Class Assignments
The following page provides course assignment information. Assignments and dates are tentative and maybe adjusted depending class progress. Please send comments or questions to tom.beyer@middlebury.edu
for Thursday, Sept. 13
Go the Russian Ecology Course. read the Introduction and complete assignments 1a, 1b, 1c. This will prepare you to use your computer for reading, typing and printing Russian on the web, and introduce you to the issues of translating a text.
for Tuesday, Sept. 18
Read the Introduction and "To the Student." in Let's Talk about Life. Type a short (two-three minutes) description of your activities this past academic year. (Bring the typed copy to class, it will be collected. You must, however, speak, not read, with notes on cards permitted.)
for Thursday, Sept. 20
Lesson one: Ecology complete assignment. This will equip you with the skills to use search engines and other on-line tools to locate and work professionally with Russian language resources.
for Tuesday, Sept. 25
Lesson one: Private life.
Prepare entire lesson. Using the topic of "First..."(p.34, B 1) prepare a short (three to five minute) oral presentation.You must also type and print out a copy of the text to be handed in, but you may not read from it. You can read from notes or note cards.
for Thursday, Sept. 27
Ecology Lesson two: Do Assignments 1 and 2.
for Tuesday, Oct. 2
Lesson two: Student life.
Prepare entire lesson. Write p. 53, Composition 2. With your classmates each prepare a five minute presentation on life at Middlebury College, covering at the least academic life, social life, the residential system, the role of athletics and financial aid in higher education.
for Thursday, Oct. 4
Ecology Lesson two: Do Assignments 3 and 4.
for Tuesday, Oct. 9
Lesson three: Rock Music.
Prepare entire lesson. Find a Russian rock group on the Internet-with words and music. Bring the URLs to class.Write a composition on what's new in Russian rock.Your classroom presentation today should incorporate examples as you address the topic of Russian contemporary music.
for Thursday, Oct. 11
Ecology Lesson 3. Begin work on assembling materials. Do everything except the Outline. Be prepared for individual consultations.
for Tuesday, Oct. 16
Lesson four: Alcohol and drugs.
Prepare entire lesson. Write p. 114, composition B or V. Your oral presentation should aim at presenting an issue and offering a solution to the use/abuse of alcohol or drugs at Middlebury College
for Tuesday, Oct. 23
Lesson five: Sexuality.
Prepare entire lesson. Write p. 138, composition B1.Your oral report (5 minutes) should explore some of your own experiences in Russia and how Russians and Americans concur and differ in their approaches to issues of sexuality.
for Thursday, Oct. 25
Ecology Lesson 3: Present a complete outline of your topic as an HTML document.
for Tuesday, Oct. 30
Lesson six: Religion.
Prepare entire lesson. Write p. 163, composition 1. Your oral report (a six minute lecture) should be a look at some aspect of the historical role of religion in Russia.
for Thursday, Nov. 1
Ecology Lesson 4: Prepare a five-page paper in English on your environmental issue, with translations along with citation and quotation of the original Russian sources. Submit a two page typed summary in Russian that will serve as the basis for your oral presentation of your paper.
for Tuesday, Nov. 6
Lesson seven: Men and Women.
Prepare entire lesson. Write p. 186, composition A. Provide a light entertaining overview (six minutes) of the changing roles of men and women in American or Russian society.
for Thursday, Nov.8
Ecology Lesson 4. Using an electronic outline (Power Point or web page) of your presentation and paper with live links to resources you have used on this project, provide a ten minute oral report on your ecological topic.
for Tuesday, Nov. 13
Lesson eight: Social Issues.
Prepare entire lesson. Write p. 219, composition V. Speak on contemporary problems in Russian society related to crime, the economy or the environment
for Thursday, Nov. 15
Classroom discussion in Russian of areas of interest and specialization with guidelines for preparing a mini-course of one's own for individualized instruction.
for Tuesday, Nov. 20
Consulations on chosen area and presentation for critique of materials assembled and work in progress.
for Tuesday, Nov. 27
Lesson nine: Russia and the West.
Prepare entire lesson. Write p. 250, composition B. Be prepared to give a ten minute lecture on a topic related to Russia and the West.
for Thursday, Nov. 29
Present completed course template for specialized Russian course.
for Tuesday, Dec. 4
Prepare a five-seven minute presentation on what you have learned in our course and remaining linguistic challenges.
for Thursday, Dec. 6
Final projects to be presented using computer projection.