Submitted by Jeffrey Kase
Objectives:
Content:
Students will...
- familiarize themselves with features on a map of the Russian Federation
- locate major cities on a target-language map of Russia
Cultural:
Students will...
- use authentic material (that produced for native speakers of Russian) to produce meaning
Language: Content Obligatory
Students will...
- match Cyrillic letters with their approximate Latin equivalents to decode geographic names with the Russian and English alphabets
- use sounds of the Cyrillic letters to verbally produce Russian letter sounds with a Russian/English alphabet sheet
- decode Russian place names using vocabulary from a Russian map
Language: Content Compatible
Students will...
- transliterate their names from English to Russian
- descriminate between pairs of Russian words using the following city names:
- Уфа и Улан-Удэ,
- Москва и Магадан,
- Псков и Пермь,
- Суздал и Сочи,
- Волгоград и Великий Новгород,
- Саратов и Самара,
- Казань и Калининград,
- Якутск и Яросдавль,
- Новосибирск и Петрозаводск,
- Иркутск и Якутск
Learning Strategies / Social and Skills Development:
Students will...
- work cooperatively (in pairs) to determine the specific sounds of Cyrillic characters
- use cognates to assist in letter identification
- use cognates for identification of Russian city names
- categorize Cyrillic letters into three groups based on difference between/familiarity with/similarity to Latin characters
Time Frame:
1-50 minute session
Materials Needed:
- sets of Cyrillic letter flashcards (1 set for each pair of students)
- instruction sheet "Открыть для себя алфавит русского языка"
- map of Russia, Russian labels (1 per student pair)
- map of Russia, English transliterated labels (1 per student pair)
- Alphabet/sound equivalency worksheets (1 per student)
- Listening/sound descrimination quiz sheets (1 per student)
- "Russian Cognates Crossword Puzzle" (1 per student)
Description of Assessment (Performance Project):
Pre-Task:
1. Students divide into pairs. Each pair will receive a pack of Cyrillic letter flashcards.
2. Teacher instructs students to divide the pack into 2 stacks: one with letters they encounter in the English/Latin alphabet, a second stack of letters that do not occur in the English alphabet.
3. Teacher monitors student pair work. After each pair has divided its flashcards, the teacher explains that some letters from the English alphabet will make the same (or close to the same) sound in Russian. Others will make a different sound. (Students will determine what sound every letter makes in the main task of this lesson). At the end of the lesson, students will divide the stack of letters they recognized into two additional stacks: one with letters whose sound is similar in both English and Russian, the second with letters that look like letters in English but have different sounds.
During Task:
1. Student pairs receive two maps of the Russian Federation: one labeled in Russian/Cyrillic, the other labeled with English/Latin character transliterations (i.e. Псков is rendered as Pskov).2. Every student will complete a work sheet that shows each Cyrillic letter followed by a space. The students fill in the letters' corresponding sound once they have negotiated what sound they believe a Cyrillic letter represents.
3. Once the alphabet worksheet is completed, student pair groups come back to the large group and review their findings from the completed alphabet worksheets. Cyrillic alphabet sounds are reviewed and verified by the teacher. Teacher corrects pronunciation of letters as needed.
4. Teacher collects the transliterated maps and replaces them with the same Russian language map (so every student has their own copy). Teacher calls on students to sound out/pronounce several city names correcting pronunciation of names as needed.
5. Listening/sound discrimination quiz: Using their Russian maps and alphabet worksheets as a guide, students circle the word they hear the teacher say on the pre-printed quiz sheet. (Teacher reads from a list of city names also found on the maps).
Post-Task:
1. Student pairs return to their stacks of flash cards to divide the stack of familiar letters into two additional stacks: one with letters whose sounds are similar in both English and Russian, the second with letters that look like letters in English but have different sounds. (This last group of letters needs particular attention to minimize first-language interference).2. Students are instructed to spell out their full names on a name card that will be placed on their desks for future lessons.
3. Extension/homework task: Teacher hands out the "Russian Cognates Crossword Puzzle," defines the concept of "cognates" and how they can help the language learner, and gives instructions for completing the crossword before Lesson 2.
Assessment:
1. Teacher monitors student pair work when they divide letter flashcards into first two groups
2. Teacher monitors students' pronunciation of both letter sounds and city names
3. Teacher corrects sound discrimination quiz
4. Teacher monitors student pair work when they divide letter flashcards into second two groups
5. Teacher verifies correct spelling of student names on their nametags
6. Teacher corrects "Russian Cognates Crossword Puzzle" homework
References and Resources:
Website http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/CrissCrossSetupForm.html
Website
http://www.visitrussia.com/russia-map.htm
(Original Unmodified Russia Map)
Attachments:
NOTE: some attachments are in PDF form (get Acrobat Reader)Russian Map (RussiaMap_Ru.JPG)
English Map (RussiaMap_En.JPG)
Russian Cognates Crossword Puzzle
(Crossword_Cognates.doc) MS Word or
(Crossword_Cognates.pdf) PDF
Открыть для себя алфавит русского языка
Alphabet Worksheet
Cyrillic Flashcards
Russian Cognates Crossword Puzzle
Sound Descrimination, Word Pair Quiz