Topic 3: Economic Issues Affect Cooperation               between Germany, the European               Union, and Other Nations

Strategy: Reconstructive Responses

Activities

Have students work in four groups. Give each group a folder containing the following 4 resources:

Slide #17:GDP in Regions of the European Union	Slide #18: Unemployment in the European Union
Slide #19: The Work Week and Wages in Manufacturing	Slide #20: Western Europe’s Tax Burden

Have each group review the information in the resource folder. Assign each group a different transparency to review in depth. Have the group use one of the reconstructive response techniques to elicit clear concise information from the transparency. For example:

Summary Response – have the group come up with the basic message of the transparency. Have the students create one or two summary statements about what the transparency says about Germany in relation to other nations.

Precise Response – Briefly state in a paragraph the key information from the transparency with all unnecessary words removed. The result is a factual reinterpretation of the transparency in paragraph form.

Question Response – Put the main points of the transparency in question format. Have the students create one question that will lead to a discussion of the main points of the transparency.

Have each group report back to the rest of the class Record the statements/ questions on the board. Focus the discussion so that the following points are clearly made:

Germany’s standard of living is related to its patterns of trade within the EU and with the United States.

The economy of the European Union is diverse because of the diversity of nations within it.