an archive of lesson plans

Category: Russian (Page 1 of 13)

Russian Conversation class

RU S23 INT: Nature

Language Resident Name: Aleksandra Bystrova

Date: 02/27/2023

Class theme/topics discussed: Nature

Goal of the class:

  • Students can use the Accusative Case to explain feelings (I hear, I see, I touch)
  • Students can describe different landscapes
  • Students can talk about natural disasters in Russia
  • Students can list lessons of nature

How did you structure the class?

  1. Warm-up. Fill the form (10 mins)
    This assignment should be done outside. Students are given a form with a chart: I see, I hear, I feel, I touch. They have to write a list of things in the correct case.

2.Activity 1. Your Perfect Landscape (10 min)
I show the students three typical landscapes in Russian and ask them to choose a landscape in which they would like to live. They should describe the reasons for their choice.

3.Activity 2. The most beautiful place in Russia (10 min)
I ask students to choose the most beautiful natural place in Russia and present it to the whole class, showing it on a map and describing why they chose it.

4.Activity 3. Nanna Heitman As Frozen Land Burns (10 min)
I show the students Nanna Heitman’s photo project about fires in Siberia and ask them to describe the photos. What do you see? Where do you think this is? How are people dealing with it?
Then, I provide students with the background of the problem and ask additional questions. Why do forest fires start? Are there forest fires in your area? What are the negative consequences of fires?

5.Activity 4: Монеточка — гори гори гори

6. Wrap-up. Lessons from Nature (10 min)
Think about the five lessons nature teaches us. What can we learn from nature? For example: Nature knows what is good for her

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The class went well. Several of my students are very interested in nature, so it was especially helpful for them to learn new words related to nature and issues. The activity with the form helps a lot to practice the accusative case and also sets the students up for work because of the change of scenery.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I recommend doing this class outside if possible. Then hands-on activities can be added.

RU S23 ADV: Dream Job

Language Resident Name: Aleksandra Bystrova

Date: 03/21/2023

Class theme/topics discussed: Dream Job

Goal of the class:

  • Students can talk about jobs and use related vocabulary
  • Students can give reasoning to choose a particular job
  • Students can describe their dream job and explain their choice

How did you structure the class?

  1. Warm-up. Famous People’s Quote (10 mins)
    I show the students a quote and ask them to speculate on the subject. Do you agree or disagree? “Choose a job you love, and you won’t have to work a day in your life.”
    “Выберите работу, которую вы любите, и вам не придется работать ни дня в своей жизни”.
  2. Activity 1. Vocab (10 min)
    I print out pictures that can be described with certain words from the vocabulary for this class. I ask students to find a pair using the a dictionary.
  3. Activity 2. Jobs of Famous People (10 min)
    First I show the students a portrait of George Clooney and ask them if they know what this man did before his acting career. I ask students to find a celebrity whose work was very unexpected before they became famous. They show us a portrait and we have to guess who they worked for.
  4. Activity 3. My dream job (20 min)
    In pairs, students fill out a chart about their partner’s dream job. Then they present the results to the whole class.

5. Wrap-up. Benefits of knowing a second language at work (10 min)
We wrap the class up with listing the benefits of knowing the second language for work.

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The class went well. The dream job is a very topical issue for college students, and in my opinion it is very useful to reflect on this topic once again. Especially in a group where everyone shares the same problem. Students made interesting arguments for the first quote.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I would add one more activity with students asking each other questions about jobs. For example, you print several questions and face them down. Students pick a card and ask another student the question.

RU S23: NEWS: TRUTH AND FAKES

Language Resident Name: Aleksandra Bystrova

Date: 02/09/2023

Class theme/topics discussed: NEWS: TRUTH AND FAKES

Goal of the class:

  • Students will identify for themselves news media where they can read the news
  • Students can distinguish truth from untruth in Russian
  • Students can lie in Russian

How did you structure the class?

  1. Warm-up. Good News (10 mins)
    Share the good news; what positive and interesting things happened to you in the past week?
  2. Activity 1. Discussion about news (10 min)
    Students discuss the following questions in pairs: Where do you read/watch the news? What was the last shocking news item you read? How do you recognize fakes? Is it difficult?
  3. Activity 2. What words are associated with the newspaper? (5 min)
    I write the word newspaper on the board and ask students to write all the words they associate with it.
  4. Activity 3. Objects create news (15 min)
    Create a news story with the items from the picture. In pairs, choose three items from the picture and create a news story.

5. Activity 4: Fake News
In pairs, students choose one news story that is real and make up a fake one from it. They can use their phones to do this. They then tell both news stories to the class, and they have to decide which one is true and which one is fake.

6. Wrap-up. Do you agree or disagree (10 min)
Read these statements. Decide whether you agree or disagree with them. Think about the reasons for your answers.
– Now that we have the Internet, print newspapers are no longer necessary.
– News reports are always biased.

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

I really enjoyed this class. The students are very interested in the topic of news in Russia. They talked a lot during the discussion. The picture activity, where they had to choose several subjects, was very interesting. The students were very creative. Also the last activity worked well. Students were able to practice their presentation and lying skills.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I wouldn’t change anything. In my opinion, the class went very smooth, even though I was a little nervous to talk about news sources.

RU S23 INT: Body Parts

Language Resident Name: Aleksandra Bystrova

Date: 04/24/2023

Class theme/topics discussed: Introduction – Body Parts

Goal of the class:

  • Students can name the parts of the body using Russian correctly.
  • Students can show the parts of the body
  • Students can pronounce the parts of the body in Russian aloud and confidently.
  • Students can identify the written form of body parts correctly

How did you structure the class?

  1. Warm-up. New Vocabulary (10 mins)
    I show students pictures of body parts and ask if they can name them. If not, we pronounce the words together. After I show some pictures, I show a body part on myself and ask: Are these eyes or a nose? Then, I just ask what it is or show me (the eyes).
  2. Activity 1. Link the cards. (10 min)
    Work in small groups. I prepared two groups of cards in front of the class: pictures of body parts and names of body parts. I form two groups and ask the students to connect the body parts to their picture. You can add an element of competition: who is the fastest.
  3. Activity 2. Describe a picture (10 min)
    Students already know colors and some adjectives. I show the students pictures and ask them to describe what they see. What color are her eyes? What kind of head does he have? Etc. This way students learn new words and find them in the picture.
  4. Activity 3. I’m in pain (15 min)
    I introduce students to new phrases: у меня болит/болят И я болею/ты болеешь, and explain the difference between them because in English it’s just I am/ You are sick. Stand in a circle. I prepare the body part cards and hand them out to the students. Then I say a phrase, for example, I have a headache. Students must show a picture of their head, etc.
  5. Wrap-up. Pantomime(10 min)
    Each student shows a very dramatic skit with what hurts. I ask the question: What hurts? ЧТО У ВАС БОЛИТ? ЧТО У НЕЁ/НЕГО БОЛИТ. The students answer: У НЕЁ/НЕГО БОЛИТ…

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The class was fantastic. The students actively participated in all the activities. The class is structured in such a way that the students are constantly moving and can’t get bored, their attention is constantly on the teacher. The only difficulty is that there is a lot of activities in this class. So you have to keep a close eye on the time if you want to perform all the activities.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I might change one assignment to a song that mentions body parts.

RU F22 INT: Appearance

Language Resident Name: Aleksandra Bystrova

Date: 09/12/2022

Class theme/topics discussed: Appearance

Goal of the class:

  • To describe a person
  • To name body parts

How did you structure the class?

  1. Warm-up.
    I hang a picture of a person on the board, then I ask students to write the body parts they know. All together they come to the board and brainstorm the vocabulary.
  2. Activity 1. Word Pairs
    I print out words on pieces of paper (long, short, light, dark, curly, straight, etc.) and pictures. Students find pairs in pairs, so the pictures are paired with the words.
  3. Activity 2. Vocab Presentation
    Show pictures of celebrities and ask what kind of hair they have – short or long, curly or straight, etc. Then make it harder and ask students to describe the celebrity’s picture on their own.

4. Activity 3. Connect the description with a picture.

5. Activity 4. Roll a face
3 teams. One person draws on the board. Team members roll dice to each category: face, nose, etc. and describe it to the artist. F.e. short curly hair. At the end, students have a face and must describe it. Then they exchange pictures with each other and guess what the elements are.

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The students knew many words related to appearance and body parts. It was more difficult for them to work with description words such as long/short hair, curly/straight hair. However, I tested their knowledge after a couple of days, and they did well. They found the last task a little difficult because they could not find the vocabulary to describe certain elements in the pictures. I encouraged them to use gestures.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I would change the last assignment a bit, so that it would be easier for the students to describe the pictures using vocabulary they know. Despite that, the lesson went well.

RU F22 ADV: Literature

Language Resident Name: Aleksandra Bystrova

Date: 08/29/2022

Class theme/topics discussed: Literature

Goal of the class:

  • Learn about Russian Literature
  • Speculate on the content of a literature piece adaptation
  • Check your knowledge on famous Russian books
  • Practice creative writing

How did you structure the class?

  1. Warm-up: 6 classic books (10 min)
    I show students the book covers of 6 Russian literature classics. After randomly reading the books back cover, students should match them to the book cover (the idea is taken from Spanish LR Natalia Cano).
  2. Activity 1. Watch a video with “literature questions for Russian high-school students” (10 min)
    Can you answer those questions?

3. Activity 2. Watch a moment from the adaptation of Bulgakov’s “Master and Margarita” (20 min)
I show students a videoclip from anadaptation of Bulgakov’s “Master and Margarita” without sound. I ask them to figure out what is going on and what is the conflict of the situation. Мастер и Маргарита
Then we watch it again with sound.

4. Wrap-up (20 min)
In pairs, create a story with this text as inspirations. Then, each pair will share their story with the rest of the class.
Если моя память меня не обманывает, и я всё еще могу считать себя здравомыслящим человеком, с нормальной способностью интерпретировать знаки календаря и часов, я укажу, что я ошибся ровно десять дней и девять часов назад.

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

Students enjoyed reading summaries of works of Russian classics. I made sure to include key words in these descriptions and encouraged them to search. In addition, I made the annotations as close to real Russian as possible, so they had difficult vocabulary, but the students did a great job determining the general idea. I was worried that my students would not be able to answer the questions of the second assignment, but to my surprise, they knew almost all the answers. As for The Master and Margarita, students came up with creative interpretations. Although one of my students knew the plot, he participated in creating a new story. The last assignment also went well; it was a good way to end the lesson, although I expected it to be more massive.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I would leave it as it is. It was a great class and I really enjoyed it!

RU F22 ADV: Origin and Hometown

Language Resident Name: Aleksandra Bystrova

Date: 09/01/2022

Class theme/topics discussed: Introduction – Origin and Hometown

Goal of the class:

  • Get to know each other
  • Learn about each other’s origin and hometown
  • Introduce new vocabulary (Cities, Transportation)
  • Create arguments and debate on a given topic

How did you structure the class?

  1. Warm-up. CATEGORIES. (5 mins)
    Teacher writes categories on the board. Students brainstorm in groups and write vocabulary on the board. Write vocabulary connected to cities. Everything that you can think of in the board. 3 Categories: Тип поселения, Виды транспорта, Места досуга в городе, Государственные учреждения
  2. Activity 1. My hometown: Speaking cards. (10 min)
    Work in pairs. Ask questions to fill information about a home city of your partner. Name, Type, Population, Transportation, Center, Likes, Dislikes.
  3. Activity 2. Present information about your partner’s city to others (10 min)
    Students show their partner’s city in the google maps and say what their partner like/dislike about their city.
  4. Activity 3. Debate— FOR/AGAINST (15 min)
    Controversial Russian saying: Где родился, там и пригодился. Where you were born, there you come in handy. Students are divided in three teams: “for”, “against” and judges. They have time to discuss their arguments and then they start the debate. Judges evaluate the quality of the arguments and determine a winner.
  5. Wrap-up. A typical citizen of your city. Типичный житель вашего города (20 min)
    Students are divided in pairs. They choose one of their home cities. Together they draw a picture of that citizen and then present it to others, describing a picture.

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

It was one of my favorite classes so far. I divided them in pairs for the first activity to brainstorm on vocabulary. They took time to prepare a list of words. I also appreciated their energy when they were working in pairs, discussing their hometowns, and presenting them to others. The discussion on controversial topic was successful, students came up with a list of arguments trying to persuade each other. I was afraid that they might argue in a negative way, but since they were not defending their own opinion, it went well. The only difficult part was to involve not active speakers in this activity. That’s how last minute I came up with an idea of the judges. I figured not participating speakers and allowed them to be listeners who later decided on a winner. Last activity, where students had to draw a picture, was very funny and it’s a nice way to wrap up and go over descriptions.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

In a debate activity, I might have tried switching active speakers and not active, so that active speakers could be listeners (judges), and quiet students could have a space to talk more. It could have been interesting.

RU F22 INT/ADV: Medicine and Health

Language Resident Name: Aleksandra Bystrova

Date: 12/01/2022

Class theme/topics discussed: Medicine and Health

Goal of the class:

  • Learn vocabulary about diseases, health concerns, and treatment
  • Get acquainted with Russian medication and traditional medicine
  • Describe symptoms in Russian

How did you structure the class?

  1. Warm up (10 min): Discussion
    1) How often do you get sick?
    2) Do you prefer to take medicine or wait for symptoms to go away?
    3) Do you believe in traditional medicine? What methods do you know?
    4) Do you know how to provide first aid?

I ask students to discuss those questions in pairs.

2. Activity 1. Vocabulary (10 min)
I show students pictures of people having common symptoms and ask them to try naming what they see. It helps me to learn how much they know. I also provide them with the printed handout with vocabulary, so they can use it for future activities.

3. Activity 2. What kind of medication is appropriate? (10 min)
I show my students pictures of people with different symptoms and popular medication that you can find in a pharmacy. They have to describe a picture using vocabulary from the past activity and find the most appropriate medicine reading its package.

4. Activity 3. Situation: Your friend is sick (10 mins).
We look at the pictures of people being sick. Students have to “go to a pharmacy” and describe a pharmacist their friend’s symptoms. A pharmacist has to recommend a customer medicine from the past activity that they think suits their need the best.

5. Activity 4: Traditional Medicine (7 min)
I show my students pictures of common traditional ways to treat some symptoms. Then, I ask for students’ opinion on what the purpose of the products they see is.

6. Activity 5: Help them with traditional medicine (10 min)
I show students situations of people being hurt or having symptoms. What kinds of Russian traditional medicine they would use?

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

Students loved the topic. We had many real-life situations and role plays that students seemed to enjoy. I believe that gradual development of vocabulary and descriptions work well in the class. The only thing is we did not have enough time to finish all the activities that I have prepared.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I would dedicate two classes to this topic. There are more activities that could be added, and it would not be as rushed.

RU S22 ADV: Limericks (Chastushki)

Language Resident Name: Aleksandra Bystrova

Date: 02/08/2022

Class theme/topics discussed: Russian Limericks (Chastushki)

Goal of the class:

  • Learn about Russian folklore – limericks
  • Develop translation skills

How did you structure the class?

  1. Warm up (10 mins): Discussion
    1) What is the definition of “chastuska”?
    2) Why do you think people compose them?
    3) Which topics do they raise?
    4) Do you have something similar in your culture/country?

I ask students to discuss those questions. Even if they don’t know what is chastuska, they can be creative and just guess. Students present their thoughts and results of a discussion by writing the main ideas on the board. Then, I show them a slide with an official definition and main elements of “chastushka”.

2. Activity 1. Read “chastuski” and translate (10 mins).
I give my students a handout with several limericks to read them and analyze. While they translating them, I add some cultural background for them to better understand the lyrics. We read it together and I also show the rhythm.

3. Activity 2. Watch a piece of the cartoon and translate the limerick (25 mins).
I show my students a piece of a cartoon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv5lIQPRCPY (11:03-12:50). In the video, folklore characters sing a limerick. Before watching I give my students handouts with lyrics. After watching I put them in two groups and ask to come up with an English translation of the limerick. While translating they realize, how unexpected the lyrics are.

4. Activity 3. Chastuskki in Modern Russia (10 mins).
We watch youtube videos of limericks in modern Russian culture.
TV-show “Voice” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjJtiSKPTz4
Political Satire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgYrPV_d3tg

What do you think of limericks now? Do you like them?

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

Students loved the topic. During the warm-up students found a lot of facts about limericks and managed to create the right understanding of their implementation. Their research made it easier to work later. Even though listeners of chastuska have to possess the certain cultural background to understand the content, students were open-minded and tried hard to understand them. While working in groups, students managed to come up with correct translations of Baba Yaga’s chastuska and were surprised, when we summarized the meaning of it.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

The activities did not take as long as I expected. Students managed to finish the activity very fast. We had 15 minutes left, so I had to improvise and show them videos of modern performances of chastuska. If I could modify this class, I would provide students with lyrics of those songs as well. If the students are comfortable with composing rhymes, the instructor could ask them to come up with their own limericks.

RU SP22 INT/ADV: Fears

Language Resident Name: Aleksandra Bystrova

Date: 04/26/2022

Class theme/topics discussed: Fears

Goal of the class:

  • Talk about names of fears in Russian
  • Storytelling
  • Learn how to react on scary situations

How did you structure the class?

  1. Warm up (10 mins): Discussion
    I ask my students to discuss the following questions in pairs:
    1) What is the nature of fear? Why do people feel it?
    Какова природа страха: почему люди испытывают страх?
    2) What is your biggest fear?
    Чего вы боитесь больше всего?
    3) Describe the last time you were scared.
    Опишите последний раз, когда вы испытали страх.

2. Activity 1. List of fears (10 minutes)
Students go to the board and write words for objects or situations that people can be afraid of. Then, we discuss whether or not those fears are phobias and if they have scientific names.

3. Activity 2. Cards of fear (20 minutes)
One group of students come up with scary situations. The second group should react to those situations, describing what was scary about them.

4. Activity 3. Game: Create a Monster (20 mins).
Students are divided in pairs. Each pair should come up with a picture of a monster that does not exist. While thinking about their monster, they can consider the following questions:
1) What is the name?
2) Why people are afraid of it?
3) What is its purpose?
4) How does it look like?

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The class went well. Students really enjoyed talking about fears of each other. Initially, I planned the discussion in pairs, but they wanted to know opinions of everyone, so we decided to discuss it together. Students also came up with funny stories for their monsters.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

Maybe I would add one more activity to this class, because students did not spend much time creating scary stories. Also, I would change places between Activity 2 and Activity 3, so students could create a story and include it in their story. That would be more fun!

RU F21 INT: Russian Cuisine

Language Resident Name: Aleksandra Bystrova

Date: 11/16/2021

Class theme/topics discussed: Russian Cuisine

Goal of the class:

  • Talk about most famous Russian meals
  • Learn vocabulary about cooking
  • Prepare for a cooking class

How did you structure the class?

  1. Warm up (5 mins)
    I ask my students to discuss the following questions in pairs:
    1) Which traditional Russian meals do you know?
    2) Have you ever tried Russian cuisine? What was your experience like?
    3) Have you ever been to a Russian restaurant?

2. Activity 1. Do you know this meal? (10 minutes)
I show my students pictures of the most famous meals and ask them to guess names or ingredients.

3. Activity 2. Cooking Vocabulary (10 mins)
I show my students a PowerPoint slide with cooking vocabulary and ask if they know those words. I prepared a handout for them with those words.

4. Activity 3. Game: Describe an action (10 mins).
After that, I ask my students to come in front of the class and show a cooking action without using words. Other students should guess what they are showing. Then they change.

5. Activity 4 (20 mins)
I divide my students into two groups and ask them to choose one meal that is easy to cook. They should write a recipe on a board using the vocabulary they learnt. Then they present their recipe and we vote for the meal that the majority would like to try. Next class we will cook the meal using their recipe.

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The class went well. Food is one of the most favorite topics of my students since they had been asking me to talk about Russian cuisine or cook something from the very beginning of the semester. This class is good for practicing the vocabulary dedicated to food and cooking. It also includes the cultural element.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I would leave it as it is. This class was created with the help of the Spanish language resident Natalia Cano. You can include an activity, where students should describe a picture to practice food and cooking vocabulary.

RU F21 INT/ADV: New Year in Russia

Language Resident: Aleksandra Bystrova

Date: 12/1/2021

Class theme/topic discussed : the New Year in Russia

Goal of the class :

  • Introduce traditions of the New Year celebration in Russia
  • Practice the usage of adjectives in the text
  • Practice the food vocabulary
  • Listening and comprehension of a song

How did you structure the class?

  1. Warm-up.
    I put my students in pairs and ask them to discuss the following questions: 1) Do you celebrate the New Year? How and with whom? 2) Do you sum up the results of the year? 3) Do you create goals to accomplish in the following year?
  2. Activity 1. The New Year’s table
    I show my students a picture of a traditional Russian New Year’s table with different meals. I ask them to name what they see and come up with more dishes. This activity is focused on creating a perfect table for the New Year’s celebration and practice food vocabulary.
  3. Activity 2. Prepare a traditional New Year’s toast
    I give my students a handout with a long traditional Russian toast. There are blank spaces that students should fill up with adjectives. They can be creative and funny while choosing words.
  4. Activity 3. A song about 5 minutes
    I show my students a video of a must-listen Russian song, which sounds in every house 5 minutes before the New Year. I also provide students with lyrics of the song. I ask them to feel free to sing along.
  5. Activity 4. President’s Speech.
    It is impossible to imagine Russian New Year without the President Putin’s speech. We watch a piece of a video from 2020 and discuss the content of this speech. This activity was performed with Advanced students.
Activity 3. A song about 5 minutes

Intermediate. What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The class went well. Students enjoyed talking about New Year in Russia. We focused more on the activity dedicated to food. I wanted to practice vocabulary with them, since they hadn’t known many words before we had our class about Russian cuisine. I decided to skip the activity with the President’s speech, because the language of the speech is too difficult to comprehend. We also didn’t do the “toast” activity because I felt like it could be too challenging for them. I decided to spend more time with the song instead. I asked my two students to come up with a translation of this song and give their opinion about it.

Advanced. What worked well in this class? What did not work?
My advanced students enjoyed this class. They knew a lot of words dedicated to food and Russian cuisine. The activity with inserting words turned out to be amusing. They came up with funny and sometimes unsuitable words. That made the toasts activity very lively. We skimmed the song and spent more time with the President’s speech. Students had a hot discussion about the content of his speech because some of them found it ambiguous.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

The president’s speech is an interesting text to analyze and discuss with advanced students. It consists of many topics, which students find curious to talk about. I would make a separate class about politics to discuss leader’s speeches. In the context of New Year and holiday atmosphere it is a challenging issue to discuss.

RU F21 ADV: Russian Folktales

Language Resident: Aleksandra Bystrova

Date: 09/16/2021

Class theme/topic discussed: Russian Folktales

Goals of the class :

  • Learn about Russian folklore and rules of creating a traditional fairytale
  • Practice storytelling

Class structure:

  1. Warm-up.
    I ask my students to discuss the following questions:
    1) What is “сказка” (traditional Russian verbal fairy tale)?
    2) Did you like reading fairy tales or listening to them when you were a kid?
    3) Do you know any Russian fairytales?
  2. Activity 1. Reading a fairytale “Сказка об Иване-царевиче, жар-птице и о сером волке” (The fairytale of Ivan-tsarevitch, a firebird and a grey wolf) (one and a half page, adapted, with vocabulary).
    Students seat in a semi-circle. We read the text aloud making stops at the end of each paragraph. I make sure they understand everything by asking them questions. I draw a plan of a fairytale on a board while they are reading. At the same time, I have a powerpoint presentation opened with drawings of this fairytale, so students have a visual image of what is going on.
  3. Activity 2. Analysis of a fairytale 
    I ask students to name all characters from the fairytale (7). Then, I ask them about the role of those characters. What do they do? We do it on purpose, so later we could discuss the thesis from the book “Morphology of the Folktale” by a Soviet folklorist and scholar Vladimir Propp. After we wrote all characters and their role (functions) on the board, I present my students Propp’s concept and give them a handout with a plan of creating a folktale.
  4. Activity 3. Create your own fairytale!
    I ask students to use the Propp’s concept of creating a folktale (7 main characters and 31 functions, which constitute the plot). They can choose any quantity of characters and functions to create a folktale.

What worked well in this class? What did not work?
While reading the folktale in the class, I tried to use visual materials, gestures and paraphrasing as much as possible. Students seemed interested in the plot, because they laughed when something funny happened and answered context questions. The fairy tale was not long (adapted 1.5 pages), but it took almost 30 mins to fully analyze it (which was more, than I expected). Students seemed overwhelmed with Propp’s concept, but I was ready for it — I simplified the functions, put pictures to them and printed it out in a handout. We did not have time to complete the last activity (composing a folktale), but when students discussed their plots, they were very engaged and came up with really funny ideas. We will continue talking about it next class.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I would devote two classes to this topic. I would spend more time reading and analyzing a folktale and explaining to students the Propp’s concept, and during the next class I would ask students to create a folktale and present it (in a form of a performance).

PowerPoint Presentation:

RU F21 ADV Intro to the Soviet Poetry: Gennady Shpalikov

Language Resident: Aleksandra Bystrova

Date: 10/05/2021

Class theme/topic discussed: Soviet Poetry of the Khrushchev Thaw (1960s)

Goal of the class: 

  • Learn about the poetry during the Khrushchev Thaw
  • Practice translating and listening skills
  • Get to know the Soviet director, screenplay writer and poet Gennadiy Shpalikov

Class structure:

  1. Greetings and warm-ups.
    Discussion in pairs: Do you like poetry? Who is your favorite poet if you have one? Do you know any Soviet or Russian poets?
  2. Introduction. Gennadiy Shpalikov
    I briefly introduce the biography of Gennady Shpalikov to the class. Why he was important for the “Ottepel” (the Khrushchev Thaw) and what the general atmosphere in the culture at that time was. I ask students if they know something about 1960s culture in the Soviet Union.
    “В воздухе была надежда на свободу, и мы дышали этим воздухом, а как точно заметил Сергей Соловьев, Шпаликов этот воздух создавал” (Юлий Файт)
  3.  Activity 1. Translate a poem.
    I give students a handout with the Shpalikov’s poem “Людей теряют только раз” (“You lose people only once…”) translated in English and ask them to come up with a Russian translation for this poem. I put students into two groups, so every group come up with their own translation. Then, I ask them to present their poems to the rest of the class.
  4. Activity 2. Comparison with an original.
    Александр Яценко – “Людей теряют только раз”
    I show students a video of a Russian actor Alexander Yazenko reading this poem in a studio. Before that, I give them a handout with an original text, so students can compare their poems with the original.
Геннадий Шпаликов
Людей теряют только раз,
И след, теряя, не находят,
А человек гостит у вас,
Прощается и в ночь уходит.
А если он уходит днем,
Он все равно от вас уходит.
Давай сейчас его вернем,
Пока он площадь переходит.
Немедленно его вернем,
Поговорим и стол накроем,
Весь дом вверх дном перевернём
И праздник для него устроим.    
Gennady Shpalikov
Translated by Igor Skryagin and Aleksandra Bystrova  
All people may be lost just once,
And a lost trace may not be found,
When a person, who is staying with you,
Leaves into the night, saying «goodbye».
And if they leave in the afternoon,
They leave you anyway.
Let’s return them right now,
While they are crossing the square.
Let’s return them immediately,
And talk to them, and set the table,
Turn the whole house upside down
And arrange a feast for them.  
Activity 1. Translate the poem.
Activity 2. Comparison with the original

What worked well in this class? What did not work?
Students came up with beautiful translations of the poem. They were very engaged into translating it. If students are interested in the Soviet culture and poetry, it can be a very enjoyable class. However, if students don’t like poetry it might be challenging. The level of the poem is appropriate for advanced learners. The groups of two students in each group worked well.

How could this class be improved/ modified? 
I would leave it as it is. If you have more time left, you can do the same with another poem from the Thaw’s poet Bella Ahmadulina “В тот месяц май, в тот месяц мой…” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbhaPvhokqM)

RUS SP21 ADV/INT: Untitled Goose Game

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name:

MARIA GLUKHOVA

Day and Date:

Thursday, 04/06/2021 and Thursday, 04/08/2021

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

Russian, Advanced

Class theme/topics discussed:

Untitled Goose Game

Goal of the class:

To play Untitled Goose Game together, practice imperatives, and have fun.  

Untitled Goose Game for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Game Details

How did you structure the class?

  1. Greetings, announcements, general questions.
  2. In advance, create a vocabulary list with necessary words (especially verbs). Work on this list together with your students and ask them to make imperative forms of verbs: run! swim! etc. It’s also helpful to talk about directions: go left, jump on, etc. 
  3. Open the Untitled Goose Game on your computer and share the screen. Most likely, you can change the settings and choose your target language as the language of the game.
  4. Explain the rules. You’ll be the one playing, but your student will have to tell you what to do.
  5. Show them the “To-Do List” for the first episode. Read it together. You can also play it together for a few minutes to give students an idea of how the game works.
  6. Divide students into groups. In the break-out rooms, each group has to come up with instructions for you to complete one of the tasks from the “To-Do List.” For example, one group can think about hiding the food, while the second group has to steal the key. They can brainstorm for 5 minutes or so.  
  7. Once everyone has a strategy, open the game again. Each group has 3-4 minutes. They have to guide you and tell you what to do to complete the task: “Run up, hide in the grass, wait until the farmer can’t see you, grab the carrot,” etc. 
  8. Have fun! 🙂

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Untitled Goose Game, Zoom

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The class worked out great, we had a lot of fun! I did two classes on this game because it takes time to work on vocabulary, explain the rules, etc. Also, make sure you know how to play this game first because it’s not always intuitive.  

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I would leave it as it is.

RUS F20 Adv/Int: Rooms and their inhabitants

Language Resident Name:

Maria Glukhova

Day and Date:

Wednesday, 09/16/2020

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

Russian, Advanced

Class theme/topics discussed:

Rooms and their inhabitants.

Goal of the class:

Speaking: To work on describing one’s living space and to speculate on who might live there

Grammar: To practice «где» vs. «куда»

Vocabulary: furniture, design/style, colors, character.  

How did you structure the class?

  • Greetings, announcements, general questions.
  • Warm-Up [PowerPoint]: An LR shows a picture of a room and asks who the students think might live there and why. Together we describe the room (высокие потолки, окна во всю стену, персидский ковер на полу, etc.) and the people who might own the apartment (обеспеченные, с отличным вкусом, предпочитают жить за городом, etc.)   
  • Activity 1: Following the same idea as before, students get pictures of different apartments. In pairs they should describe both the rooms and the owners (it is better to choose interesting pictures where there are many things to talk about: дом русской бабушки в деревне, дом из золота в стиле барокко, избушка на курьих ножках, etc.).
  • Activity 2: A Detective game. Students work in pairs. A teacher prints out the pictures (6 rooms and 8 people), and the students have to detect who lives where and to find one character who doesn’t belong to the house.

The game is from here: https://www.adme.ru/tvorchestvo-reklama/najdite-hozyaina-kazhdoj-kvartiry-i-vychislite-cheloveka-kotoryj-voobsche-ne-zhivet-v-etom-dome-1712565/

Answers:

  • Conclusion. We check the results and discuss how they understood [or didn’t understand] who lives where.

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

PowerPoint, Zoom

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

Students love the detective game! Sometimes it takes them almost the whole class to figure out who lives where.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

The class was a lot of fun, I would leave it as it is.

RUS F20 Adv: Happiness Checklist

Language Resident Name:

Maria Glukhova

Day and Date:

Wednesday, 10/21/2020

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

Russian, Advanced

Number of people:

1-2

Class theme/topics discussed:

What makes me happy in the Corona time?

Goal of the class:

To make a Happiness Checklist to understand that there are actually many things that bring you joy.

How did you structure the class?

  • Greetings, announcements, general questions.
  1. Find a nice website where you can make checklists and download them for free. For Russian, I used https://my.365done.ru/. Ask your student to make a list of things/activities that bring them joy in the Corona time (or in a normal time, depending on where you are). I asked my student to come up with 33 points because we have an expression “33 pleasures” in Russian (все 33 удовольствия). It is quite tricky, and people usually get stuck after they write 10-15. But then they start thinking and write the rest, which is simple: to light up candles, to watch a Harry Potter movie, to buy a new plant, etc. It helps people to see that there are things that they can do to feel better, even at this time. 
  2. Ask a student to share the result and then compare what you have.

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Zoom, a Checklist Design website

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

In this class, I only had one student, and we talked a lot about what we both put in our checklists. Although it’s better to check in advance if you can download checklists for free from the website you use!

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I would leave it as it is.

RUS F20 Adv: Children’s Literature

Language Resident Name:

Maria Glukhova

Day and Date:

Wednesday, 10/14/2020

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

Russian, Advanced

Number of people:

1 (or any)

Class theme/topics discussed:

Children’s literature

Goal of the class:

To work on translation skills and storytelling

How did you structure the class?

0. Greetings, announcements, general questions.

  1. Warm up questions:

On a scale from 1 to 10, how much did you enjoy reading as a child? Why?

What books did you like the most when you were a child?

What are the five (+) main differences between adult and children’s literature?

Do you think parents should read books aloud to their children? Why?

2. Activity: Find a short picture book that has no words, only images. Ask a student to look at it first. They should then come up with a text that describes what is happening as if it was written on these pages. Then you can do a slide show, and your student should pretend that they are narrators, and you are their child who is listening to a story. As a child, you can ask questions!

3. Activity: Find a short picture book with English text (I used “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats). If you only have one student, you can work on translating it into your target language together. If you have a group, students can work in pairs, and then you can compare different translations. Students should convince others that their translation is the best. 

4. Conclusion and a follow-up discussion.

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Zoom, prepared picture books

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

In this class, I only had one student, and we had a great time working on translation together.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I would leave it as it is. If you have more people, for the first activity, they can do one page each. Or you can also find a couple of books.

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