Using Russian Folktales in
the English Lessons
Books open up other worlds to young children, and making reading an
enjoyable activity is a very important part of the language learning experience. Reading
is one of the main sources of language and socio-cultural information.
But how much do our students read? Of course, they read texts in their textbooks and
additional texts from readers. Frankly speaking, our students are not used to reading a
lot. May be it’s our fault? Some teachers say they don’t have enough hours per week
for teaching home reading, and if some teachers have such an opportunity they have to
prepare a lot for home reading lessons. The opportunity of using books for home reading is
enormous, because they help us not only to learn a foreign language, but to enrich
ourselves by understanding better the socio-cultural reality of the country.
It is important and necessary to study and read literature. Literature is what makes us
human beings, who we are; it gives us a sense of being in control of our destiny. The more
we read the more we get a sense of understanding the world that we live in. Of course,
yes, it is important to read and study literature in English, in the sense that we want to
learn English. For us to be fluent in English we must read everything which is written in
English, including books for home reading. While reading a story our students become
interested in knowing everything about the story, and at the same time they are also
learning a language.
Reader by T. Klementyeva offers young children many interesting
stories and fairytales. Some of them are a good source for motivation in learning English.
Working with the Reader, I decided to use our Russian folktales as well.
A folktale is a wonderful phenomenon of national culture. It helps to develop our mind and
our heart; it teaches us to distinguish between lie and truth; to distinguish real beauty
and folk wisdom from foolishness.
Folktales show us lessons of kindness and justice, the lessons of honesty and diligence. A
folktale teaches us to be brave and kind; but it does so without boring directions,
showing the reader what can happen to him if he treats others badly.
I think we should train our children by tales. While reading a fairytale we are very
uneasy about the end of it and when everything is OK we are satisfied with a happy ending.
Usually a folktale depicts the characters and the situations of everyday people’s life.
Many tales were told first in oral form from generation to generation. They were collected
and written down much later.
Today a folktale is not a wrecked monument of the remote past; but it is a bright and
living part of our national culture. It gives children pride in their own heritage and
builds their self-esteem, encouraging respect for other cultures. The students study
English-speaking cultures, comparing them with their own, and practising behaving in
foreign ways which provides them with a cross-cultural experience. Such knowledge can
spark students’ interest in values across cultures and deeper cultural knowledge. (In Reader
there are many English fairytales as well). Like a particular genre of literature,
folktales have the following characteristics:
– lasting from generation to generation
– standardised openings and closings (Once upon a time...)
– teach cultural values, responsibility and morality
– show struggle between good and evil
– justice wins out.
Besides, folktales strengthen all areas of a child’s development.
Cognitive Development
introduce classic literature of different cultures
help a child to distinguish between real and imaginary
encourage problem-solving techniques
Emotional Development
help a child to become comfortable at the lesson
resolve tension or conflict implied in most stories
encourage a child to “try on” different roles
Language Development
aid memory through rhyming, patterns of speech and repetition
suggest different forms of communication (animal voices; little,
middle-sized or big voices)
encourage the use of proper grammar structures and syntax
Motor Development
Social Development
encourage a child to wait for a turn to act a popular role
encourage teamwork and flexibility
engage a child as an active participant in an activity
As you see, a folktale is not only a text for reading, but it’s a
good opportunity to acquaint our students with our culture, customs and traditions. It’s
our heritage which helps us to understand better our country and ourselves.
I want to share my experience of working with some Russian fairytales in my English
lessons. According to this plan you can create your own method of working with different
folktales.
“The Three Bears”
Once upon a time there lived a little girl called Masha. One day she
went to the forest and lost her way. The girl tried to find her way but couldn’t. She
walked along the road through the forest till she came to a house.
“What a nice house!”, she exclaimed and pushed the door. The girl entered the house
because the door wasn’t locked. Three bears lived in that house.
One bear was the father. He was big and shaggy and his name was Father Bear. Another bear
was the mother. She wasn’t very big and her name was Mother Bear. They had a son, called
Baby Bear. He was very little and smart. The bears were out because they went for a walk
to wait for their porridge to cool.
Their house wasn’t very large. There were two rooms: a big dining room and a bedroom.
There was one window and one table in the dining room. The girl entered the room and saw
three plates with porridge. The first plate was very large; it was Father Bear’s plate.
The second one was medium in size and it was Mother Bear’s plate. Baby Bear’s plate
was the smallest and it was blue.
First the girl tried Father Bear’s porridge but it was too hot. Then the girl tried
Mother Bear’s porridge and it was not very tasty. Towards the end she tried Baby
Bear’s porridge. Oh! It was very tasty and she ate it.
The girl wanted to sit on a chair. First she sat on Father Bear’s chair, but it was too
large for her. Then she sat on Mother Bear’s chair and it was not very comfortable. The
girl saw a very nice chair and sat on it. It was very cozy!
Mashenka wanted to take a nap and went into the bedroom. There were three beds in it.
First the girl tried out Father Bear’s bed, but it was very wide for her. Then she tried
out Mother Bear’s bed and her bed was too high for the girl. The girl tried out the
third bed and it was up for her! So she felt asleep.
The three bears came home back. They were hungry and wanted to eat. Father Bear took his
plate and with a great big voice said, “Somebody has been eating my porridge!” Mother
Bear took her plate and with a middle-sized voice said, “Somebody has been eating my
porridge!” Baby Bear saw his empty plate and with a little wee voice cried, “Somebody
has eaten my porridge!”
Father Baby looked at his chair and cried, “Who sat in my chair?” Mother Baby looked
at her chair and cried too, “Who sat in my chair?” Baby Bear saw his broken chair and
squeaked, “Who sat in my chair and broke it!” The three bears went into their bedroom.
Father Bear looked at his bed and cried, “Who lay in my bed?” Mother Bear looked at
her bed and said, “Who lay in my bed?” Baby Bear climbed into his bed and squeaked,
“Somebody is lying in my bed!” He wanted to bite the girl and cried, “Let’s eat
her up! Come on! Come on!”
The girl opened her eyes, saw the bears and ran away. The three bears couldn’t catch
her!
Pre-reading
Before reading this tale you can use some topics for discussion.
1. Are you allowed to go walking alone to the forest? (to the park, to
the river, or other areas)
2. Is it safe to do this?
3. What manners should we have when we visit our friend’s house?
Reading
1. Read the text to the class.
2. Read it again and ask the children to fill in some repetitive phrases.
For example:
First she tried the porridge of _____ (Father Bear). But it was _____
(too hot).
Then the girl tried the porridge of _____. But it was _____.
After that she tried the porridge of _____. It was _____.
First the girl tried out _____ bed but it was very _____.
Then she tried out _____. But it was _____.
The girl tried out _____ and it was _____. And so on _____.
This activity is fun for children and it reinforces the plot of the
story as well as the patterned language. Of course, many children have already read or
heard this popular folktale when they were babies; but now they read it in English!
Postreading (or critical thinking questions)
1. Should the girl have gone into the house when she knew no one was
home? Why or why not?
2. Should the bears have locked their doors? Why or why not?
3. How do you think the bears felt when they first noticed that someone had been in their
house?
4. Should the girl have run away? Why or why not?
5. Why do you think the girl ran away when she saw the bears?
6. Do you think the girl will ever go into another house when the people who live there
are not at home? Why or why not?
7. How would the story be different if she had known to be careful in strange places?
8. What manners do you think the girl needed to learn?
Besides usual methods of working with the text, you can create
different activities for student motivation.
Art Idea
Ask children to draw the three bears’ house in a box lid, and tell
them to draw furniture and kitchen items for each room so they can retell this folktale.
They can also draw the bears and cut them out. Have children use the characters while
retelling the tale.
Social Studies
Ask the children to draw map of the woods. Brainstorm with them
descriptions of the woods where the three bears’ home was located. Have children imagine
what the bears saw on their walk (animals, flowers, plants, trees, etc.). Place students
in cooperative groups and let them use their imagination to draw a map of the woods. After
that they can share their maps.
Sitting in a Chair
Let each student draw a chair, cut it out and colour it. Ask them to
write what they think about when they sit in a cozy chair. You can display the finished
chairs on a special board.
Categorising
This tale is a good source for working on grammar topic Degrees of
Comparison. Ask the children to draw and cut out three bears (big, medium, little),
three beds, three plates, three chairs. Tell children to place the picture cards in groups
to show likeness and after that with the help of your students you can make a rule about
degrees of comparison.
Writing
– Ask the children to write their own endings to this tale.
– What might happen if Baby Bear came to your house while your parents were not home?
Role-Playing
Because the folktale “The Three Bears” is familiar to our children,
it can be easily role-played. Role-playing has a lot of advantages while learning English.
Suitability of Folktales for Dramatisation
– plots clear with no digressions
– lots of dialogue
– happy endings
– fun to dramatise and compare folktales across cultures
The Value of Role-Playing in the Classroom
– students involved in the process
– cooperative learning
– develops language, pronunciation, oral reading skills
– helps overcome self-consciousness
– builds self-esteem: improvement builds pride
– provides a fun activity
I think all these activities will help the teachers of English to
create their own with different Russian folktales. As you see, the famous Russian folktale
“The Three Bears” can be used while working on different topics:
– table manners or manners
– safety techniques (How to be safe at home, in the woods, with strangers)
– grammar (degrees of comparison)
According to American researchers we tend to remember:
– 10% of what we read
– 20% of what we hear
– 30% of what we see
– 50% of what we hear and see
– 70% of what we say
– 90% of what we both say and do
And what is your opinion, dear colleagues?
By Tatyana Abramova,
Chitinski reg.
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