This 6 minute episode of Masha i Medved is mostly visual but has some great vocabulary in it. The activity gets students to engage the language in the episode and interpret what is happening. Get it here:
Masha i Medved activity (made by Susan Vdovichenko)
This is a simple PowerPoint on some of the most famous Russian dishes. I asked my students to each bring in one of the dishes and prepare a 2 minute explanation of it, including “какие ингредиенты?” и “как готовить?”
Level: Beginner to Intermediate
This is an activity based around this famous song from Irony of Fate, which goes well with units discussing the genitive of negation (since it requires students to listen to the song and fill in all of the objects for “Если у вас нету _____”. Get it here:
This is a 5-minute KVN skit about a wedding and an overbearing Russian mother. It goes well with units talking about weddings or family. You can also talk about KVN in Russian culture. The activity consists of comprehension questions in English. Get it here –
KVN_activity (made by Rob Reynolds)
Clearly I am a Kino fan, but moreso because they have simple lyrics that are useful in the classroom. This one is “When Your Girlfriend is Sick” and goes well with sections on illness (another good possibility here is Zemfira’s “SPID,” but I don’t have an exercise for that). Works well for beginner Russian.
Kino – When your girl is sick (Word doc)
This activity centers on the Yuri Vizbor song “Telephone Conversation” and contains a lot of common telephone vocabulary. It is good for beginner or low-intermediate classes and includes filling in missing lyrics and then answering some comprehension questions in English. Get it here:
Vyzbor – Phone Conversation Activity
This is an activity based around Pushkin’s short but great poem “You and thou.” It is largely a comprehension exercise with a few questions in English and at the end a good idea is to have them memorize the poem for a home assignment.
Pushkin – Ty i vy (Word doc)
This video exercise adapted from the V Puti textbook deals with the story of an interracial family in Russia. It is a good opportunity to discuss racial sensitivities in Russia (also something you should be careful discussing with an American classroom). It should work for intermediate or low-advanced students. My second-year students struggled with following it as the speech is rapid and somewhat high-level.
Video
Interesting Family Activity (Word doc)
I will try to stick to Russian posts, but will include a few cultural presentations in English. This Powerpoint presentation is about the Russian dacha and banya and includes some key words in Russian as well. Get it here:
Dacha & Banya Powerpoint
This is a simple song activity based on Viktor Tsoi’s cult hit “Eighth-grade girlfriend.” This is good for a first- or second-year Russian class. The vocabulary is glossed and there are a couple of discussion questions at the bottom. You can hear the song below and access the activity here: Kino – Vosmiklassnitsa
Culture Lessons по-русски 