Also, the scrapbook has realia so that the students can learn about Russian culture. By critiquing their peers letters and then revising, students will improve their writing. Students, pretending they are in Russia, write a letter home. Students use pages from a scrapbook of the teachers trip to Russia as the base for their letter. Students can ask questions about the items in the scrapbook, but the teacher should not tell them too much about the pictures, because they will be expected to use the framework provided by the pictures to write creatively.
Teacher emphasizes that the letters can have fictional information.
Students work on the letter for about 20 minutes. After the letters are written, a writer and a receiver is chosen from each pair. The receiver should be fairly critical as the objective of this exercise is to write more cohesive and coherent discourse. Designed by Maria K. Pulzetti , University of Virginia, for RUSS 507.