Lessons in Kindness

Lessons in Kindness Khasavyurt, Gymnasium # 1, Khasavyurt ACCESS School, Access Coordinator Mikhail Nokhov English Access Microscholarship Program Khasavyurt 2010

Project Coordinator: Myrtis Mixon – U.S.A.

Co-editors David Fay Natalia Fomenko Elena Lubnina English Language Office, American Embassy in Moscow

“ Lessons in Kindness” at KhasACCESS
Time: 2008-2009.
Participants: ACCESS students.
Result: Book of Students’ Stories .

How it all began… 2008. Elista Summer Camp

The Young Authors Elina Soltanat Zhavgerat Naida Sabikhat

Almina Zaira Dzhamilia Aigul

Project Steps
Work with “key stories”.
Writing your own story.
Drawing pictures to the stories.
Making a film after the stories.

Story-Writing at School
Story-writing in an EL course plan: choose the topic, plan 3(4) lessons for productive writing.
Prepare key stories: find sample stories to introduce the problem / topic.
Teach the students to write a story.
Edit the stories: make a book of stories / edit the stories on the school website / etc..
Post writing: make films after the students’ stories.

Teaching Writing
Lead-in: present a/- key story/-ies to introduce the problem. Homework.
Key-stories presentation. Discussing similar situations in students’ lives. Homework.
First writing (home story, “spider”, legs, free writing) . Discussion. Homework.
(4). Publication. Films.

What’s the Result?
Story-writing
improves Ss’ knowledge of English;
draws Ss’ attention to the problems and helps solve them;
motivates Ss to read, write and speak English.

Making Video Films

ACCESS student’s Story My mother has taught me to take care of Nina, my younger sister, and that we should always be ready to help each other in difficult times. One day my sister came home in tears. “Nina, what’s the matter with you? Why are you crying?” I asked. “ Nothing,” she said. “Something has got into my eye. Everything is OK, Naida.” “ I can see that something is troubling you.” Finally she said, “Someone hurt me today.” “ Tell me about it.” Then she told her story. “During the break the boys were laughing loudly. I asked them to be quiet but then they were rude to me, saying it was silly for me to tell them how to behave. I know they wanted to show everybody that they were cool.” I listened. I wanted to help her so much, because I am happy to have a little sister who trusts me. “I think those boys wanted to attract your attention. They don’t know that classmates must be tolerant and respect each other,” I explained. Ismailova Naida,14

Exercises
I. Understanding the story. Tell your partner what the lesson is in the story.
II. Vocabulary. Explain these words to your partner.
A. Difficult B. the break C. trusts
III. Now you Talk
1. Discuss a time when you felt hurt by your classmates.
2. Talk about a time when you saw school children being rude to each other.
3. Describe your relationship with a sister or brother or cousin.
IV. Now you Write
Write about a relationship between sisters or brothers. 2. Write a summary of this story. 3. Write a description of the two sisters. Add details.
IV. Grammar Practice. Change the adjectives in bold to the comparative. Practice saying both sentences
Example: He was careful with money. He was more careful with money.
Nina was the young sister. 2. The boys were rude to her. 3. They said it was silly to say something. 4. My sister thinks I am trustworthy. 5. They must be tolerant toward her.
IV. Role Play
1. Two sisters: They argue about who decides which TV program to watch.
2. Naida and mother: They discuss how Naida should treat Nina.
3. Two sisters: They meet on the playground where some boys are being mean.
4. Nina and two boys: They argue on the playground.
5. Teacher and one boy: She tells him to be kinder.

And What is Next?
A year has already passed since I began using the book “Lessons in Kindness” both in senior Grades in my gymnasium and with the students in ACCESS school. Now I can say this book is one of the best school books ever published. Before this book was introduced we dealt only with the textbooks the authors of which tried to influence upon the children and make them take the material studied in the way they saw it. The children had to believe them for granted. But here is quite another pair of shoes. Created by the students of one and the same age, representing different cultures, religion, nationalities these stories have become a good motivating factor for learning English. Children are curious about the events described in the stories which happened to their coevals and they read the stories with great interest.

Besides they learn about the problems not from grown ups but from the students who are of their age and have mostly the same problems. The world is large but the problems are the same. Reading these stories, analyzing the actions of the heroes, thinking about their own reaction if they were in the place of the heroes and discussing their own deeds they learn to respond properly to such situations. The stories teach the students to be kind and benevolent to people. I have participated in 6 teachers’ professional development seminars and distributed more than two hundred books between the teachers of the schools in the city and republic and they use them successfully at the lessons of home reading and in extracurricular activity.

The Authors get the Book

Presenting the Book at the Teachers’ Conference

Presentation of the Book to the Teachers of English from Different Countries of the World at the Professional Development Seminar in Hawaii Pacific University in summer, 2009.

Foreign Teachers About the Book
Sandra McKay supervised our seminar in Hawaii Pacific University in 2009. The teachers from our International group and she were the first to whom I introduced the book. Today I got the following letter from her:
Hi Misha, Attached is a review of the book written by three experienced ACCESS teachers from Uruguay. They were extremely impressed with the book. Sandy

Sonya Alvares Rosario Geraldes After looking at Accessing English through Students’ Stories , we believe that the book is suitable for ACCESS students in different parts of the world. In our opinion, this book is the result of an excellent combination of several factors: an engaging program, the positive and natural energy of adolescents, and committed teachers and materials developers. Only this perfect combination could have presented this book as a result.

Stories written by real students are usually appealing to them; in this case, the 51 stories provide examples of how students can progress in their learning of the language. The topics proposed promote general cultural values and foster understanding as the author states in the introduction. These features help students become more tolerant and respectful citizens.
The activities that accompany the stories provide good opportunities for learning new vocabulary, practicing reading and creating starting points for writing. The sequencing and grading of the activities seem appropriate for the target audience; these activities progress from less to more difficult, and they take into account personalization.
As we were reading the stories, we felt it would be a good idea to start compiling stories from our own region. These stories could be examined by specialists who could develop activities for the publication of a second book. Eventually, there could be publications integrating stories from different cultures, which would give this project an even more global perspective.

Clara De la Rosa - Mexico
First of all congratulants!! I think the ACCESS students from Russia have made a great job. The stories show not only the linguistic and communicative competence, but the values and attitudes the adolescents need to comprehend in order to make them feel included into the society. On the other hand, the idea to prepare exercises taking the stories as a text is a big step not just to teach the language, but to motivate your students and also the ones who read and take them as a lesson. The formers can look for something else, and the latter can see that learning English is possible. In short, you are teaching not only the language, you are forming adolescents. I hope my comment can be useful. Once again congrtulations to the authors of the project !

Michael Bailey – Belfast, U.S.A. I'm writing today to let you know how much I have enjoyed reading and watching the videos on your "Lessons in Kindness" website. I hope you don't mind if I include a link to the site on our "Global Classroom" website and encourage our incoming students to read and view the stories also. Our Global Classroom includes not only Mikhail's class but also students and teachers from Vladimir, and Dylym in Russia, and also India, Morocco, France, Azerbaijan, Japan, Palestine, Mali, Algeria and Taiwan. I believe the stories will resonate with all our students. Each year they marvel at their similarities despite some remarkable cultural differences. This is a great project, congratulations. Sincerely yours, Mike

Rajsri Ram Mohan - Noida- Public-Sr-Sec-School , India Terrific! The stories and the videos have produced a great impression on me, my colleagues and students. The book is nice collection of stories which happen to us in our everyday life. The children raise the problem and give answers how to act either in this or that situation. The themes of the stories are actual for India with our religious and caste prejudice . Thanks a lot to the editorial board and the authors. We read, discuss and speak about the event in the stories and then write our own stories. Mikhail, thank you for sending us this very nice book.

Kadachieva Haibat Head of the English Philology Department, Dagestan state University
In tense atmosphere of ethnic conflicts, political clashes, universal indifference and aggressiveness the book "Lessons in Kindness. Assessing English through Students' Stories" can be recommended for bringing up tolerance, mercifulness and mutual respect. Stories written in a very intimate, confidential manner inspire interest and involvement of the reader. It's very interesting to observe young authors demonstrate wisdom and deep insight into human nature. Their observations and meditations are notable for their simplicity, transparency, originality and comprehensiveness. It seems pedagogically valuable to teach pupils to life and to English through their contemporaries' vision of life.

Zinaida Mamontova English Chair, Teachers’ Development Institute, Makhachkala I was given a copy of the book “Lessons in Kindness” by Mikhail Nokhov while he was giving a workshop presenting this book to the teachers of English from different schools of our republic. All of them were also given copies. I started reading the book at once and the next day I asked the teachers to write a short story of a similar kind. To my great surprise many of them failed. Then I asked Mikhail to teach them how to do it and during two days he taught them. At the end of the seminar we held a competition for the best teachers’ story. Mind, that it was held under the impression the book produced on all of us.

The Teachers Who Use This Book Damadayeva Patimat, School # 13, with advanced Learning of English Makhachkala Chutueva Tatiana, School # 13, with Advanced Learning of English Makhachkala

Yakimetz Galina, School 13 with Advanced Learning of English, Makhachkala

The book “Lessons in Kindness” is valuable both in the process of teaching English and bringing up a young generation of students. The idea of bringing up the children in the traditions of doing good to people is a leitmotif of every children’s story. The book widens the students’ notions of means of communication, motivates them to talk and to discuss problems raised in the stories.
More than that, the students are provided with the material which is similar to the problems they meet in their everyday life. They get the information from their coevals, who are of different cultures, nationalities and religion.
The exercises following the stories make them think, digest the material read , analyze and start speaking or writing their own stories.
Such approach helps creating the atmosphere of trust, friendship and mutual understanding at the lessons when the students are involved into creative process of learning, experiencing and expressing their own thoughts in English.
Magomedova Bella, School 13 with Advanced Learning of English, Makhachkala

Sharing the Books with the students from Dylym Gymnasium.

Khachalayeva Natalia, Gymnasium, Dylym I think the book is great I am lucky to know Mikhail and to work with him. My students like the stories very much. They also like the activities after the texts, especially role-playing. The situations in the texts are similar to everyday situations and it is easy for hem to pretend that they are the main heroes. . I suppose the project should go on collecting more stories and teaching our children to be kind and tolerant. The book encourages my students to express their thoughts and feelings in English and it makes me happy. I am, very thankful to the authors of the project for providing the teachers with such a wonderful book.

Baturbieva Elmira, Gymnasium # 1, Khasavyurt Idikova Daisis, Gymnasium # 1, Khasavyurt

Adzhieva Maya – Lyceum, Khasavyurt Sergeyeva Irina – Lyceum, Khasavyurt

The teachers willingly use "Lessons in Kindness" as a classroom resource for their students regarding issues of tolerance that are important to understand. It encourages them think about their own behaviors and attitudes among friends and strangers. It helps them as they read and talk about common issues and motivates them to write and share their own stories of tolerance.

For more information regarding "Lessons in Kindness" go to: www.accesskhas.ru “Lessons in Kindness”& “Lessons in Kindness II” or to http://access.lingvograd.ru

Lessons in Kindness

by School on Oct 24, 2010

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