Jim Sweigert’s Exploratory Russian (1991-2003)

In his words:

In the case of Russian at Price Laboratory School (PLS), I was hired in April 1991 and, starting in August 1991, had to teach both in the Modern Languages Department at the University of Northern Iowa, as well as at PLS.  I was told at that time that I would most likely be teaching exploratory Russian courses, as well as basic-level Russian courses.

Similar to the other exploratory language courses offered at PLS in the 1990s and early 2000s, most time was spent on developing some basic listening and speaking skills.  However, since Russian requires the use of the Cyrillic alphabet, students had to learn how to read and write in Russian.  Compared to French and Spanish, this meant that students had to do a lot more work in Exploratory Russian courses.  Having said that, most students enjoyed the process of learning a new alphabet.  In this regard, a lot has to do with a student’s natural learning process.  Students who were visual and tactile learners really enjoyed learning and writing in a new alphabet (much as some students do when learning Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Korean, etc.).

My exploratory classes stressed working on “the four skills” of reading, writing, speaking and listening.  (Again, because Russian does have a different alphabet, the reading and writing part is much different when compared to French and Spanish.)  Looking back on it again, in some ways I treated my exploratory Russian courses like I would have done with a regular first-semester class.  At the same time, I wanted all exiting students to know that they had learned something.

In Exploratory Russian, we had a “warm-up” time, followed by reading, writing, and role-playing games where students had to act out scenes from various plays, novels, short stories, etc.  (And as was the case with French, we did everything in the target language.)  I also allowed students a bit of leverage to create their own skits.  (Maybe not the best idea, always, but it worked for me.)  Perhaps this approach attracted a lot of the more “creative” PLS students to take Russian in high school at NUHS.

We did not use a textbook, but rather, created a packet of information for each student–much like the French packet–which outlined the course expectations, the topics to be covered by unit, and how the students would be evaluated. The booklet was designed each year with the number of units which could be covered in the amount of time the class would meet.

      Course expectations

1. Remove your gum/candy as you enter the classroom.

2. Bring a pen or pencil and your personal booklet to class.

3. Make an effort to participate every day.

4. Speak up during class discussions instead of mumbling.

5. Make an effort to listen to your teacher and to your classmates when they are speaking.

6. Discipline yourself and each other so that you do not carry-on side

   conversations with your friends during class.

7. Attend class every day.

8. Express enthusiasm for the study of Russian..

Units of Study

1.  Useful expressions

2. Classroom objects and commands

3.  The alphabet

4.  Talking about yourself

5.  Talking about family 

6.  Numbers/days/months

7.  Weather

8.  Colors

9.  Food and beverages

10.  Parts of the body

11.  Clothing

12.  Telling time

Evaluations

Two or three oral interviews were given after two, three, or four units, depending on the length of the course.  These were administered in one of three ways, with a different type of interview used each time.

1. I would lead an entire class interview by asking questions, with students raising their hands when they knew the response.  I would call on them individually, and if they answered correctly, they would receive a strip of paper on which they would write their name.  I would make sure to give everyone an equal number of chances to respond.  The goal was to answer three questions correctly.  Being an exploratory course, I tried to give every student a chance to respond correctly to three questions, even if I had to call on them more than three times.  I would then collect all the strips of paper to record the results.

   
   

2. I would ask one of my high school Russian students, who would be free during my class, to administer a one-on-one interview in the hallway or in my office while I would start a new unit.  Each student would be out of the classroom for approximately one minute, so it was easy enough to catch up on the new material being presented.  Once the student came back into the classroom, I would immediately point to another one to exit for an interview.  This would be the ideal way to do each of the interviews, but since the students had only heard me speak Russian, they may have found it difficult to respond to a new speaker of the language.  At the same time, it was good for them to hear another person speak Russian.

   
   

3. The roles were now reversed.  I would have an available high school student start the presentation of material in the new unit while I did the one-on-one interview out of the classroom.  The advanced student knew how to present the material because they had been a product of my instruction for two or three years.

One written listening comprehension exam was administered on the last day of class.  The test was comprised of four sections:

Part I – This section had between 15-20 different groups of four pictures each.  For example, the first picture in the group showed a book; the second, a pencil; the third, a pen; and the fourth, a ruler.  A statement or question was made orally in Russian by the teacher and the student would circle the picture of the appropriate answer.  For example: “Where is the pen?”

Part II – This part of the exam contained a list of four words in Russian, with one of the words not belonging in the group.  The student saw the written words as each one was pronounced by the instructor followed by the student circling the intruder.  For example:  banana, apple, brother, grape.

Part III – The students would hear five words spelled letter by letter using the Russian (Cyrillic) alphabet.   They would write them in the space provided.

Part IV – In this section, ten groups with three Russian responses each were listed.  The student was required to circle the most appropriate response based on a question or statement spoken in Russian by the instructor.  For example, the students would hear:  

What is your name?

a. intelligent   b.  Maria    c.  Saturday   

A self-evaluation was also completed before leaving the class which allowed students to reflect on their short time spent learning some basic Russian.  The statements were based on the course objectives outlined in the booklet.

Rate yourself on a scale from 1-5 based on your performance in Russian class.  

1.  I removed my gum/candy as I entered class. _____

2.  I brought a pen or pencil to class each day. _____

3.  I made an effort to participate each day.  _____

4.  I spoke up and did not mumble when called on. _____

5.  I made an effort to listen to my teacher’s explanations.  _____

6.  I made an effort to listen to my classmates’ responses. _____

7.  I disciplined myself and my classmates so that we did

    not carry on side conversations. _____

8.  I attended class every day. _____

9.  I expressed enthusiasm for Russian. _____

1. What suggestions do you have for the improvement of exploratory Russian?

 2. What suggestions do you have for the teacher of this class?

 3. What did you like best about studying Russian?

Thanks to the exploratory program, students at Price Lab School were more knowledgeable about choosing a language prior to entering ninth grade.  Some of them also learned that they were interested in more than one language and, when able to fit it into their schedule, would study two languages, not for all four years each, but a year or two of a second one.  This was much less common prior to exploratory language classes being offered.