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?
- Warm-up. Good News (10 mins)
Share the good news; what positive and interesting things happened to you in the past week? - 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? - 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. - 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.