1 - Four Moves in One Order ~5 mins
Today you learn four short café moves in German, then you add drink words so you can put a full order together.
Say each move after your teacher:
- Guten Tag (GOO-ten tahg) — hello
- Ich hätte gerne …, bitte (ikh HET-tuh GAIR-nuh … BIT-tuh) — I would like …, please
- Danke (DAHN-kuh) — thank you
- Auf Wiedersehen (owf VEE-der-zay-en) — goodbye
Those four moves open, order, thank and close. The drinks come next.
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Name eight drinks in German
- Open, order, thank and close in a short café exchange
- Say honestly what two years of German now let you do
Do not claim these phrases as prior knowledge. Teach them now. Display the four moves, model each one clearly, and run two or three choral rounds. Then invite two volunteers to mime a tiny café scene using only the four German lines (point at the board for support). Keep it light. Do not teach the new drink words yet; the flashcards do that next.
2 - Eight German Drinks ~10 mins
English on the front, German on the back. Say the German aloud before you flip, article included.
Then try an order frame with any drink you meet. The little word before the drink changes:
- Ich hätte gerne einen Tee, bitte (I would like a tea, please)
- Ich hätte gerne eine Limonade, bitte (I would like a lemonade, please)
- Ich hätte gerne ein Wasser, bitte (I would like a water, please)
Use einen, eine or ein to match the drink. Keep Guten Tag, Danke and Auf Wiedersehen around the order.
Run the class through each card together. Insist on the article every time: Saft alone is not enough; der Saft (dair zahft) is the answer. After two or three cards, model a full café line with a masculine drink, then a feminine one, then a neuter one so pupils hear the pattern without a grammar lecture: Guten Tag. Ich hätte gerne einen Apfelsaft, bitte. Danke. Auf Wiedersehen. / … eine Brause … / … ein Wasser …. Pupils echo chorally, then swap in a different drink. If a strong pupil asks why the word changes, say briefly that it matches the drink’s article, and move on. Do not drill case tables today.
3 - Match the Drinks ~10 mins
Flip two cards at a time and find each German drink with its English meaning. Say the German quietly as you turn each card, article and all.
Whole class on the board with volunteers taking turns, or pairs if devices are available. If a pair is missed twice, stop and say the German together before moving on. Listen for articles: correct bare nouns gently by restating the full form.
4 - Into Your Copy ~3 mins
Open your copy and write the whole café exchange: greeting, order, thank you, goodbye. Use one of today's drinks in your order, with its article.
Pause the board. Keep a model exchange visible while they write, for example: Guten Tag! Ich hätte gerne eine Limonade, bitte. Danke! Auf Wiedersehen! Walk the room and check that each line is there and that the drink carries der, die or das in the noun form they know, and that the order line uses a sensible einen / eine / ein. Do not collect these copies.
5 - Drinks Bingo ~10 mins
Listen for each drink word and mark it on your card. First full line calls out!
How to Play Bingo:
Option 1: Students on Devices (Digital Version)
- Use the digital version where your teacher view of the lesson displays the cards that are being called out.
- Play the pronunciation sound of each word and the children mark it off their unique digital bingo card.
- Each student has a randomised bingo card so winners will vary!
Option 2: Print Out the Bingo Cards
- Print out the Bingo Cards from the attachment above, cut out the cards, and give one to each student.
- You call out the vocabulary words and students mark off their sheets.
- First student to complete a line (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) calls "Bingo!" and wins.
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