Free Lesson Plans for Teachers: Boris Yeltsin

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Free Lesson Plans for Teachers
Alpha Stage

Boris Yeltsin
April 24, 2007

Newspapers around the world are reporting on the death of former
Russian President Boris Yeltsin. The BBC is running an article entitled,
"Thousands Gather to Mourn Yeltsin."

The article states, "The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, who is at the
cathedral, says the talk amongst mourners is very much of Mr Yeltsin's
legacy of overthrowing communism, of the early 1990s when people
were very enthusiastic for Mr Yeltsin in Russia, when he was a huge
figure in Russian politics."

The article reports, "But our correspondent says the crowds are relatively
small, adding that most people feel very ambivalent about Mr Yeltsin's
legacy."

Read the article and more!!

Discussion-Starters for Younger Children

Do your students think it's better to live in a place where people
fight with one another or in a place where people are friends?
Why?

Students could identify the benefits of living in a peaceful
society and the drawbacks to living in a war-torn society.

Ask your students what they think the words "brave" or "hero"
mean. Can they think of anyone whom they would describe as
brave? Why do they describe this person as brave?

Students could write short biographical sketches of the
person whom they identify as brave.

If your students could have one characteristic of a super-hero
what characteristic would they want? Why? (Examples might
include ability to fly, ability to see through walls, ability to force
people to tell the truth, etc.)

Consider using this prompt to facilitate a class discussion.

Do your students think it's better to think about the good things
somebody does or the bad things that he/she does? Why? Does
everybody do some things that they wish they had not done?
Explain!! What have your students done that they wish they had
not done?

Select a character from a novel with which your students
are familiar and compare his/her negative characteristics
and positive characteristics. Overall, do your students like
this character or not? Why?

Discussion-Starters for Older Students

Vocabulary terms to discuss: Liturgies; Queued; Legacy; and,
Nostalgia.

Do your students think it's fair to judge Mr. Yeltsin's
accomplishments immediately after his death? Why/why not?
Some people would argue that an individual's accomplishments
cannot really be judged until years after their death? Why might
people make this argument? Do your students agree or disagree?
Why?

Consider using these questions as prompts for a class
discussion.

One political commentator stated, "Yeltsin 'undemocratically' took
unpopular decisions. Still it was Yeltsin who saved democracy,
which is now ready to fall victim to a Soviet restoration." Ask
your students what they think this statement means. What can
they learn from it to apply to their own lives?

Ask students to respond to this quotation (and the
questions) in writing.

What's the point of having a funeral and/or a period of mourning
after somebody dies? The deceased individual may/may not know
that the living are mourning and/or observing funeral rites.

Consider asking students to investigate the reasons that
different religions and cultural groups have mourning
rituals. How have these reasons changed during the course
of history?

Boris Yeltsin is credited for introducing democracy to the Soviet
Union? Tell your students to imagine that they are teaching a
university course on how to establish democracies. What would
they say? Why?

In groups of two or three, students could develop bullet
points indicating what they would say in this situation.
Why would they select these ideas to share?

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