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Parent guide · Grade 1 Russian · Unit 2

Lesson 2.1 Дом, окно́, дверь, стол

Written for the parent. The Read aloud parts are written to your child; read them as they are. Do this parts are for you. Answers for you are marked Listen for.

At a glance

Time
3 sessions of 15–20 minutes
Goal
Name house, window, door and table in Russian. Point and say Э́то дом. Look closely at a painting of a Moscow courtyard.
You need
  • Construction paper (two sheets)
  • Safety scissors (with a parent)
  • Glue
  • Crayons
  • A sketchbook or plain paper, and crayons
  • A King James Bible
Print
Worksheet A · the lesson page (it also has a short video (37:07))

Steps

  1. Do this together: Draw a house in the air with your finger: walls, roof, a door, two windows. Today you learn those words in Russian.

  2. Read aloud: The story. Vasily Polenov lived in Moscow, in an apartment with a window looking down into a courtyard. One sunny summer morning he painted what he saw: a little wooden house, green grass, children playing, a woman carrying a bucket, a horse and cart, and the golden domes and white bell tower of a church shining behind the trees.

    Read aloud: How Russian sounds. Дом is dohm, like dome. Окно́ is ahk-NOH, loud at the end. Дверь is dvyehr, with a soft r at the end. Стол is stohl. Э́то дом. This is a house.

    Read aloud: Say it and move. Make a roof with your arms: дом! Make a square with your fingers and look through it: окно́! Knock: дверь! Pat the table: стол!

  3. Do this: Say each word clearly; your child says it back twice. Point to a picture or the real thing when you can.

    • дом (dom) [dohm]: house, home
    • окно́ (okno) [ahk-NOH]: window
    • дверь (dver) [dvyehr]: door
    • стол (stol) [stohl]: table
  4. A sunny Moscow courtyard in summer: a wooden house and sheds, a grassy yard with a path, children playing, a woman with a bucket, a horse and cart, and church domes and a tall white bell tower beyond the trees under a blue sky with white clouds.
    Moscow Courtyard, Vasily Polenov, 1878. Image: Wikimedia Commons, public domain

    Do this: Look at the picture together for a quiet minute before anyone talks.

    Read aloud: Polenov painted this from his own window. It is an ordinary morning, but he saw how beautiful it was. Russians love this painting because it feels like a quiet summer day in old Moscow.

    Point and find:

    • Find a house. Say дом.
    • Can you find a window? Say окно́.
    • What animals do you see?
    • Find the church with golden domes.

    Ask:

    • “What can you see from your window?”
    • “What do you like about your home?”

  5. Show: Someone knocks. What did they knock on? Say it in Russian.

    Say this: “People knock on a door.”

    Say this: “Door is дверь.”

    Answer: Дверь!

    Show: Point to your house and say “This is a house.”

    Say this: “This is: э́то.”

    Say this: “House: дом.”

    Answer: Э́то дом.

  6. Do this: Ask out loud. Let your child try first; help only after a real try.

    Ask: Say house in Russian.

    Listen for: Дом.

    Ask: Say window in Russian.

    Listen for: Окно́.

    Ask: Say door in Russian.

    Listen for: Дверь.

    3 more on the lesson page.

  7. Read aloud: Make a paper house with a door and windows that open.

    Steps:

    1. Draw a big house on one sheet with a door and two windows.
    2. A parent cuts three sides of the door and windows so they open like flaps.
    3. Glue it on top of the second sheet. Draw your family behind the windows and door.
    4. Open each flap and say: окно́! дверь! Then point to the whole house: Э́то дом!

    Tips for you:

    • Draw a table behind one window and say стол.

    Done when your child can say:

    • My house has a door and windows that open.
    • I can name them in Russian.

  8. Do this: Your child picks one or more; you write the date.

    1. Draw a house, a window, a door and a table in your picture dictionary. A parent writes дом, окно́, дверь and стол.

  9. Read aloud: Old Russian village houses were built of logs and had carved wooden frames around the windows, painted in bright colors. Each village had its own patterns. Many of these houses still stand today.

    • Saying OHK-no. The loud part is at the end: ahk-NOH.
    • Saying a hard r in дверь. The ь at the end makes it soft: dvyehr’.

  11. A parent calls out a Russian word: окно́, дверь, стол. The child runs and touches it. Then switch: the child calls, the parent runs.

  12. Say this: “Tell me what you learned today.”

    Listen for: Name house, window, door and table in Russian.; Point and say Э́то дом.; Look closely at a painting of a Moscow courtyard.

  13. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

    Joshua 24:15 (KJV)

    In the Russian Bible (Synodal translation), this verse reads: <i class="ru-bible" lang="ru">а я и дом мой будем служить Господу</i> Joshua told the people that his whole household would serve the Lord. A home is a place where a family can love and serve God together.

Spread over the week

3 sessions of 15–20 minutes. Stop while it is still going well.

  1. Session 1. Warm-up, then read and teach the new idea and the new words. Picture study and show how.
  2. Session 2. Practice together, then start the project. Finish the project, then the sketchbook.
  3. Session 3. Narration, the game and the Scripture.