Inside Out

e-lesson Week starting: 2nd June 2008

1. Russia
This week’s lesson is about Russia, the world’s largest country.

Level
Intermediate and above (equivalent to CEF level B1 and above)

How to use the lesson

1. Brainstorm on the subject of Russia. What do your students know about the country as it is
today, or about the important events that took place there during the twentieth century?

2. Give your students five to ten minutes to read through Worksheet A, encouraging them to
look up new vocabulary. (Note that some words that might be new are not in the glossary
because they form part of Exercise 1.) Tell them they are going to answer a series of
questions on the text, but that they shouldn’t write anything down at this stage.

3. Divide the students into pairs and hand out Worksheet B. Ask the students to work together
to complete Exercise 1, in which they have to find the words to match the definitions. To
make the exercise easier you could provide some of the missing letters.

4. Check answers in open class.

Answers: 1. historian 2. composer 3. billionaire 4. medal 5. collapse 6. competitor

7. weightlifting 8. eighth 9. revolution 10. capitalism 11. prestigious 12. currently

5. Keeping students in their pairs, hand out Worksheet C and ask them to work together to
complete the crossword.
6. Check answers in open class.

Answers: 1. communist 2. biggest/largest 3. appears 4. economic 5. tennis

6. increasing 7. Europe 8. has 9. birth 10. fought 11. minority 12. gymnastics

If the sentences have been completed correctly, St Petersburg will read from top to bottom.

2. Related Websites
Send your students to these websites, or just take a look yourself.

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia
A short, simple text on Russia from Simple English Wikipedia, with links to similar texts on
Moscow, St Petersburg, the Soviet Union, etc. Accessible to intermediate level.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1102275.stm
Russia’s ‘country profile’ from the BBC website. Intermediate level and above.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/russia/
An introduction to Russia from the Lonely Planet travel guide. Intermediate level and above.

This page has been downloaded from www.insideout.net.

It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2008.