German Day 2023 (Virtual)

The theme for 2023 is “travel.” As has always been the case for German Day, the competitive events will be judged by the faculty and graduate students at Washington University, with prizes awarded to the top three placings. Due to the constraints placed on us by the digital format, however, we will be limiting the event to the Schnitzeljagd, trivia, skits, and the children’s book competition, all of which will be submitted (or, for the Schnitzeljagd, performed) electronically.

More details on the submission process will be provided soon!

Events

Skit Contest

Guidelines:

Schools will submit recording(s) of a ~10-minute skit(s) that pertains to this year’s topic: “travel.” The number of participants is flexible, and each teacher may submit individual recordings of multiple groups, given each group performs their own unique skit. Submission deadline is March 29.

Upon submission, please ensure that each file name contains the name of the school, and in case of several submissions, an individual group number or name.

Skits are judged by the following criteria: German pronunciation, accuracy, comprehensibility of the story, and creativity behind the skit.

Children’s Book Contest

Guidelines:

Each school is allowed to submit up to five children’s books per level, with two levels (I/II and III/IV). No more than three students may be credited for the work on each book. Submission deadline is March 29.

Guidelines for content and format:

Level I/II: 4-6 pages
Level III/IV: 7-10 pages

The “travel” theme must be featured in the book. 

Please submit as a pdf file and include the German level, school, and student(s) name(s) on the cover page.

The books are judged by the following criteria: creativity, originality, overall aesthetic appearance, relation to the theme, and good use of German language and culture.

Online Schnitzeljagd

Guidelines:

The Schnitzeljagd of 2023 will require students to follow directions in German to find information online about Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. In addition they will learn about the influence of German immigrants in the US, German connections in the St. Louis area, and opportunities to study and work abroad. It will prepare students for the Trivia contest.

In place of the traditional synchronous event, this year’s Schnitzeljagd will be sent to participating schools to be used as the teachers see fit, possibly having students answer a question a day over the course of weeks or doing two or three at a time on Fridays, or however else it can best serve your needs.

If you would like your students to be eligible for prizes, please keep track of their performance and submit the top three scores (the percentage of questions answered correctly, including the total number of questions) with the students’ names by March 29.

Trivia Contest

Guidelines:

Due to the online format, the trivia contest will have to be conducted by the teacher during class time, although we will provide video of people reading the questions. There are two levels: Beginner and Advanced. You may only submit one level per student group. Submission deadline is March 29.

We trust all teachers to judiciously enforce the following rules:

• Trivia will consist of 4 rounds of 4 questions each, a bonus round, and a final round. If you wish, you may spread out the rounds over the course of a couple of weeks in combination with the 4 parts of the Schnitzeljagd (see Schnitzeljagd guidelines).
• If the participating group consists of 5 or fewer students, the students may participate as individuals. Otherwise, teams should consist of 3-5 students.
• Each team should select a captain who is responsible for writing down the answers. The captain should also record their school’s name and teammates’ names on the answer sheet.
• Each team submits an answer sheet after each round of the competition.
• No cell phones or other electronic devices allowed.
• The judge/teacher will read each question twice, and each team will have one minute to record their answer.

2023 German Day: Mini-Lessons

We hope to support high-school German programs by developing 3 short video-recorded mini-lessons (10-15 minutes) in German (beginner level) on cultural topics that may be included as part of your regular classroom activities. These lessons will be distributed monthly, beginning January until the conclusion of online German day in March. Teachers are not expected to submit anything in response to these lessons, but we will gladly take any feedback to help us develop and improve the materials for future German days.

Register for German Day 2023 by clicking the button below!

If you are not participating, we still appreciateyour survey answers—Thank you!