Teaching children to love their native land through Ivan Shishkin's paintings

Гузель АХМЕТЗАГИРОВА,
Учитель английского языка  
 школы ст. Миннибаево  Альметьевского района
 Цель урока: расширить и обоготить  словарный запас учащихся через беседу о красоте родного края, отображенной в  картинах И. Шишкина, познакомиться с биографией и творчеством художника, пробудить   чувство гордости за красоту природы нашей  Родины, за нашу богатую  культуру.  
 Theoretical justification of the integrative lesson.
The synthesis of English, painting and the subject «Native Land» is a unique technique that involves both hemispheres of the student in the learning process. The student simultaneously learns new words, learns to understand painting and is filled with pride for the beauty of his native land, which was depicted by great people who lived there . The methodological justification of the chosen technique  is as follows.
When teaching a language based on content, pupils receive «two in one» - both knowledge of the content and an increase in the level of language proficiency. In this context, it is important that the two parallel processes are equally integrated into a single whole. So that the language does not displace the content, and vice versa.
As we understood, within the framework of the intensive version of the communicative approach, the traditional separation of curriculum development and methodology is blurred. This blurring boundary threatens the logic and strategy of teaching. These issues need to be addressed in practice, working with the audience. We agree with the opinion of scientists that if pupils learn to communicate through communication, then the destination and the route become the same (Corrigan R., Noonan M., 1989) [1, p. 356].  But we would consider this fact in practice not as a minus, but as an advantage. Because if the destination and the route coincide, then we can get the most in-depth knowledge.
Of course, the use of materials from other disciplines, in particular, "native land", "native land art", "native land culturology", in language courses is not a new idea, but we suggest not to forget that experienced teachers adhere to the ideas of Vygotsky (1996) about the social nature of learning [2, p. 16]. It is assumed that learning as a social process is best facilitated by cooperation between teacher and pupils, as well as between pupils. In practice, we would like pupils to be free to solve problems together, sharing experiences and filling each other's gaps. In any case, it is through social interaction that higher-order thinking arises.
We certainly need to set clear learning goals for both content and language. Then create activities to teach both, creating the foundation for the language needed to learn the content. The role of pupils is to actively interact with both the content and the language, using each of them to study the other.
Teachers should help pupils understand authentic texts. Teachers clearly convey meaning through visual effects, realities, repetition and giving a large number of examples based on previous student experience. It is important to constantly keep pupils interested and motivated. They understand the importance of what they are learning and that language is a means to an end.
Of course, when it comes to classroom management, teachers need to be very aware of the individual understanding and progress of pupils, so it is important to consistently develop the concept of checking and placing materials to make sure that the language and content are being studied as intended by the teacher. When applying integrated courses, it is important to develop a practical strategy.
So, in order to successfully implement the Language Experience Approach in the educational process, it is important to understand that it must necessarily combine all 4 structures: speaking and listening, reading and writing. Integration should take place by developing a specific text based on the student's existing experience.
During the development of this lesson, was created a text describing what is happening in two paintings by I. Shishkin; therefore, pupils could understand the basic concepts of the text even before its interpretation by looking at the picture.
I am sure that the project method perfectly fits here.
It has been used in education for a long time and is now a widely recognized methodology. This approach attracts pupils to organized collaborative work that is carried out independently, which requires them to apply their knowledge to solve a problem or achieve a goal.    Pupils are working on an interesting project, which is usually a long-term task, using the language they are learning.
We propose four main stages of the project implementation.
The first stage is preparatory. It includes the choice of a topic, the distribution of pupils into subgroups, the distribution of responsibilities, the provision of recommendations, the definition of terms, as well as evaluation criteria.  This stage requires the use of listening and speaking skills. 
However, the collection of information, its processing and ordering take place at the second stage - the stage of project activities and tasks aimed at developing language skills. The role of the teacher is to advise and guide, as well as to ensure that pupils become familiar with authentic materials and know how to use them.  At this stage, members of each group conduct research and discuss all issues related to the project. At this stage, reading, writing, listening and speaking are very integrated, which also prepares pupils for the next stage.
It is at the third stage that pupils present the results of their work. The presentation stage helps to unleash creativity and present a text-based project in the form of a Power Point.
The last stage is the final one, where the results of the project are discussed, analyzed and evaluated. However, the evaluation only concerns the evaluation of the participants' activities and the discussion of whether the initial goals and objectives, the implementation of the process and the final products have been achieved. The assessment also includes an assessment of the experience at the individual and group level, the identification of errors and problems, as well as an assessment of the collected cognitive experience. Evaluation includes evaluation by others, as well as self-assessment.
We divided these stages into two parts - the first two stages were included in the project of the developed lesson: at the end of the lesson, pupils were assigned to find several paintings by domestic artists depicting nature, make a presentation from them and, using a template, make a brief description in English; the second and third stages - demonstration of presentations and discussion were moved to the next lesson.
While working on the project, pupils undoubtedly use their integrated language skills, and the process of teaching content and language is as interpenetrating as possible.

2. Practical implementation of the concept. Technological map of the lesson.

Lesson type: combined (integrative).
The purpose of the lesson: to expand the vocabulary of students through a conversation about the beauty of their native land, displayed in the paintings of I. Shishkin, to get acquainted with the biography and creativity of the artist of their native land.
Educational tasks aimed at achieving substantive results:
Formation of linguistic skills of landscape description; development of oral and written speech skills; enrichment and complication of vocabulary; mastery of pupils’ artistic images, expressive properties of a foreign language; development of thinking (learn to analyze, highlight the main thing, compare, build).
 Educational tasks aimed at achieving metasubject results:
Pupils’ understanding of the educational task of the lesson, the formation of motivation and the ability to organize independent subject-productive activities.
 Educational tasks aimed at achieving personal results:
Strengthening the sense of pride in the beauty of the nature of the Motherland, for the culture and art of its people. Fostering love for the native land, art, creativity, creating conditions for the disclosure of the linguistic potential of students.
Planned results:
Subject: learn to describe the picture orally and in writing.
Meta-subjects: learn to express your opinion, determine ways to achieve goals, perform work from memory, work according to plan.
Personal: they master a new educational situation, show interest in learning new material, critically comprehend the results of their activities.
Methods and forms of training: verbal, visual – illustrative, explanatory – illustrative, practical, individual, frontal work.
Visual and demonstrative material: presentation "Displaying the beauty of the native land in the paintings of I. Shishkin".
Equipment of the teacher's workplace: multimedia projector, computer, screen, speakers.
Musical series: P. Tchaikovsky's "Seasons"
Intersubject and intrasubject connections: English, cultural studies of the native land, art.
For students of 10-11 classes
Lesson stage

1. Self-determination to activity. The organizational moment is 2 minutes.

Purpose: To create an emotionally positive attitude of students, to interest students in the topic of the lesson.
Actions of the teacher: "Dear children, hello! Today we have an unusual lesson – we will get acquainted with the work of a great artist who loved his Homeland very much and depicted it in his unique paintings! This artist is Ivan Shishkin. We will learn to speak English beautifully, be able to describe the nature of our native land and feel like art experts!
Student Results (UUD):
Personal: The willingness and ability of students to self-development and self-education based on motivation for learning and cognition.
Communicative: Control their actions in the classroom, answer questions.
Regulatory: Exercise self-control.

2. Updating knowledge and motivation.

Purpose: reproduction of previously studied, establishment of continuity of old and new knowledge and their application in new situations. Heuristic conversation.
Actions of the teacher: "I think you all agree that our Homeland is beautiful and unique! Its nature, forests, fields, rivers and streams, mountains and paths have inspired famous artists to create masterpieces of art for many centuries.  Children, do you know Russian artists who depicted our landscapes?"
(the children answer)

3. Statement of the educational task.

Purpose: disclosure of the essence of new concepts, assimilation of new ways of educational and mental activity of students. Getting to know new phrases. Writing dictation. Discussion of the painting. Dialogue, monologue. Compilation of independent speech constructions with new words.
Actions of the teacher: "Today we will talk about some paintings by the famous artist I.I. Shishkin. Having looked at his landscapes, it is impossible not to love the nature of his native land even more! To begin with, I will tell you a little about the biography of the artist.(2 slide)  
Shishkin was born in 1832 in the city of Yelabuga, Vyatka province, in the family of a merchant of the second guild, Ivan Vasilyevich Shishkin. The artist's father, who was fond of archeology of his native land, noticing his son's craving for art, sent him to study in Moscow in 1852. From 1852 to 1856, Shishkin studied at the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture. In 1856 he entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, studied in the class of Professor Vorobyov. In 1860, he graduated from the Academy with a large gold medal, received for the painting "View on the island of Valaam. The Kukko locality" and gave the right to an internship abroad. However, instead of a foreign tour, Shishkin went home to Yelabuga, where he continued to work tirelessly. From 1862 to 1865, Shishkin lived abroad – mainly in Germany and Switzerland, during these years he also visited the Czech Republic, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. From the painting "Noon. In the vicinity of Moscow" (1869) the artist's fame began because it was the first work acquired by Pavel Tretyakov. Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin traveled a lot in Russia: he wrote sketches in the Belarusian Polesie, on the Volga, on the Baltic coast, in the Crimea. In 1894-1895, Shishkin headed a landscape workshop at the Academy, leaving a memory of himself as a loyal teacher who respected talent and individuality. The artist Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin died in his own workshop on March 20, 1898, leaving behind many paintings depicting his native land. In Shishkin's paintings there are forests, fields, rivers, lakes and mountains – all the splendor of our country.
And you, children, why do you love your native land? What do you think is the most beautiful thing in our country? What natural resources delight you?"
(the children answer)
"If you were a famous artist, which landscape of your native land would you draw first? Maybe a dense forest? Or the vast expanses of fields? Winter or summer? Maybe autumn in a birch grove? Think about it and give everyone an answer."
(children answer)
"For our lesson, I selected two paintings – "A stream in a birch forest" and "For mushrooms". Before talking about them, please rewrite from slides 1 and 2 these dictionaries with basic expressions that will help you in today's lesson (children write down phrases from slide 3 "A stream in a birch forest":
birches going into the sky, summer flowering, peasant everyday life, national clothes,  a wooden bridge, a cozy forest, Russian nature, the play of shadows, the warmth of the sun, the sound of a running stream, peasant genre scenes, majestic birches, solitude with nature, familiar paths;
and from slide 4 "Behind the mushrooms":
simple plot, rest near the water, the depth of the composition of the picture, Russian life, the style of "realism", a peasant family, a branched oak tree, mushroom picking).
Now let's move on to considering the painting "A stream in a birch forest" (slide 5) and writing a short dictation description on it. So, we write down:
"In Ivan Shishkin's painting "A stream in a birch forest" we see majestic Russian birches, stretching white trunks high into the sky. The picture is filled with summer blooming - it seems that we can hear the smell of the Russian forest. We see cute and simple peasant everyday life – a meeting of two people in the forest near a wooden bridge. The bridge is homemade and so beautiful. National clothes complement the atmosphere of  Russian life. We see Russian nature in all its glory: a cozy forest is filled with the play of shadows, the warmth of the sun. It seems that we hear the sound of a running stream and feel the solitude with the nature of our native land. Even the path that the artist depicted is so dear, so familiar!"
Well done, children, after checking the dictation, I will return your works to you and on the basis of this description of the painting, you will prepare for the next lesson a description of I. Shishkin's painting "Forest in the evening".
Children, tell us what emotions the picture "A stream in a birch forest" evokes in you? Describe in 2-3 sentences using the list of phrases that you see on slide 4:
(children look at slide 5 and choose phrases to compose sentences: pride in the homeland, cozy forest, familiar path, summer warmth, smell of the forest, pleasant life, meeting of peasants, beauty of the forest, snow-white birches).
Let's move on to the second picture (slide 6) "For mushrooms". Let me slowly read you it  description, and you will write down in your notebook 10 phrases from my story that you liked and that characterize this picture.
So, in the picture "Behind the mushrooms we see" the native Russian way of life – a peasant family sat down to rest near a pond. They decided to eat their lunch, tired of going for mushrooms. The artist is passionate about the colours of the outgoing summer. He painted baskets full of mushrooms as a symbol of the wealth of his native land. The forest is able to feed many families with its gifts. A young girl, even filled her apron with mushrooms. The boy looks back at the girl under an old oak tree damaged by a thunderstorm. Perhaps it's his mother who has fallen behind the others. The edge of the dense forest is close to residential areas. If you look closely, far to the right, you can see a fence. Birds are circling in the overcast sky. Water iris flowers are visible in the water. People are depicted in harmony with nature. We feel the approach of autumn with rich gifts, we see an old oak - a dilapidated giant and understand that Russia is in the picture. The artist used soft tones, pale green, brown and yellow colors in the painting, we see warm clothes on people and immerse ourselves in a feeling of calm and soft forest coolness.
And you, children, went to the forests of your native land for mushrooms. Tell me, who went? And who just likes to walk in the woods? At what time of the year do you like the forest of your native lands the most?
(children answer)
Children, at home you can find and get acquainted with many paintings by I. Shishkin yourself. He loved his native land so much that landscapes dedicated to the Russian land turned out best for him. For the next lesson, choose the picture that you liked the most and write a short story-description for 5-7 sentences to it, using the materials of today's lesson and a dictionary.
Children, do you like to go to museums and look at the work of artists of our majestic country? What museums have you been to?
(children answer)
If you like the work of Russian landscape painters, you can always see their work closer. I. Shishkin's works are highly appreciated in our country. We have a house-museum of I. I. Shishkin in Yelabuga, in addition, you can get acquainted with his paintings in the State Tretyakov Gallery: "Logging" (1867), "Noon in the vicinity of Moscow", "Pine Forest", "Burnt Forest", "Rye", "Wilds", "Apiary", "Rain in the Oak Forest" (1891), "Spruce Forest" and "Morning in the Pine Forest", as well as seventeen master drawings.(7-16 slides)
In the "Russian Museum": "Ship grove", "Clearing with pine trees", "Forest wilderness" and "Glade", "View in the vicinity of St. Petersburg" (1856), "View in the vicinity of Dusseldorf" (1856), "Teutoburg forest" (1865), "For mushrooms" (1870), "Stream in the birch in the forest" (1889), "Off the coast of the Gulf of Finland (Udrias near Narva)" (1889), "Krestovsky Island, immersed in fog" and others, also sketches and drawings.
In addition to the homework that you have already received, I suggest that you team up with 2 people (for example, with a neighbor at the desk) and complete the project in the Power Point program at home, the deadline is 2 weeks. You will need to choose any Russian landscape painter who painted the nature of his native land and make a mini-project of 7-10 slides based on his 3-4 works. They need to briefly write a biography of the artist, list the most famous paintings, add to the presentation those paintings that you liked the most and after each painting write 5-7 pages of description.

4. Reflection of activity.

Purpose: analyze the work done, evaluate it. They say goodbye to the teacher. Write down your homework.
Regulatory: highlighting and awareness of what has been learned in the lesson, awareness of the quality and level of what has been learned.
Personal: self-esteem.
Thank you all for the lesson, goodbye!
Conclusion
The advantages of such integration are that different lexical material can be selected for different ages of schoolchildren, which varies in complexity. The same paintings depicting Russian nature can be described both in simple English phrases (green forest, white birches, quiet stream) and filled with beautiful complex epithets (leaves twinkling in the sun, drowning greenery, transparent ringing air). We hope that many teachers will be able to apply this method in practice.
 
References

1. Corrigan R., Noonan M., Eckman F. Linguistic categorization //Linguistic Categorization. – 1989. – С. 356.


2. Vygotsky L. S. The problem of learning and mental development at school age //Psychological science and education. - 1996. – Vol. 1. – No. 4. – pp. 5-18.