This is similar to meion Haustier which I uploaded previously, but has been edited to suit my Year 7 class. Five authentic blogs about pets, written by relatively young native-speakers.( I've changed the names of the writers and the pets.) The texts are followed by comprehension and manipulation exercises and a toolkit to help the students form a range of sentences.

Text about the withdrawal of Ikea Elk Lasagne from its stores in Belgium and Germany. Text is followed by 'true, false, not in text' questions

A dialogue written for my Year 7 beginners. Lady Gaga tries to throw off the attentions of someone who has recognied her by claiming to be someone else. Lots of practise of the singular form of sein.

Cloze exercise in which all the missing words are past participles. One complete, the text provides an improbable account of the relationship between Harry Styles and Taylor swift.

Text about a trip to Peru organised by a swiss 'fair holidays' company. The text is followed by a true / false / not in text exercise and a writing task.

An activity in which students muss match the descriptions of Elves, Orks, Hobbits etc to the appropriate type of being. Practice of physical description and character traits.

And some more authentic signs and notices with relatively simple questions in English. Aimed at a revision-shy Year 11 class.

Open-ended writing task in which students must create new characters for a soap opera. Originally I linked this to the theme of Meine Stadt, getting pupils to say where they lived and worked and including practice of prepositions eg Er arbeitet im Kiosk vor dem Bahnof. Er ist verliebt in die Freundin von seinem besten Freund etc etc, but you could practise a whole range of structures.

Dialogue in which Jeremy Clarkson discusses his dream holiday with German motoring presenter Sabine Schmitz, and Sabine reveals which of the three Top Gear presenters she likes best. Text is followed by a Richtig/falsch/nicht im Text exercise, a 'f'ind the phrase&' exercise, a manipulation exercise and a gap-fill exercise.

Interactive PPT for practising numbers and personal description. The first slide acts as a homepage with links to nine hidden images. These images can be used as a stimulus for practising (or getting the pupils to request) language relating to personality, mood and appearance.

Playscript in which Simon Cowell is interviewed and extols the physical attributes of Simon Cowell. Students could practise the dialogue as it stands and then adapt the text in bold type.

Interactive PPT for practising numbers and personal description. The first slide acts as a homepage with links to nine hidden images. These images can be used as a stimulus for practising (or getting the pupils to request) language relating to personality, mood and appearance.

Reading Comprehension with questions in English. A boy from the future describes a typical day.

This interactive drag-and-drop match-up game contains fifty German synonyms. Each time it opens it will select a different set of 10 synonyms and will shuffle the order. Should never be quite the same twice. Will work on PC or IW. If you use it in a computer suite, every student gets a different game.

Three short texts relating to very different holidays in Spain, Canada and Myanmar / Burma. The texts have been jumbled together and students must separate out the paragrpahs relating to each trip and then re-order the paragraphs so that they make sense once more.

Text about the possible introduction of school uniforms in Nordrhein-Westfalen followed by GCSE-style questions in English. Based on on authentic text, but names of people and schools haves been changed.

Fifteen pictures of cartoon faces are displayed on a master slide. Each time you click, one of the faces will disappear. Students then have to describe the face from memory.

35 authentic items culled from the internet, with questions in English. Designed for a revisophobic year 11 class, but would work as a starter for a more able group.

Text about an inclusive disabled/non-disabled football tournament, with comprehension questions in English

Text in which young people outline what they have to do to earn their pocket money, followed by a comprehension task.