The Soldier’s Tale Study Guide

Posted by Rebecca Haden on February 2, 2012 · Leave a Comment

The Soldier’s Tale by Igor Stravinsky tells in music, narration, and dance the Russian folktale of a soldier on leave who trades his violin — and his soul — for wealth in the form of a book that foretells changes in the stock market. The soldier agrees to go home with the Devil for a couple of days to teach him how to play the violin. At the Devil’s home, he tastes a life of luxury, and when he continues on to his village, he discovers that three years have passed, not three days. His fiancee has married another, his mother thinks he’s a ghost, and his old life is gone. The Devil appears again in another guise and persuades the soldier to enjoy his wealth. The soldier becomes rich, but not happy, and destroys the magic book.

A second episode begins with the disconsolate soldier coming to a new town where, in common fairy tale fashion, a princess lies ill and her father, the King ,will give her hand in marriage to anyone who can cure here. The soldier tries his hand, and then the Devil appears again in yet another form. The soldier plays cards with the Devil, losing all his money but winning back his violin. The music of the violin cures the princess and defeats the Devil, but the Devil tells the soldier that he will — if he leaves the kingdom — belong to the Devil again. The soldier marries his princess and they live happily until they decide to go visit the soldier’s long-lost mother. As soon as he steps out of the kingdom, the soldier becomes a statue and is lost to his princess forever.

Maestro Classics has prepared a new CD of The Soldier’s Tale with narration and music, as well as information about Stravinsky and a dance remix that should have your students up and moving. Hear samples of the recording at the Maestro Classics website, where you can also have a look at the 24-page booklet that comes with the CD. It has the story with fun illustrations, plus background information, pictures of the seven orchestral instruments in the performance, and a crossword puzzle.

The recording is excellent, weaving the music in and out of the story beautifully. The music, using the handful of instruments for which Stravinsky originally scored the piece, conveys the feelings and action of the story equally with the narration, and the whole thing is well suited to listening practice. Begin your study simply by listening to the recording.

Have the class retell the story by drawing illustrations for the events in the story, or by acting them out.

Once the basic story is clear, dig a little deeper. Share this movie clip with the class:

In this scene from R. O. Blechman’s 1983 film of the story, the soldier meets the Devil and makes a deal with him. The cartoon shows the soldier’s simplicity and uncertainty well. The soldier is tempted and gives in to that temptation, but he’s not sure he’s making the right decision.

Ask students whether they think the soldier made the right decision. If not, what should he have done differently? Have the students had a similar experience, when they were tempted to do something they thought might be unwise? Identify clues in the film or the recording that should have given the soldier a hint that the old man wasn’t quite what he seemed.

In the following video, artists from The Aurora Theater talk about their production of this piece. At the beginning of the video, they talk about how the soldier likes his bargain with the Devil at first, but then discovers the price of his choice.

Watch the discussion and then ask students what might have been pleasant about the soldier’s deal with the Devil: having wealth, knowing the future, having adventures. Then list the consequences of the decision.

With the story clear in everyone’s minds, explore some cross curricular activities.

Music

With only seven instruments in use, it’s easier to hear the individual instruments. This is a nice piece for listening to identify each instrument in the performance. The booklet that comes with the recording pictures each instrument used.
Learn about Igor Stravinsky, one of the most important composers of the 20th century. The recording includes a lecture on the subject. Have students listen and practice their note taking skills. There are also a couple of children’s books that can add layers of understanding. Mike Venezia’s Igor Stravinsky tells Stravinsky’s life story lightly with cartoons, but includes everything students will want to know about. Stravinksy is also included in Lives of the Musicians: Good Times, Bad Times (and What the Neighbors Thought), a wonderful book to have in your classroom library.
Listen to specific parts of the piece at All Things Trumpet. There you will also find some discussion of the music and the final moral of the story, not included on the Maestro Classics CD.
The Soldier’s Tale was written in 1918, and it included three dances: ragtime, waltz, and tango. The tango and ragtime were both new at that time, and the waltz, while not new, was still considered a bit racy in some circles. Jazz was becoming important, but Stravinsky had never heard jazz. He had seen some sheet music for jazz brought back from America with a friend. Have students explore music from this time period (one resource is Public Domain Music) and discuss whether Stravinsky’s music was typical of its time, or innovative.

English

C.F. Ramuz wrote the story for The Soldier’s Tale. It’s generally claimed that the story is based on a Russian folktale, but we haven’t found it. The closest we’ve come is the Magyar Soldier’s Tale. Use a Venn diagram to compare the two.
There are several points in The Soldier’s Tale which could have been happy endings, but the story continues to an unhappy ending. Give students the option of rewriting the story with a happy ending, or of writing an essay explaining why they like the ending as it is.
The Soldier’s Tale has been filmed a few times, but it had never been made into a Walt Disney movie or a Barbie or Muppets version. Usually,this kind of movie version of a folktale will have the rough parts taken out and a clear moral lesson of some kind added. Students may be familiar with the Disney and original versions of tales like Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel, The Little Mermaid, and The Frog Prince. Divide the class and have each group choose a fairy tale and compare the original to the Disney version. Then assign each group an episode from The Soldier’s Tale to rewrite in a popular movie version.

Social Studies

This piece was written in Russia, at the end of World War I and in the midst of the Russian Revolution. Times were very hard, and this is probably why there were only seven instruments. It also puts a soldier and the idea of “pre-war prices” in context. Add events from the Russian Revolution to your class timeline.
While many Faust stories (stories about making a deal with the Devil) involve a cask of jewels or a bunch of gold, the Devil gives the soldier a glance into the economic future so he can invest wisely and make his fortune in that way. Study the stock market with our Stock Market Lesson Plans.
The soldier plays cards with the Devil, losing all his wealth but getting back his gift of music, the opportunity for love, and his chance at happiness. Use this scene as a writing prompt for students to think about the relationship between money and happiness. Can money buy happiness? Does it prevent people from being happy?

A Soldier’s Tale is a wonderful way to introduce classical music — and something a bit different in the way of classical music — to your students along with an intriguing folktale with a lot of teachable moments.

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Christmas in Russia Lesson Plans

Posted by Rebecca Haden on December 12, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Russia had quite a few years during which Christmas was forbidden, but the Russian Christmas has still had a profound influence on our celebration of Christmas in America, and it has some great teaching points. Study math, geography, literature, and art with our Christmas in Russia lesson plans.

Books for this study:

The tale of Baboushka is very like the story of Old Befana from Italy or the tale of the “cobweb Christmas” in Germany. A houseproud old woman is too busy with her housework to leave home and go with the Three Kings to see the Christ Child. This common folktale obviously has religious overtones, and you know whether that is suitable for your community or your classroom. However, it is a common part of the European Christmas experience, and certainly an important part of Russia’s Christmas folklore.

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If you decide to include this story, don’t miss the geography lesson. For the Three Kings to have traveled through Russia (not to mention France, Spain, Italy, and so on) to Bethlehem, what route would they have taken? Use Google Earth to create a route for them.

This story also brings up the interesting question of priorities. Depending on the ages of your students, they may be caught up in the busy rush of the Christmas season, with pageants and parties and shopping and recitals. Many students now also have part time jobs, household responsibilities because their parents are working overtime, or perhaps complicated travel among various parts of their extended or blended families. How do they handle these responsibilities and/or temptations and still get their schoolwork done so they can finish up the semester well? Discuss the topic and use it as a writing prompt for middle and high school students.

The Nutcracker Suite by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is a very accessible introduction to classical music. In many communities, a lot of your students will have attended or taken part in a performance, and many will have seen a version of the ballet on TV, if only a Barbie version. Since this work has inspired music, graphic arts, literature, and dance, it’s a wonderful chance to bring arts education into your classroom.

The Nutcracker begins with a party at the home of Clara (sometimes called Marie). It is a glamorous party, and Clara’s godfather Drosselmeier gives all the children very special toys. He is a clockmaker, and he shows off special life sized clockwork dancing dolls he has made, but his gift to Clara is a nutcracker. Her naughty little brother Fritz snatches it away and breaks it. After the party, Clara has a dream. In it, there is a battle between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King. The toy soldiers come to life and support the Nutcracker, but the mice are winning until Clara throws her slipper at the mouse king and helps the Nutcracker win the battle.

At this point, the Nutcracker becomes a handsome prince and he and Clara sail away to the Kingdom of Sweets, where the Sugar Plum Fairy welcomes them with a program of dances representing different nations and different delicacies. Clara wakes from her dream at the end of the ballet. It’s a simple story based on the work of E.T.A. Hoffman and Alexandre Dumas, but as a ballet it has become a holiday staple for children everywhere.

Read the story first. There are quite a few picture book versions, and we like to read a new one each day and compare them:

Mary Engelbreit’s Nutcracker has none of the darkness of the original.
The Nutcracker by Susan Jeffers is a pretty, traditional retelling.
The Story of the Nutcracker Ballet by Diane Goode, a small and simple telling of the story.
Alison Jay’s version takes place in a snow globe.
The Pacific Northwest Ballet Presents the Nutcracker is about the ballet in particular, with photos from the production using Maurice Sendak’s wonderful sets.
Nutcracker Ballet Coloring Book
The Berenstain Bears and the Nutcracker

Then watch the ballet:

The Nutcracker with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland is hard to beat for quality of dancing.
San Francisco Ballet has a beautiful version set at the 1915 World’s Fair.
The Royal Ballet did a new one this year.
Macaulay Culkin‘s production is popular with kids, and it is filmed as a movie, not as a performance, which may make it more accessible to students with less experience with performing arts. The motion picture The Nutcracker with Sendak’s wonderful set designs is, we think, too creepy and scary for children.

Kids may not realize that ballet dancers are athletes like basketball players, and that a ballet performance uses about as much muscle (and the same number of calories) as a basketball game. Have students read John Lienhard’s essay and David Friedman’s story about ballet and basketball. Use a Venn diagram to compare the two, and have students prepare a poster showing their thoughts about the comparison — after they see the Nutcracker.

Another aspect of the Nutcracker that we like to include is the use of symbolism. What is it about the Waltz of the Snowflakes that makes us think of snowflakes? In the divertissement of the Kingdom of Sweets, why do the pieces for tea, coffee, and chocolate symbolize those treats? (The links will take you to YouTube recordings of these scenes from the ballet, where you’ll notice that Chocolate represents Spain, Coffee the Arab world, and Tea China.)

These discussions give a good critical thinking workout, opportunities for research (determining, for example, why a Spanish dance would remind people of the 1800s of chocolate), and an understanding of how symbolism can be used in music and dance. Compare the ballet with the animated interpretations of Fantasia to explore how the music itself might be interpreted differently without the movements of the ballet.

Even if you don’t include the Nutcracker in your study of Christmas in Russia, enjoy the Russian dance, which includes many elements of Russian folkways.

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The traditional gift bringer in Russia was Grandfather Frost, who had a bear for a companion and his granddaughter the Snow Maiden for his helper. Christmas was celebrated on January 6th (the Eastern Orthodox Christmas Eve) and 7th. On Christmas Eve, people ate nothing until the first star shone in the sky, at which point they had a special feast with lots of fruits and vegetables, but no meat. Sauerkraut, borscht (beet soup), and kidney beans were among the favorite foods. Peter the Great brought the custom of the Christmas tree to Russia from his European travels in the 1700s, and beautifully decorated trees were popular.

From the time of the Russian revolution in 1917 to 1992, Christmas was replaced by the Winter Festival, which featured decorated winter trees and both Grandfather Frost and the Snow Maiden. Christmas is now celebrated again.

Math ideas:

Matroyshka dolls are nesting dolls: wooden dolls with smaller dolls inside them. They make a perfect lesson for size.
Make matryoshka dolls from plastic bottles. This will only work if the sizes are carefully planned, so it’s an opportunity for real-world practice.
Make paper ones instead. A simple pattern from the Matroyshka Store can be used to create manipulatives, or have kids make their own. Measure the dolls, calculate percentages and ratios — whatever fits best into your curriculum at this point.
Another size lesson can come from the Nutcracker. At the beginning of the dream, the Christmas tree grows larger and Clara grows smaller — down to the size of the Nutcracker, the toy soldiers, and the Mouse King. Have students imagine that they are the set designers for the ballet. How big will the big tree have to be, in order to make people appear to be the size of a toy and a mouse? Have students create drawings with measurement labels to clarify the plan for the set builders.
Russia is so big that it has sixteen time zones. Imagine that a virtual party is planned for 6:00 p.m. in St. Petersburg. Have students find the times in six other cities in different parts of the country, using the time zone map linked above.

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Christmas in South Africa Lesson Plans

Posted by Rebecca Haden on November 30, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Christmas in South Africa

South Africa is a diverse country in the Southern Hemisphere, so Christmas falls in the summer. Schools are closed for a month, businesses often close for a month as well, and many people go camping.

Just as in Australia, Christmas in South Africa is often spent on the beach. Christmas means flowers and fireworks, though some people also have Christmas trees. Gifts are exchanged, but the focus of the holiday is on relaxing with friends and family.

There are some nice picture books for this study:

Rachel Isadora’s The 12 Days of Christmas is set in Africa generally, with illustrations from various countries including South Africa.
A Stork in a Baobab Tree: An African 12 Days of Christmas by Catherine House features the illustrations of Polly Alakija, who lives in South africa.
Night Before Christmas in Africa doesn’t specify South Africa, but the language makes it clear that the setting is in fact South Africa.
An African Christmas Cloth tells the simple story of a South African city dweller taking a trip around the countryside and bringing back a Christmas cloth — which is in fact the embroidered illustrations of this geography-packed book.

This video from NorthPoleChristmas features a South African Christmas song that may be familiar to your students, “Sing Noel,” with pictures and greetings from South Africa:

Once you’ve gotten in the mood with stories and music, get a clear idea of the geography of South Africa:

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South Africa is at the bottom (from our perspective) of the continent of Africa. It has seven different physical regions. It’s the ninth largest country in Africa. See South Africa online:

South Africa was once a British colony, and the people there continue to observe many English Christmas customs. Christmas usually involves lunch outdoors, but it’s not a simple picnic. It includes traditional English Christmas foods like turkey, roast beef, and trifle .

South Africa has 11 official languages: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu. Many more languages are spoken there. Have students practice their research skills by tracking down holiday greetings in as many of the languages as possible. We particularly like this activity because we still often hear people talk about “African” as though the entire continent of African used a single language.

Make decorations for your classroom tree in traditional South African styles. Zulu beadwork includes many different types of bead stringing and weaving. Create bead stars or circles in this style. An Australian tutorial gives step by step instructions for creating a bead star that looks much like these Zulu ornaments.

There are many other traditional South African crafts which are now used to create Christmas ornaments. Make puppets of animals or people with arms and legs attached with brads. The link has step by step instructions from South African blogger se7en. Wire angels are another popular item. Use pipe cleaners to create simple shapes and attach them together to create an angel.

South African wire angels often have beads strung on the wire, or decorative loops of wire. Let students begin with the simple shapes and add their own creativity to make something unique. If angels are not suitable for your classroom, consider making people or animals. The idea of beginning with simple materials and simple shapes, and then embellishing them with individual creativity will help convey the South African artistic tradition. We made a simple wire angel with ordinary soft jewelry wire:

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Chanukah Fever

Posted by Rebecca Haden on November 23, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Chanukah Fever by Mama Doni is a fun and sassy collection of holiday songs for kids. Most of the teachers we know use “The Dreidel Song” every year if they talk about Chanukah in the classroom, but Mama Doni brings us everything from talking blues to disco. There are some plain old silly kid songs, some pretty ones, and — well, if you’ve ever wondered how Britney Spears might sound if she sang about menorahs, you can get a good idea with this album.

The musical quality is excellent, the energy level is amazing, and the fun quotient is high. For your classroom, or for a Chanukah gift, we like this album a lot.

Click on the title to hear samples and to download the album. It’s also available on CD. Check out the title track in this video:

You can also see “Funky Gold Menorah at Mama Doni’s website. Also, Mama Doni has posted a series of Chanukah videos on YouTube.

Here’s a list of the songs with some ideas about how to use them in the classroom.

Chanukah Fever You can see this title song in the video above. You know your community and your classroom, so watch it first and see what you think. To us, it seems secular enough for public school, and we really like “Nun to the Gimmel to the Hey to the Shin” to help kids remember the Hebrew letters on the dreidel.
Latke Man Latkes are pancakes made from shredded potatoes. Read a book like Latkes, Latkes, Good to Eat: A Chanukah Story or Lots of Latkes: A Hanukkah Story or make some latkes. Use a traditional recipe and make them ahea to reheat.
Honey, This Ain’t Money Traditional talking blues style tells the story of a girl who has some Chanukah gelt and thinks it’s money. Chanukah gelt is actually foil-wrapped hocolate coins. Use them for counting or to play the traditional dreidl games. FamilyFun has an easy craft project, making paper cones filled with gelt and tiny dreidels.
The Legend Of Sour Cream Vs. Applesauce This is another latke song, but very different. It’s almost a game, with each part singing faster and faster. Divide into groups and try it, for fun.
The Funky Gold Menorah A menorah is an eight-branched candelabrum. Each night of Chanukah, one candle more is lighted, till on the eighth night all the candles are burning. As the song says, it’s “next night from the right to the left light,” so you can bring a bit of right and left awareness into the lesson, and also point out that Hebrew is read from right to left instead of from left to right as English is.
Bubbie’s Mi Yimale Mi Yamale is a well known traditional song for Chanukah, and some of your students may know it. With the lines, “At this time of year in days of yore/Maccabeus the temple did restore” the song tells the story of Chanukah. Mama Donni has fun with the song, singing with her Bubbie’s amazing one-man band. Identify the instruments and their orchestral families as you listen to this song. Then learn it and sing along.
Eight is a sweet love song about the number eight. “If you were cold, I’d bring you eight warm coats/ If you were stranded, I’d bring you eight rescue boats” and on through the many many different loving things that could be done eight time. If you’re ready for the eights number family, you’re in luck.
A Land Called Sufganiyot Sufganiyot are jelly doughnuts traditional for Chanukah. Both latkes and sufganiyot are cooked in oil, since Chanukah marks a miracle involving oil. Look at pictures of kids making these jelly doughnuts step by step. If you have the right kind of classroom setup, try them out, or make some at home to share.
Dear Hanukah Harry Hannukah Harry is a Saturday Night Live character. You know your community; will this be offensive to families, or funny? One of the things some Jewish families dislike about the way Chanukah is taught is schools is the way it’s treated as a “Jewish Christmas.” Hanukkah Harry is a bit of a commentary on that, so for older students it could be an interesting discussion. Mama Doni’s take on it is very light and funny.
Mac A. Bee This song is a fun wordplay, but probably not a very useful teaching moment for a culturally diverse classroom. If you want to learn about Judah Maccabee in your classroom, check out Judaism 101.
I Say Chanukah (You Say Hanukah) The “ch” sound in “Chanukah” doesn’t exist in English, and many English speakers use the “h” sound instead. This song is an extended joke about this pronunciation issue. Again, it might not be the most teachable of the songs.
La Vida Dreidel Playing the dreidel game is one of the best activities for a culturally diverse classroom, since it includes math, Hebrew letters, and history in one fun package. This salsa-flavored song is very lively and fun to sing, and a nice modern alternative to “I Have a Little Dreidel.”
Ma-Oz Tzur Finale This is a traditional song. Mama Doni’s rendition is over the top funny and will probably be a hit in your classroom.

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The Great Selkie

Posted by Rebecca Haden on November 1, 2011 · Leave a Comment

A medieval ballad telling the story of the selkie, or were-seal. Read about it in Ballad Lesson Plans.

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The Sea King’s Daughter

Posted by Rebecca Haden on October 4, 2011 · Leave a Comment

The Sea King’s Daughter is a lesser-known fairy tale from a Russian ballad. In the story, a young musician descends to the home of the Sea King and plays for a wild party — which, he learns, sets the seas raging and endangers the ships above. He marries the Sea King’s daughter, but doesn’t live happily ever after. His mother in law tells him that if he kisses his bride, he will never return to his home on land, so the musician resists the mermaid’s charms and wakes in his own bed. The story does have a happy ending, since the musician marries a new bride and has children and lives happily ever after, but he does sometimes think of the mermaid. He even thinks he sometimes sees her yearning sadly after him.

Aaron Shepard’s The Sea King’s Daughter: A Russian Legend is a fine picture book version. Hear the author pronouncing the names at the link, so you can read it aloud with confidence. You might also like Shepard’s reader’s theater script for this story.

Art

Enjoy a couple of illustrations from Aaron Shepard’s retelling of this story:

The illustrator is Gennady Spirin. The links above are PDF files, and could be printed out for use in your classroom.
Have students illustrate the story themselves, spending some time researching sea creatures so they can draw them accurately.
Make mermaid puppets, with patterns and cut outs from Phee McFaddle or Marilyn Scott Waters. Students might prefer to design their own!

English

Compare this story with that of The Little Mermaid. The idea of having to choose between the sea and the land and the sad yearning of the mermaid are similarities, but there are many differences.
You might also like to compare this story with the tale of The Selkie Wife. The story is available in a printable version with activities in The Arctic Triptych, or read Mara Freeman’s retelling.
Having examined some love stories involving sea creatures and land creatures, ask students to write their own. You can read another version at Storybird. Students might like to proofread it for the author, and also to create their own Storybird collaborative stories.

Social Studies

This is a Russian story — see part of a puppet show version in Russian below. Sur la Lune has a longer version called Sadko from Old Peter’s Russian Tales by Arthur Ransome. The story is also the basis of Rimsky-Korsokov’s opera Sadko. Given that this is clearly a popular Russian story, why might it be so little known in the United States, compared with other Russian stories such as Peter and the Wolf?

Storynory has another version of the story of Sadko, complete with the sound of Sadko’s instrument, the gusli. This instrument is reminiscent of the harp, the zither, or the dulcimer. Have students research these instruments and compare them.
Learn about Russia. Here are some great online resources:

National Geographic Kids Russia
A PDF about Peter the Great, from the wonderful Time Warp Trio
A Core Knowledge lesson on Russia for 5th grade
A pattern for a felt matryoshka (nesting) doll would also make a great bulletin board in paper. Zakka Life has a template and instructions for a matryoshka card which we think would make a terrific shape book. Have students cut it from construction paper and write facts about Russia as they learn them.
Make some ponchiki, Russian doughnuts, if you’re brave. Get help from the lunch ladies or use a closed electric fryer and make sure kids don’t get near the hot oil.