For just over one semester we have been listening to and reading REISEFIEBER.  Now I would like to see how well you understood the story.  Because we all have our strengths and weaknesses, I made up several projects that you can choose from.   And, if you have your own idea, feel free to pass that by me as well.  I think that you are all creative and I would like to see that shine through. But remember, we are in German class so I want to see how well you can communicate what you just heard and read. Therefore, you will have to write about 175 words (yes, in German, did you really need to ask?) for any of the projects you choose.

This story lends itself well to this project.  You need to write an article about the contest, a biography of one of the main characters (I know you don't know all of the facts—be creative), and an article about some aspect of REISEFIEBER.  You also have to include at least three pictures with captions (of course they have to be complete sentences).  Obviously you need to make this look great. 

This isa great project your you artsy students. You need to design your own book cover for REISEFIEBER.  Obviously, a book cover fits around a book and your's should too.  Take a look at several dust covers to see what is included on one.  You should have a blurb about the book to get me intrigued in reading the story.  Normally a book cover includes a biography of the author—we don’t know anything about ours so you might include one of the main characters as though they wrote the book.  Some students have added quotes from "reviews" of the book. Very clever! Then you have to make six book marks. These need to have a picture and a brief written description of why it is important to the book (this could be characters, sites, things about each of the stops that the Mustermanns made).

What a fun project! You need to find at least 15 items that are important to the story.  Yes, I do mean find—you should have 3-D representations to put into your box. Once you have found your stuff, label it.  Then you should write about each item and explain to me why you chose it and why it is important.

Diorama

Although I like this project, it tends to be hard. You have to remember that the diorama is half of the project and that the written essay is the other half.  Your diorama should depict some aspect of the story (the various cities the Mustermanns visited, the interesting people they met on their journeys, etc.) and then you have to write an essay about what you made.  Your essay could be factual about the place or it could be about the story itself.  Be Be careful not to plagiarize.

Write a daily diary covering each day of the Mustermann's travels. Write it from the perspective of one of the 4 main characters. Include as many of the details as you can.  Remember this is a first person account of the story.

Turn the tale of the Mustermanns into a children's book. Write text and create pictures to tell the entire story. Keep the language simple, and remember you are addressing children

REISEFIEBER was just released as a major motion picture. Your job is to design a movie poster for each chapter. Those with artistic talent will love this. You must have text on each poster, however. And you must write a paragraph for each poster explaining why you designed it the way you did (why you included the elements on the poster). 

Prequel

Sequels are boring and never as good as the original. But let's assume that REISEFIEBER is the sequel. Write a prequel to REISEFIEBER focusing on the lives of Erich and Erika, or Horst and Marianne, or both. This project is for those with creative minds.

You need only choose one of the above projects. Doing more than one project would result in some serious EXTRA CREDIT.

• 40 = Content (inclusion of adequate amount of information and ideas relevant to the topic)
• 35 = Comprehensibility (ability to communicate ideas and be understood)
• 35 = Vocabulary (use of vocab is relevant and appropriate for this level of instruction)
• 15 = Presentation (final project looks like the final project it is supposed to be)
• 10 = Effort and Creativity (ability to take risks and include variety/creativity of expression)
• 15 = Art Work (pictures or drawings enhance the written project)

Total - 150 points

Last question - when is this project due? Another good question. This project will be due on Monday, March 5^th (3 weeks from today, and the day before we have a Rheinländer trip scheduled). You will have time to work on this in class, but most of the project will need to be done on your own time. I will also need to see a progress report (rough draft, if you will) on Monday, February 26^th (2 weeks from today).

Again, if you have another idea please talk to me about it.  I want you to focus on your strengths while you work on this project. Most important—have fun and show off.