Englisch
Englisch am WGG
Wer möchte nicht die allerneueste Comedy-Serie aus den USA oder aus Großbritannien auf Netflix oder Amazon Prime im Original anschauen, die englischen Texte seiner Lieblingssängerin oder seiner Lieblingsband verstehen oder sich im Urlaub – ganz gleich in welchem Land – mit Einheimischen oder Urlaubsbekanntschaften aus anderen Ländern auf Englisch unterhalten?
Unsere Schüler*innen wachsen in einer von Mehrsprachigkeit geprägten Welt auf und Englisch ist immer noch die bedeutendste Lingua franca. Die englische Sprache ist einfach omnipräsent in unserem privaten Leben und im späteren beruflichen Alltag unserer Schüler*innen. Ohne Englisch geht gerade in unserer technisierten Welt und im Zeitalter von Globalisierung einfach nichts mehr. Gute bis sehr gute Englischkenntnisse in Wort und Schrift sind für eine Ausbildung oder ein Studium und für das spätere Berufsleben unerlässlich.
Englischunterricht am Städt. Willi-Graf-Gymnasium möchte diesen Gegebenheiten Rechnung tragen und ist mehr als nur Grammatik und Vokabeln pauken. Die Schüler*innen sollen mit einem Repertoire an Kompetenzen und Strategien ausgestattet werden, die sie befähigen, aktuellen englischen Texten, Filmen und Hörsequenzen Informationen zu entnehmen und sich mündlich und schriftlich mitzuteilen. Interkulturelle Kompetenzen, d.h. wie man sich in einem englischsprachigen Land angemessen verhält, und die Beschäftigung mit Literatur kommen im Englischunterricht ebenfalls nicht zu kurz.
Da die Schüler*innen Freude an der Beschäftigung mit der englischen Sprache entwickeln sollen, bietet die Englischfachschaft des Städtischen Willi-Graf-Gymnasiums in den verschiedenen Stufen unterschiedliche Aktivitäten an.
In der Unterstufe gibt es eine „spelling bee“ für die 5. Klassen. Buchstabierwettbewerbe haben eine lange Tradition in englischsprachigen Ländern. Außerdem haben die Schüler*innen der 6. Klassen die Möglichkeit, am englischen Vorlesewettbewerb teilzunehmen.
In der Mittelstufe findet der Englischaustausch mit der Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu in Finnland statt und in der Oberstufe können die Schüler*innen einen englischen Konversationskurs belegen.
“To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture.” (Frantz Fanon)
Teresa Marques Montanhas und Christiane Robinson-Porsch, Fachleitungen Englisch
Letzes Schuljahr fand der erste Buchstabierwettbewerb am Städtischen Willi-Graf-Gymnasium statt. Buchstabierwettbewerbe an Schulen haben in englischsprachigen Ländern eine lange Tradition und sind vor allem in den Vereinigten Staaten sehr beliebt. Bei einer Spelling Bee muss die Schülerin/der Schüler Wörter fehlerfrei buchstabieren. Der Schwierigkeitsgrad steigert sich von Runde zu Runde: Sind es in der ersten Runde noch einfache und kurze Wörter, so besteht die letzte Runde aus längeren und schwieriger zu buchstabierenden Wörtern, wie zum Beispiel das Gericht „chicken tikka masala“. Die Teilnehmenden haben nur einen Versuch und müssen die Wörter in einer begrenzten Zeit buchstabieren.
Die Lehrkräfte küren in den Wochen davor im Unterricht zwei Klassensieger*innen, die dann ihre Klasse bei der Spelling Bee auf der Bühne in der Aula vertreten dürfen.
Die Mitschüler*innen haben bei der Spelling Bee im letzten Schuljahr total mitgefiebert und ihre Kandidat*innen enthusiastisch angefeuert. Alle Schüler*innen, die teilgenommen haben, haben toll buchstabiert und ihre Klassen wirklich würdig vertreten. Am Ende hat sich aber Girl Power durchgesetzt und wir hatten drei Siegerinnen.
Teresa Marques Montanhas
Our new Finland exchange
Finland leads the 2022 World Happiness Report for the fifth time in a row. Therefore, we are very happy that the exchange with our partner school Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu (SYK), which had been held back for two years due to the pandemic, is now in full swing. In October our second exchange group this year travelled to Helsinki. The first exchange group in May seems to have enjoyed the exchange so much, that this time there were 69 applicants, who wanted to go to Finland. 19 lucky ones flew to Helsinki on October 5th and were definitely not disappointed. One of the aspects of a school exchange is, of course, getting to know the country, the culture, but also the school system. Consequently, the students attended different lessons throughout the week. Some lessons were well known to them, like Maths, English or German, but they also went to lessons like needlework, health education or “Pesäpallo” (Finish baseball). During the week we also did a scavenger hunt through Helsinki’s city centre, visited the chocolate factory of Fazer, the art museum Amon Rex with a workshop and the exhibition Hans Op De Beeck’s the quiet parade, the amazing public library Oodi and took the ferry to the island of Suomenlinna with its great fortress, which has been a UNESCO Heritage Site since 1991. On Sunday the Finnish parents organized a trip to Nuuksio, a national park in Espoo, where the kids could go into the traditional wood-heated sauna, swim in the lake, play basketball and have a barbeque. Before it was time to say goodbye, we had a little farewell party with music, snacks and drinks. We are very much looking forward to welcoming our Finnish friends in Munich in April 2023.
Christiane Robinson-Porsch
Unser neuer Finnlandaustausch:
Vom 05. Oktober bis 12. Oktober verbrachten neun Schülerinnen und zehn Schüler der Stufen neun und zehn im Rahmen des erst seit 2022 bestehenden Schüleraustauschs eine wunderbare Woche in der finnischen Hauptstadt Helsinki. Neben der Erkundung von Helsinki lag der Schwerpunkt auf dem Kennenlernen des Alltags unserer tollen Gastgeber*innen: Unterricht in unserer finnischen Partnerschule Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu (SYK) gehörte deshalb ebenso zum gemeinsamen Programm wie eine Stadtrallye, Besuche der Schokoladenfabrik Fazer, des Museums Amon Rex, der beeindruckenden Bibliothek Oodi und natürlich einem Ausflug auf die Insel Suomenlinna mit ihrer beeindruckenden Seefestung, die seit 1991 auf der Weltkulturerbeliste der UNESCO steht. Am Sonntag stand ein Grill- und Saunaabend im Nationalpark Nuuksio am See auf dem Programm, bei dem sich alle durch einen Sprung ins Wasser des Sees abkühlen konnten. Wir bedanken uns bei unseren finnischen Partnerschule für die Organisation dieser herrlichen Woche und freuen uns darauf, unsere Austauschpartner*innen im April 2023 hier in München begrüßen zu dürfen.
Christiane Robinson-Porsch
Einen ausführlichen Beitrag über den Finnland-Austausch im Schuljahr 2021/2022 finden Sie hier.
Book recommendations
Demon Dentist by David Walliams (Students 11-14 years old)
This is a classic horror story. It’s about a boy with really bad teeth named Alfie, who lives with his dad in a rotten bungalow. They are very poor and Alfie’s dad sits in a wheelchair and is getting older and older, so he decides to hire a social worker, Winnie. Winnie is loud, intrusive and annoying, everything Alfie hates. As if that wasn’t bad enough, a really spooky dentist, Miss Root, visits his school and at the same time strange things start happening in the dead of night. Children who put a tooth under their pillow for the tooth fairy wake up in the morning to find disgusting things like dead slugs or an eyeball wriggling under their pillow.
Alfie and his friend Gabz decide to catch the thief, who is terrorising the children of town with evil surprises, and as they get closer and closer, they get caught up in a scary drama with lots of teeth, blood and skeletons involved. Get ready for the spookiest and most terrifying book you’ve ever read!
Greta O’Donovan, 6h
Here are some more recommendations for books:
The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher (Students 11-13 years old)
This is a book about the boy William Trundle, Santa Claus and a blue dinosaur called Christmasaurus.
William is a boy in a wheelchair, who has lost his mum and lives with his father Bob, who is crazy about Christmas. But William’s only wish for Christmas is a dinosaur.
In the story William meets the Christmasaurus and they become best friends and help Santa and the elves save Christmas.
What I like most about this book is that it brings you the Christmas feeling. At Christmas wishes can come true.
Jakob Muggleton, 5b
Refugee by Alan Gratz (Students 13-16 years old)
Three different stories of three different children and their families on their way to a new and safer home. That’s the plot of the book “Refugee”, which was written by Alan Gratz and published in the year 2017. One of the refugees, the book talks about, is Josef, who is fleeing from Germany during the Nazi regime. The second storyline is about Isabel who’s escaping from Cuba and Fidel Castro’s regime. And lastly the book talks about Mahmoud and his family who are fleeing from Syria because of the civil war.
The topic of the book – escaping from your home country because of war or political persecution – is not only very interesting and important, but also still a highly topical issue: You can often read newspaper articles about refugees who are trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea and have to be rescued by boats. Another aspect I really liked was that the characters were so well developed that you could really empathize with every single person. That way the book makes you think a lot about the issues in the world and makes you realize what horrible things most of the refugees have to go through. This is also supported by the fact that the plot is not just made up, but actually based on several true stories. Furthermore, I really liked that the three stories were parallel stories and were connected at the end which made the book really interesting to read. Even though every chapter the novel wasn’t confusing at all. The author’s writing style was really good, but still easy to read, even for a non-native English-speakers.
The plot was very exciting I almost couldn’t stop reading and really enjoyed the book. Since I also think that the storylines completely made sense I honestly have nothing to criticise about the book and would definitely recommend it to everyone.
Sarah Kittel, Q12
Murder most unladylike by Robin Stevens (Students 12-14 years old)
At Deepdean School for Girls, Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong have set up their own detective agency. But they are struggling to find any real crimes to investigate. (Unless you count the case of Lavinia’s missing tie, which they don’t.) Then Hazel discovers the Science Mistress, Miss Bell, lying dead in the Gym. To add to the mystery, when she and Daisy return five minutes later, the body has disappeared. Now Hazel and Daisy not only have a murder to solve… They have to prove one happened in the first place. Determined to get to the bottom of the crime before the killer strikes again Hazel and Daisy must hunt for evidence, spy on their suspects and use all the cunning and intuition they can muster. But will they succeed? And can their friendship stand the test?
Christiane Robinson-Porsch
Educated by Tara Westover (Students 16-18 years old)
Most children and youngsters in America go to school. But Tara Westover and her brothers and sisters didn’t!
She and her siblings were born into a survivalist family in the mountains of Idaho. Her parents were religious fanatics that were preparing for the apocalypse and didn’t believe in mainstream education. They also wouldn’t send their children to see a doctor even when they were seriously ill.
Tara eventually went to college and earned a doctorate from Cambridge University. In her gripping and inspiring memoir she writes about her journey to get an education.
Teresa Marques Montanhas
The Hate you give by Angie Thomas
Starr Carter, a sixteen-year-old girl, moves in two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. At a party in her neighborhood, Garden Heights, she runs into her childhood best friend, Khalil Harris, whom she hasn’t seen in a long time. On their way home Khalil and Starr are pulled over by a police officer. The situation escalates and Starr witnesses her friend`s death.
Soon after the fatal shooting, things are getting out of control. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family as Starr is the only person who knows what really happened that night. But Starr knows that what she says will not only have a major effect on her community. It could also endanger her life…
Katharina Bachmann
Best TV shows and films to watch
Derry Girls (Netflix)
(Students 14-18 years old)
The comedy “Derry Girls” is set in Derry in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, a period of conflict in Northern Ireland that cost more than 3,500 lives and lasted from the 1960s to 1998, when the Good Friday Agreement was signed.
“Derry Girls” follows a group of students at the Catholic Our Lady Immaculate College through the problems of adolescence. The characters are bonkers but you will find yourself falling in love with Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle and James. “Derry Girls” focuses on typical teen problems like crushes, gossip, problems with the parents, but is set during a difficult time for Northern Ireland.
You might need to switch on the subtitles as everyone apart from the English cousin James speaks with an Irish accent. But I am sure you’ll love it!
Check out the trailer on YouTube.
Teresa Marques Montanhas
Here are some more recommendations for series:
The Good Doctor (Amazon Prime)
(Students 14-18 years old)
The series follows Shaun Murphy, a young autistic surgeon from Wyoming with a troubled past. He moves to San Jose, California, to work at the prestigious San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital.
Shaun is alone and has difficulties connecting with those around him, but is an incredibly talented surgeon, who uses his medical gifts to save lives and challenge the skepticism of his colleagues at the hospital.
Check out the trailer for Season One on YouTube.
Teresa Marques Montanhas
Anne with an E (Netflix)
(Students 14-18 years old)
Anne with an E is based on Lucy Maud Montgomery’s classic Anne of Green Gables.
It is a coming-of-age story about Anne, an orphan and outsider who after an abusive childhood spent in the homes of strangers and in orphanages ends up with the elderly siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert. They want to adopt a boy to help Matthew around the farm but end up with Anne. Over time, 13-year-old Anne, who has a fierce intellect and brilliant imagination, transforms not only their lives but also the lives of the rest of the community.
Check out the trailer for Season One on YouTube.
Moxie (Netflix)
(Students 14-18 years old)
Moxie tells the story of Vivian, a shy 16-year-old girl that finds inspiration in her mother’s girl power memorabilia. She decides to anonymously publish a pamphlet at her high school to fight against the sexist and toxic environment there. This pamphlet ignites a feminist movement at her school as the girls are just fed up with being treated as sex objects and with not being heard. Very enjoyable and a talented cast of young actors!
Check out the trailer on YouTube.
Teresa Marques Montanhas