German words, expressions, names, etc., of course). All questions must be proof-read by the participating school's instructor(s) and checked for accuracy.

4.      Each competition begins with a "Vorrunde" that includes all teams. 10 questions shall be asked, and, after hearing each question, the members of each team consult (twenty seconds maximum) and then write down their answers on a sheet of paper. The 10 answers are then scored by a moderator's team and the results are announced. Then ten more questions are asked, two of which shall be bonus questions. The answer to a bonus question will be worth two points, but an incorrect answer will result in the loss of only one point. A team may therefore elect not to try to answer a bonus question.

5.      The two top teams in each category then play a final round. If three teams are very close (and there is a significant difference in results between them and the other teams), three teams may take place in the final round. If there is a tie, "sudden death" questions are asked to determine the final two (or three) teams.

6.      In the final round, the two (or three) teams will answer orally, one after the other, and may request bonus questions. The first team to the highest score after fifteen minutes is the Sieger! If the score is tied, "sudden death" questions will be asked to determine the winner of the "Alles ist Wurst" trophy.