Level 1 consists of
- a Student Book (with audio): with or without answer keys
- a Teacher Manual (with tests)
- Digital Illustrations (slides)
- Games Supplement
Each level offers 16 lessons of structured lessons with lots of audio and grammar explanations.
Level 1 Lesson 1 – 6
The first 6 lessons teach the students how to read and write in Russian. The Russian Alphabet is introduced in a special order that allows the students to start reading words and sentences from lesson one. The letters are supported by basic vocabulary and grammar structures that allow the student to speak from the very first page:
- greetings and introductions, articles, verb “to be”, unstressed “o”, intonation, who/what is this?, or, and, gender of nouns, personal pronouns вы and мы, counting 0-10.
Level 1 Lesson 10 – 16
The next 10 lessons work on:
- Pronunciation (vowels, soft vowels, voiced and voiceless consonants, 7 letter rule, silent letters, hush rule)
- Vocabulary (colors, family, first name, last name, patronymic, informal names, which name to use and when, professions, calling on the phone, nationalities, I love fruit, I work for the firm, they live in, going to the theater)
- Grammar (adjectives, what, where, over here/there, what is your profession?, whose, ‘Вы’ or ‘ты’ ?, possessive pronouns, short form adjectives, what is your nationality?, capitalization, verbs, present tense, personal pronouns in the accu
sative, plural nouns, verb conjugation, plural adjectives, plural possessive pronouns, russian case system of nouns, prepositional case, , very formal form of address, demonstrative pronouns)
The students get the opportunity to read, write, speak, and listen in every lesson. All the previously covered topics and grammar are incorporated into the future lessons to allow to review and practice. All the information is introduced in our signature step by step approach, allowing the students to absorb the previous material and add the new one onto what they can already do in small easily digestible pieces. This minimizes the feeling of being “overwhelmed” and the loss of the already covered topics.
NO ANSWER KEYS IN THE STUDENT BOOK
Preview Pages from School_SB1
If you do not want your student to have the answers at the end of the student’s book – please inquire about ordering the Student Book without answer keys. That edition is also available for purchase.
TEACHER’S MANUAL
The teacher’s manual is designed to help the teacher minimize the prep work for each lesson. All the texts and exercises are listed in the order that we recommend. All the answers are listed in the teacher’s book, all the grammar and cultural points are presented for the teacher’s own information or to convey to the students. Each book also contains tips and tricks on how to better explain certain topics and review the old or cover the new material. Test are integrated throughout the book to help measure the students’ progress.
Preview Pages from School_TM1
WHEN SHOULD YOU MOVE TO THE NEXT LESSON
We recommend to teachers to avoid or at least minimize any additional vocabulary/structures outside of what the book offers, especially at level 1. If your students advance really fast, add more games and speaking and listening practice on the same material, ensuring that the new phrases and grammar structures “roll off the student’s tongue” rather than rushing to the next topic when the student says/seem they understand. Only by hearing the student present what you just taught them can you be sure that it’s time to move on.
THE IMPORTANCE OF USING THE AUDIO
Remember that each book comes with free downloadable audio and the audio script. Assigning listening to the audio exercises as part of the homework is a great way to improve the student’s retention. We recommend to cover all the exercises in the book orally in class and then do them in writing and then do the entire listening section for the covered lesson as part of the student’s homework.
GAMES DURING THE LESSONS
You can use our games supplement to help you extend the practice for each lesson.
ADDITIONAL MATERIALS TO GO ALONG WITH LEVEL 1
If you would like to add more to level 1, we recommend to add the Handwriting 1,2,3 series. It’s best to start it after the first 6 lessons are covered (or even alongside the first 6 lessons IF the students are already familiar with the material or are especially gifted learners). This book follows the same letter introduction style as the first 6 lessons of the Level 1 book and allows the students to start practicing Russian handwriting – a vital piece of both Russian culture and everyday life.
TRAINING AND COACHING
If you would like some help working with our books, we offer a complimentary 30 minute training to any teacher who uses our books in class.
Additional coaching is available in 45 minute intervals. We can help you come up with a curriculum for your semester, any documentation/handouts that are needed, explain the best ways to introduce certain especially hard topics or answer any questions about your specific students and the way they are working through our books.
ILLUSTRATIONS/DIGITAL SLIDES
The digital slides are another great tool that comes with the School Edition. Once you purchase the slides, they can be used by all the teachers in the school, modified and shared with the students. We did all the legwork and compiled the photos and illustrations for the core grammar and vocabulary points for each and every lesson. The last slide offers the list of the key vocabulary and grammar structure. You can use the slides to introduce the new vocabulary and grammar as well as use them for practice and games. Students really appreciate the bright visual component that the digital slides provide.
SPECIAL EDITIONS AND MODIFICATIONS
We also offer to modify our books to your school’s/students’ needs. We can add a logo, remove certain parts of the student’s books, add additional tests or any other modification that you might require. This type of work will be priced as a one time work order and we will provide you with an estimate depending on the scope of work before the contract for the work is signed.
If you have any additional questions please email us at info@russianstepbystep.com