Tenth graders learn das Präteritum — the narrative past used in stories and writing (war, hatte, ging) — alongside the spoken Perfekt, so they can read and write about the past auf Deutsch.
Students will be able to…
German has a second past tense — das Präteritum — used in stories and books. How does it work?
Project this and match each Präteritum verb to its English meaning — tap the German, then tap the English.
Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.
German has a second past tense — the Präteritum — for stories. How?
Students learn.
Students practice.
Students speak.
Students close.
Aligned to the ACTFL World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (Intermediate-Mid).
Interpretive: understand the Präteritum.
Interpersonal: narrate the past.
Compare past tenses.
Connect to reading literature.
Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.
Have students begin a story in German with “Es war einmal…” (Once upon a time). A printable Präteritum sheet is in the World Languages library.
Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.
A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.
A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.