Урок "Традиції та звичаї українців"

UKRAINIAN     traditions  and customs

 

Ukrainian Traditions and Customs

Level – A2 (pre – intermediate)

Objectives:

• to develop students’ reading, speaking and writing on the topic;
• to teach students to work with computers;
• to provide students with more information on the topic “Ukrainian traditions and customs”;
• to teach students to respect their native land, its traditions and customs;
• to identify the details from the text for reading;
• to develop students’ creative thinking;
• to practice communication on the topic;

Equipment: blackboard, computers, cards with tasks, texts for the students, tables with proverbs.

Procedure

1. Greeting

Teacher: Good morning, dear children! Glad to see you! Sit down, please, and get ready for the lesson.  

2. Warm-up activities.

Teacher: Today we are going to speak about traditions and customs in Ukraine. I hope you’ll enjoy this lesson. Please, be active and friendly to each other.  I think that by the end of the lesson will be more aware of Ukrainian traditions and customs and you will be able to speak about them.

   Each nation has its own traditions and customs.  They want their traditions like their buildings, institutions, nature, life itself.

   But first of all I’d like you to read a poem about our Motherland, Ukraine. 

 

 

 

Blue sky and yellow field of grain

Is on the flag of my Ukraine.

Its emblem speaks to all the world                               

With FREEDOM – such a lovely word.

Bread – salt will give to a friendly guest

They work and sing the song of praise

To God who’s able from ash to raise.

Ukraine rejoices in the Lord

Reviving from His mighty Word

Forever lives who’s born again.

Long live and pray, my land Ukraine!

                                      Yevgen Polischuk

Teacher: I think  you’ll agree with me that the motto of our lesson will be  “He, who loves not his country, can love nothing”.

Now, will you look at these tables, please. Your task will be to match the parts of the proverbs and say what they are all about.

 

Every country…	but never his nature.
When in Rome	so many customs.
Habit…	a snowy beard.
So many countries,…	do as the Romans do.
The wolf may lose his teeth,…	is the second nature.
Traditions wear…	has its customs.

 

Teacher: I think these proverbs tell us that customs and traditions play a very important role in our life. As for me, I can’t imagine Ukrainians without them. And what is your attitude to this point. I would like you to express it.

P1: Traditions and customs are important because they contain some of our best knowledge.

P2: I think that traditions and customs vary regionally within Ukraine. There are significant cultural differences between city and village, West and East Ukraine.

P3: In my opinion, Ukraine customs and traditions absorbed the experience of many generations of people who lived in the country during its long history.

P4: To my mind, national traditions are like a heart of the national cultures. They determine the way people live: their language, religious belief, life values, social relationships, material goods – food, clothing, buildings, tools, etc.

P5: Ukraine is a wonderful country with rich culture and extremely interesting traditions. Ukrainians pay great attention to observing them. They try to keep all traditions and customs of their ancestors.

Teacher: Thank you.

 

 

3. Listening Comprehension

1. Pre – listening activity

Teacher: Before listening to the text about one of the Ukrainian traditions try to organize a discussion on the topic.

1. What do you know about embroidery?
2. How do you think is it important to keep such traditions?

2. While – listening activity

Teacher: Now you will listen to the text about embroidery.  What is it about?

                                                     Embroidery

                               

                                                 

 

    Embroidery is an old Ukrainian tradition. It is a creative work. The Ukrainian women are very good at it. There are different variants of ornaments, clothes and house decorations.

   There is a legend about the black embroidered blouses. When the Turks attacked Ukraine near the river Zbruch, they killed all the men. There were only girls in the villages. They couldn’t marry. It was a great sorrow. The girls embroidered blouses in black threads and wore them. After that the seven generations of the girls dressed black embroidered blouses. They even married in them.

   The Ukrainians like to embroider towels and put them on the wall. It is an old custom. In the past all houses were decorated with towels. A house without a towel was like a family without children. A towel was a face of a house and of a hostess. It was used in everyday life: when the child was born, when the guests came, when somebody left home or got married. Bread and salt on the Ukrainian towel showed great hospitality of the Ukrainian people.

   Towels were used for decorating the houses. The ornaments and colours of towels were different in different regions. A lot of songs about a towel have been composed in Ukraine.

3. Post – listening activity

Teacher: Now listen again and mark the true (T) and false (F) statements.

1. Embroidery is a custom that is widely-spread all over the world.
2. It is used as the house decoration.
3. According to the old legend all the girls who embroidered the blouses in black were killed.
4. The seven generations of the girls wore black embroidered blouses because they could not marry.
5. In the past all houses were decorated with embroideries.
6. The embroidered towel was a mirror of the beauty of the hostess in the house.

Keys: 1F, 2T, 3F, 4F, 5T, 6F.

4. Reading Comprehension

1. Pre-reading activity

Teacher: Before you read and speak about some Ukrainian customs and traditions let us find out if you know the following words. Match the definitions on the left with the words on the right.

1. A formal act or series of formal acts                                               a) an apartment;

 performed on a religious or public occasion.

2. A few people who are seen together or                                           b) a ceremony;

are associated, especially a man and woman together.

3. A musical instrument with strings.                                               c) a relative;
4. The state of being adult.                                                                d) a couple;
5. A person in the same family as another.                                        e) the adulthood;
6. The action of supplying something.                                               f) a greeting;
7. The state or fact of being responsible.                                           g) a violin;
8. The place where one lives, especially                                             h) the supply;

with one’s family.

9. The first words used when one sees somebody                               i) the responsibility;

or writes to somebody.

10. A set of rooms rented for a holiday.                                              j) a home;

Keys:

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
b	d	g	e	c	h	i	j	f	a

 

2. While-reading activity

Teacher: Now take your seats at the computers and read the text about some customs in Ukraine. Match choices (A – I) to (1 – 6). There are three choices you do not need to use.

   1. Young couples usually get married in their early twenties. A marriage is legal only if performed in a “Wedding palace”, but most couples today also have a religious ceremony. Wedding parties in urban areas tend to be elaborate but do not involve much tradition. On the other hand, weddings in rural areas are big events that usually last for three days. Most weddings include the traditional trio music of the violin, tambourine, and dulcimer.

 

   2. The average family has two children. Both parents usually work outside the home. Child care is expensive and in short supply; however, many elderly parents live with their adult children and often assume responsibility for child care during the day. Women do most household chores.

 

 

   3. It is common for parents to support children until they reach adulthood and even after they are married. In turn, children are expected to care for aging parents when it becomes necessary. It is also common for those who have settled in the city to send their children to stay with their grandparents in the country for several weeks during the summer.

   4. Most families in urban areas live in small one- or two-bedroom apartments. State-owned apartments are the most affordable. Private rented accommodations are expensive. Few people own their apartments. Homes in towns and cities have such utilities as electricity, gas and water, while houses in rural areas are much simpler.

   5.When meeting informally, men and women usually wave the hand and give a verbal greeting such as Pryvit (“Hi”) or Dobryden’ (“Good day”). Dobryden’ is also appropriate in formal situations, people often shake hands. Men wait for women to extend a hand before offering to shake it. In official situations titles are used, including Pan (“Mr”), Pani (“Mrs”), Panna (“Miss”), or Panove (“Sirs” or “Gentlemen”), as well as professional titles.

 

6. Relatives and close friends often hug and kiss cheeks when greeting. They address each other by first name. A respectful form of address is to use the first name followed by the patronymic, which is the father’s given name, and a gender-specific (for son or daughter) suffix.

 

    

A Caring for aging parents.

B Verbal and non-verbal greetings.

C Accomodation of Ukrainians.

D Wedding parties in urban areas.

E Ukrainian weddings.

F A religious ceremony in Ukraine.

G Homes in towns and cities.

H A respectful form of address in Ukraine.

I The Ukrainian average family.

Keys: 1E, 2I, 3A, 4C, 5B, 6H.

3. Post-reading activity

Teacher: Now your task will be to match the English words and word combinations with their Ukrainian equivalents.

□ 1) to support somebody                                             a) використовувати

□ 2) to care for somebody                                             в) володіти

□ 3) to hug                                                                   с) піклуватися про когось

□ 4) to shake hands                                                      d) привласнювати щось

□ 5) to own                                                                  е) підтримувати когось

□ 6) to assume something                                             f) охоплювати щось

□ 7) to include something                                             g) одружуватися з кимось

□ 8) to marry somebody                                                h) обіймати

□ 9) to wave                                                                 i) колихатися

□ 10) to use                                                                  j) вітатися за руку

Keys: 1 e, 2 c, 3 h, 4 j, 5 b, 6 d, 7 f, 8 g, 9 i, 10 a.

 

5. Writing

Teacher: You have just read a very interesting text about some Ukrainian traditions. So your next task will be to make up questions to the answers given.

1. _____________________________________________      ?

Young couples usually get married in their early twenties.

 

2.  ___________________________________________________ ?

Both parents usually work outside the home.

3.   __________________________________________________  ?

      It is common for parents to support children until they reach adulthood and even        after they are married.

4. ___________________________________________________ ?

Homes in towns and cities have such utilities as electricity, gas and water, while houses in rural areas are much simpler.

5. __________________________________________________ ?

In official situations titles are used, including Pan (“Mr”), Pani (“Mrs”), Panna (“Miss”), or Panove (“Sirs” or “Gentlemen”), as well as professional titles.

6. __________________________________________________?

Relatives and close friends often hug and kiss cheeks when greeting.

 

6. Speaking

Teacher: Work in two groups. Team A is a Ukrainian delegation at a European Cultural Festival. Team B are representatives from other European countries. Organize a discussion on the diversity of traditions and customs in Ukraine.

7. Summing – up

1. Evaluation

Teacher: Much time at our lessons was devoted to the role of customs and traditions in our society. This role is so significant. Thank you for your excellent work. You’ve learned a lot about customs and traditions in Ukraine. Have a good luck. Our lesson is over. Goodbye.

2. Homework

Teacher: At home you have to prepare your own topic about your family tradition.