Third Annual German Day
"Deutsch ohne Grenzen"
March 6, 2003
9:30am - 2:00pm
University of North Carolina at Greensboro Campus


RULES AND REGULATIONS

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
Verb Bee
Poetry/Declamation Contest
Song Contest
Skit Contest
Poster Contest
T-shirt contest
Einstein Bowle

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.

Level 1
Börries von Münchhausen: Weißer Flieder

Nass war der Tag -, die schwarzen Schnecken krochen,
Doch als die Nacht schlich durch die Gärten her,
Da war der weiße Flieder aufgebrochen,
Und über alle Mauern hing er schwer.

Und über alle Mauern tropften leise
Von bleichen Trauben Perlen groß und klar,
Und war ein Duften rings, durch das die Weise
Der Nachtigall wie Gold geflochten war.

Level 2
Georg Britting: Im Korn

Durch das Kornfeld hin
bin ich gegangen.
Wenn ich mich bückte,
rührten mir den Mund,
die Wangen
die langen Halme.

Mohn und Kornraden waren
in dem Kornfeld drin,
hier und dort,
und Scharen
schwarzer Hummeln brummten
wie ein Schlafhorn
fort und fort.

Beim Pfad im Kornfeld legte ich mich nieder:
Müde Glieder
ruht euch aus!
Und das Horn der Hummeln tönte
schwer wie Traumgebraus,
und das Korn war um mich
wie ein goldnes Haus.

Level 3
Hans Carossa: Gartentag

Von unsern Zitterpappeln fliegt noch immer
Der Samenflaum, das Gras ist wie verschneit.
Ein Rittersporn versendet seinen Schimmer,
Als käme eine Frau in blauem Kleid.

Am Brunnenrand berühren sich die Schatten,
Das erste Dunkel nistet im Geheg.
Noch fehlt uns viel: komm, fügen wir die Platten
Von hellem Schiefer in den neuen Weg,

Der bei den Fliederbüschen dort im Bogen
Zum Gitter führt! Bald werden wir ihn gehn
Und über flimmernden Getreidewogen
Das ferne Kuppelgrün der Stromstadt sehn.

O langer Gartentag! Duftender Abend,
Halbfertiges Beet, noch ohne Form und Flor -
Wie wohl wird uns! Die schwere Erde grabend
Bereiten wir den Traum der Jahre vor.
 

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. ( Beginning (level I & II) and Intermediate/Advanced (level III and above)
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. Topic of all skits is "An der Grenze"
2. Each school may send two teams
3. Two levels (beginning/intermediate (level I & II) and advanced (level III, IV and above)
4. Language of skit is German
5. Each skit must be memorized
6. Each skit may have up to 8 participants
7. Time: One to Five minutes
8. Judging Criteria include: pronunciation/diction, memory, expressiveness (verbal and non-verbal clues), and originality/creativity of scene

POSTER CONTEST

Contact: Karin Baumgartner, baumgartner@uncg.edu

Guidelines:

Classes are asked to design posters on the theme of "Deutsch ohne Grenzen". 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.
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T-SHIRT LOGO CONTEST:

Contact: Karin Baumgartner, baumgartner@uncg.edu

Classes are asked to submit logos which illustrate the theme of "Deutsch ohne Grenzen". The design should include the words "German Day 2003", which can be incorporated into the design or appear somewhere outside of it. Entries should be submitted by February 7, 2003 to Karin Baumgartner, 1203 Leclair Str., Chapel Hill, NC 27514, or bring it to the NC/AATG spring meeting. Entries will be judged at the Spring meeting of the North Carolina American Association of Teachers of German. Late submissions cannot be considered. T-shirts bearing the winning logo will be available for purchase at the German Day, at a cost of $7.00 per shirt. Students and teachers 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 February 21, 2003. Mail, or e-mail, Karin Baumgartner, 1203 Leclair Str., Chapel Hill, NC 27514. The artist of the winning logo will be recognized at the awards ceremony.

EINSTEIN BOWLE

Contact: Kevin Yee. kyee@duke.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 Kevin Yee, Department of Germanic Languages and Literature, Old Chemistry 111B, Box 90256, Durham NC 27708. The deadline for submission is February 21, 2003.

Guidelines:

1. The competition will have two levels: level I & II and level III and above ("Kluge Köpfe”).
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.