A Set of Manuals for Studying Ukrainian as a State Language in the 1st Grade Has Been Presented

On 20 September, a set of learning materials developed by the Learning Together project for studying Ukrainian in the first grades of general secondary education institutions where the instruction is carried out in languages of national minorities was presented. You can read and download the manuals at this link on the NUS hub.

«The ideas of social justice, human rights advocacy, gender equality and inclusivity, and attention to environmental issues are cross-cutting topics in Finland, they infiltrate all areas, including education. The New Ukrainian School reform provides not only for the introduction of these concepts, but also for the development of abilities to apply them in everyday life. It is important that due attention is paid in this context to the study of the state Ukrainian language by representatives of national minorities,» emphasized Minna Hakkarainen, Education Counselor of the Embassy of Finland in Ukraine, during the presentation.

One of the key theses of the manuals is to learn the language and use it «here and now». To that end, the set offers a communicative approach to learning the language – to teach it in the process of live communication. This helps master words and constructions required in real communication, in particular during studies.

«Despite the situation, we continue to ensure education rights of persons from national minorities and indigenous peoples, and we find this extremely important. Ukraine, as a sovereign democratic state, considers it its duty to take care of the rights of national minorities. We would like once again to thank our Finnish partners for their continued support of Ukraine, in particular during this difficult period of our history,» remarked Yurii Kononenko, Head of the Main Directorate of General Secondary and Preschool Education of the Department of Preschool, School, Extracurricular and Inclusive Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

The set consists of a student manual, a workbook and a teacher’s manual.

The student manual is based on modern methods of learning the Ukrainian language as the state language and interactive strategies for teaching the language. It contains role-playing games, creative exercises and competence tasks to develop communication skills, which are needed in order to succeed in life and learn efficiently.

Throughout the school year the students will be assisted by characters-intermediaries who will motivate and support students.

Workbook exercises supplement and detail the manual. They also help master Ukrainian vocabulary and grammar, develop fine motor skills and prepare for mastering Cyrillic writing.

Besides, the workbook contains tools for self-assessment of students’ learning progress and a tab with crafts for game activities.

Another part of the set is the teacher’s guide. It contains, in particular:

• catalogs of phonetic, lexical and grammatical tools;
• explanation of exercises in the student manual and workbook;
• recommendations for organizing the learning process;
• description of the activity taking into account the principle of polymodality of speech perception;
• observation forms for formative assessment.

The set is supplemented with interactive digital content – audio support, animation, games, flash cards, interactive tasks and tests.

The set of manuals was presented by its author team:

• Andrii Panchenkov, co-author of New Ukrainian School state standards and programs, author of textbooks and manuals, creative director of the site «Освіта.ua»;
• Iryna Starahina, PhD in Psychological Sciences, co-author of NUS state standards and programs, author of textbooks and manuals, expert in developmental education;
• Olha Romaniuk, co-author of textbooks and manuals, methodologist of the Kyiv Regional In-Service Teacher Training Institute;
• Olha Pitiur, co-author of textbooks and manuals, teacher of the LLC Novopecherska School.