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.

Activities:

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.

Contact: Brigitte Woloszyn, Woloszyna@triad.rr.com

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.

SINGING CONTEST

Contact: David Savage: scraggly@i-america.net

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)

SKIT CONTEST

Contact Karin Baumgartner, baumgartner@uncg.edu

Guidelines:

1. Each school may send two groups
2. Two levels: "literary" skits, "original" skits
3. Language of skit is German
4. Each skit may have up to 8 participants
5. Time: One to Five minutes
6. Literary skits = scene taken from German literature
7. Original skits = scene written and acted by group - topic is free
8. Judging Criteria include: pronunciation/diction, memory, expressiveness (verbal and non-verbal clues), and originality/creativity of scene (original skits)

POSTER CONTEST

Contact: Karin Baumgartner, baumgartner@uncg.edu

Guidelines:

Classes are asked to design posters on the theme of "Deutsch macht Spass". 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 "Deutsch macht Spass " The design should include the words "German Day 2002", which can be incorporated into the design or appear somewhere outside of it.

Entries should be submitted by February 8, 2001 to Karin Baumgartner, 1203 Leclair Str., Chapel Hill, NC 27514, or bring it to the NC/AATG spring meeting on February 9, 2002.

Please note the early deadlines for submission for the T-shirt contest (February 8, 2002). The selection committee will review all entries and decide on a design on February 9, 2002. Late submissions cannot be considered. Please send your submissions to T-shirts bearing the chosen logo will be for sale at German Day for $ 7.00 per T-shirt. Please pre-order T-Shirts by March 1, 2002 (.or snail-mail (148 Valley Hill Lane Lexington, NC 27295).

Entries will be judged at the Spring meeting of the North Carolina American Association of Teachers of German. T-shirts bearing the winning logo will be available for purchase at the German Day, at a cost of $7.00 per shirt. Classes will be asked to pre-order shirts, so the appropriate sizes and colors can be ordered (M,L,XL; black, red, gold). These orders should also be received by March 1, 2002. Mail, e-mail, or fax to: Karin Baumgartner, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, PO. Box 26170, Greensboro, NC 27402, fax # 336-334-5885). The artist of the winning logo will be recognized at the awards ceremony.

EINSTEIN BOWLE

Contact: Wendy Pfeiffer-Quaile. pfeiffer_quaile@hotmail.com

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 Wendy Pfeiffer-Quaile (730-H Walnut Forrest Rd., Winston-Salem, NC 27103) The deadline for submission is February 8, 2002.

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).
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 answers are then scored and the results are made known. 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 a 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.