Lesson plans for ages 12-14 in Language & Literature

-

LESSONS 6 and 7: The Class Baracholka

All the hard boiled eggs are collected for a general fund/kitty.

Discussion questions

How would the students describe the local village people of Rubtsovsk?

• the composition of the population i.e. were they all peasant?
• their financial situation?
• their needs and wants?
• did common sense always prevail? (Consider the buyer of the lace trimmed French silk, slip.)

Role play

Three refugee "families" are allowed to present their goods in three locations in the classroom. The eggs are used as currency, (each egg is worth 15 rubles, see page 69 of the novel) and are distributed among the rest of the class who pose as locals. The refugee "traders" have to persuade the "locals" to part with their eggs. Other "families" can have a turn at trading.

Debriefing discussion

• Why did three of the "families" not receive any eggs/money? (The Rudomins had no money until they had sold their French slip, shirt and umbrella.)
• Did the "traders" find it very difficult to persuade the "locals" to buy what was on sale? If so, why? What features were absent in the classroom situation that would have been present at the real baracholka?
• What would the students do with their eggs/money in a real situation where they were poor deportees, living in very straitened circumstances as did the Rudomins?

Homework: Students read chapter 6 to 10.