Materials for Language Teaching at Steiner Waldorf Schools
This series was started in the 1970es when a growing demand for teaching aids for English teachers in Waldorf schools was strongly voiced.
The First Four Years of English
Prof. Dr. Christoph Jaffke, founder of the series Materials for Language Teaching at Steiner Waldorf Schools, has written a manual for the language teachers of the lower school. Although the book is in English, the theoretical insights offered by the author, and his methodical advice – based on more than 50 years in Waldorf education – will prove helpful for the teachers of the other foreign languages as well.
Customers’ opinions about this book – reviews
- … a great summary and update of everything so far … incl. apparatus, references, various reference options! (N. P.)
- … a great thing – actually also something for autodidacts who do not have the opportunity to come to Stuttgart (I. T.)
- … a beautifully produced book, which will be of great help and inspiration to anyone teaching English at the Waldorf school (D. K.)
- … wonderful book that came just at the right time … A perfect introduction to reading during the vacations (B. L.)
- The very experienced German professor, Christoph Jaffke, has written a wonderful book that should not be missed by teachers of English. Not only is there a wealth of teaching ideas that can easily be used in class, but thoroughly considered methodological introductions on listening, speaking, writing are also incorporated in this extremely useful book (…) There are many books on foreign language teaching on the market, but this one, it must be said, stands out and surpasses all expectations that a teacher could ever have. Highly recommended!
(Henk van Oort – Humanising Language Teaching)
- This is THE book for teaching English as a foreign language in the Waldorf schools. Christoph Jaffke has distilled the wisdom of his long career into only 164 pages! Finally there’s a book that examines the WHY and HOW of foreign language teaching in a thoroughly practical, inspiring and easy to read presentation.
It begins with a great question: Why teach foreign languages in the lower school?
The first chapters of the book delve into the foundations of foreign language teaching and an overview of the developmental stages and the curriculum for English teaching.
The “Repertoire Selection” is comprised of action poems, number rhymes and counting-out rhymes, dialogues, poems about daily activities, and many more games and songs. There’s a chapter on how to tell and act out stories in the lower school, as well as quite a few tongue twisters!
The appendices include sample pages of pupils’ First English Book and thoughts about teaching languages in blocks, as well as “The Language Spirit in Foreign Language Teaching”. There’s a robust index and links to sound files for the songs.
This is a wonderful resource for an English foreign language teacher. The practical aspects of teaching would be of great use to all foreign language teachers. Christoph includes many examples of his own work and research with Rudolf Steiner’s language indications as well as cutting edge educational theory and practice.
(David Kennedy in Waldorf Today (USA), Issue #526, April 13, 2021)
A Change In The Year
While Rhythms, Rhymes, Games and Songs contains quite a number of the more traditional children’s songs, the importance of pentatonic songs for at least the first two years of the Lower School can hardly be overestimated. Among other things, they often have a therapeutic effect in that they can help to calm and harmonize the children. These two collections offer a considerable variety of songs.
Rhythms, Rhymes, Games and Songs for the Lower School
Material accumulated over the decades within the Waldorf School movement. For use in the first three (four) classes. Appendix with examples of especially suitable stories. Index of first lines. More than 70 finger plays, mostly accompanied by instructions, 35 classroom games, almost 30 singing-games, about 50 traditional English and American children’s songs, numerous action rhymes and poems.
Plays for the Lower and Middle School
The standard collection consisting of fifty plays from Fairy Tales and Ballads, from Folk Tales, Fables and Stories, as well as Seasonal Plays and Plays from Myth and History.
More Plays for the Lower and Middle School
A second collection of plays about various subjects: Folk Tales and Fables, Legends and Ballads, Seasonal Plays, Work and Occupations, Myth and History, and Literature.
Tongue Twisters and Speech Exercises
Large selection, grouped by sound values. Useful for teachers from Class 4 onwards.
Poems for the Middle and Upper School
”Waldorf Anthology” of 560 poems and several prose passages. Carefully selected, grouped and made easily accessible by an index of authors as well as by an index of first lines. As an additional help, this second index also indicates classes for which each poem can be considered suitable.
Riddles
More than 150 riddles, from very easy ones for the Lower School to more difficult ones, ancient and modern, as well as conundrums, words to construe and an appendix containing an extract from The Merry Book of Riddles (1629).
Proverbs and Sayings
A collection of the most widely used proverbs and familiar sayings. For the teachers’ use in classes 5 to 12.
Six Romantic Poets – Additional Material for Teachers
A bibliography, and relevant passages from Kaethe Wolf-Gumpold’s book about William Blake, from Owen Barfield’s “Romanticism Comes of Age” and from “Poetry and the Art of Speech” by Rudolf Steiner and Marie Steiner-von Sivers.
Pentatonic Songs
for nursery, kindergarten and grades 1 and 2
Elisabeth Lebret komponierte eine Fülle von pentatonischen Liedern „für Kindergarten und die Klassen 1 und 2“ für verschiedene Anlässe: Aktivitäten, Feste, Jahreszeiten, Geburtstage … Die Sammlung erschien erstmals 1971, und Elisabeths Wunsch, dass „dieses Büchlein seinen Weg in die weltweite Waldorfbewegung finden möge“, wurde inzwischen mehr als erfüllt. Wir erwarten, dass diese neu gesetzte und sehr attraktive zweite Auflage in der gleichen Tradition ihren Weg finden wird.
Fremdsprachenunterricht auf der Primarstufe
Seine Begründung und Praxis in der Waldorfpädagogik
Die vorliegende Darstellung bietet eine Fülle von Anregungen für die Unterrichtspraxis, die die über zwanzigjährige Erfahrung des Autors und Herausgebers von Unterrichtsmaterial spiegeln. Das Buch ist eine Fundgrube für jeden Sprachlehrer – nicht nur den in der Unterstufe unterrichtenden – und für interessierte Eltern.