14. As-tu des frères et des soeurs?
6. my family 6. my family Моя семья
Activities
WARM UP ❑ Before watching film 6 A1, it is a good idea to have a brief “warm up” session to remind pupils of all they can now say in Russian about themselves: for example, ask several pupils their names and ages. If you have time, play a quick game to reinforce this vocabulary. ❑ Watch film 6 A1: “My family” Naming family members We see cartoons representing different family members: brother, sister, dad, mum, grandpa, grandma. Introducing family members We then see children introducing their families. We see whole family groups, pairs of brothers and sisters and Katya’s grandma greets the viewer via “Skype” from Kiev. Some children show drawings and photographs of their family members.
Film 6 A1: Katya introduces her grandma
GET USED TO THE SOUNDS - online flashcards with sound and optional text
SHOW 06 FLASHCARDS: My family
❑ Echoing: Select ‘Family members’ on the e-flashcards; Pupils echo the words, e.g. “брат”. Finally, present the whole family, “семья” Explain to the children that the Russian language does not have any words for “the” or “a / an”. RESPOND WITH UNDERSTANDING ❑ Play “Show your card” Give each pupil one of the printed flashcards, shuffled. You say, e.g. “папа”. Pupils with the “dad” card hold it up to show. Your class will probably contain some children from ‘blended families’, which are also common in Russia. You should always give children an alternative to describing their own family arrangements. ❑ Play “Find the family member” If you are working in the hall or an area with plenty of space, divide the class into three or four teams. Place a set of the pictures on a flat surface in front of each team. Call out the name of a family member, e.g. “сестра”. The person at the front of each team runs to try and be the first to find the picture of the sister and bring it to you. The pictures are then replaced and the game continues. When a child has had a turn, s/he rejoins his/her team at the back of the line.
25
EARLY START RUSSIAN 1
HOW RUSSIAN WORKS 1: Nouns and gender
online Teacher Preparation
In Russian, as with many other languages, each noun is assigned a gender - masculine, feminine or neuter. The big difference, however, is that Russian speakers do not have a word for “the” or “an/a”.
NEW WORDS AND PHRASES
брат - brother
On the other hand, when you listen to film 6 A1 and the online flashcards, you will hear that there are two different words for ‘my’:
сестра - sister
папа - dad /daddy
“моя мама” (my mum) “ мой папа” (my dad). Children can see that “моя” is used with
мама - mum / mummy дедушка - grandad / grandpa
feminine nouns (mum, sister, etc), whilst
“мой” is used with masculine nouns (dad, brother, etc).
бабушка - granny / grandma
моя семья - my family
❑ Play “Splat!” Pin a set of the family pictures from the activity sheet on the board. Two pupils at a time can play the game; each wielding a rolled-up newspaper or similar ‘Splat!’-weapon! You call out the name of a family member, e.g. “папа” . The first to hit the picture of the dad wins the point. You could play “3 strikes and you’re out!”, i.e. after losing 3 points, that child is replaced.
Introducing people
Это моя мама This is my mum Это мой папа This is my dad Это я ... This is me ...
❑ Play “True or false” Display the online flashcards one by one with sound and text OFF. (You say a family member as you show each picture, e.g. “бабушка”. If what you say matches the picture, pupils echo the words; if not, pupils remain silent.
Click the online Teacher Preparation section which presents the pronunciation of all the new words and phrases - together with simple language awareness points.
❑ Play “Pair up” Shuffle the cards from the activity sheet, and give each pupil one of the 7 cards representing people. Pupils have to find others with the same card by asking, e.g. “мама?”. ❑ Play “Make a family” Now give each pupil one of the 6 individual cards (not the family). In a space where they can move freely, pupils have to find others to make a “family” (one of each relation) by asking in Russian, e.g. a child holding the picture of the grandpa has to find children holding the other cards by asking e.g. “брат?” - without showing cards!
26
14. As-tu des frères et des soeurs?
6. my family
❑ Working in pairs: play “snap” Give each pupil a copy of the activity sheet and ask them to cut out the cards. In pairs, pupils use at least two sets to play ”snap”. When two identical cards appear one after the other, the first child to correctly call out what is on the card, collects the pile. INTRODUCING PEOPLE ❑ You may find it helpful to watch film 6 A1 again. Ask pupils to listen carefully to the children as they introduce their families. Explain to the children that they will hear two different words for “my” - (See HOW RUSSIAN WORKS 1). GET USED TO THE SOUNDS - online flashcards with sound and optional text
SHOW 06 FLASHCARDS: My family
❑ Echoing: Select ‘My family’ on the online flashcards; Pupils echo the words, e.g. “Это моя мама”. Finally, point to yourself and say “Это я”. Pupils point to themselves and echo “Это я”. RESPOND WITH UNDERSTANDING ❑ Play “True or false” Display the flashcards one by one WITH SOUND AND TEXT OFF (or hold up a printed card). You introduce a family member as you show each picture, e.g. “Это моя брат”. If what you say matches the person on the picture, pupils echo the words; if not, pupils remain silent. ❑ Play “Introducing my family” Ask each child to produce a picture of any family - either their own or a famous or fictional family that they will describe in role as their family. It could be their own drawing, photo, a picture from a magazine or printed from the internet. Ask each child to introduce some of their relations in the picture, e.g. “Это моя сестра”. If a pupil confuses the two different words for “my”, you can praise the attempt and and repeat the sentence with the correct word. Ask the child to echo. Children who have studied other languages such as French, will already be familiar with the idea that some words change depending on the gender of a noun.
NOTE: if assuming another identity, pupils should choose to be a child rather than a parent - we have not yet introduced Russian words for ‘son’, daughter’, etc.
❑ Some pupils may like to introduce their brothers and sisters by name. They could simply say, for example,“Это мой брат, Samuel”. Confident pupils may like to extend their sentence to say “Это мой брат, зовут Samuel”. (See EXTRA WORDS AND PHRASES)
Film 6 A1: Tamara introduces her family.
27
EARLY START RUSSIAN 2
HOW RUSSIAN WORKS 2: Russian words for “and”
online Teacher Preparation
In Russian, There are two words that can be used to mean “and” - “а” and “и”. Russian speakers would use “а” when the components of the sentence are slightly contrasting e.g. “Это моя мама а это мой папа” (This is my mum and this is my dad).
NEW WORDS AND PHRASES
... зовут Саша
... he’s called Sasha - Lit: named Sasha
n “а” can also mean “but”.
Это мой брат, зовут Саша
n “и” is used when making a list.
This is my brother, he’s called Sasha
CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
2
... а это я
... and this is me
Click the online Teacher Preparation section which presents
the pronunciation of all the new words and phrases - together ❑ Art: play “This is my family” again. with simple language awareness points. Each child produces a picture of a different family, but this time it’s definitely NOT their own family, but they pretend it is! Children illustrate famous or fictional families - or make up their own - and describe it “in role”. They can then present their pictures to the rest of the class pointing out and naming individuals as if they were part of the family, e.g: “Меня зовут Pepper Pig. Это мой брат, (зовут) George”. Children can devise imaginative scenarios for their pictures of famous or fictional families.
❑ Drama: pupils, in groups, act out being a family. They could choose a scenario that gives opportunities to use greetings, introduce themselves and members of the family. e.g. a new family has moved in to the house next door; meeting friends and family in the park, on the beach etc. The lead character in each group introduces the others. ❑ Drama: pupils can use their puppets to develop conversations which include the new words and phrases they have learnt for talking about their family.
28