I began writing this post before schools closed for the school year due to COVID-19. Since more and more teachers are now considering and/or already using novellas with their students, I figured I would finish it. Maybe someone might find it useful. We are reading Rufus et arma atra in my first year Latin class. … Continue reading Using the Teacher’s Guide
Tag: Reading Strategies
Two Weeks in Lockdown
Monday, March 16th, my entire state's (Virginia) schools went on lockdown for two weeks. We were asked to begin virtual teaching on Tuesday. Locally, my school division asked us to provide educational opportunities for review, remediation, and spiraling, but not to begin teaching anything new. My best pieces of advice, so far, are: Ask your … Continue reading Two Weeks in Lockdown
Content-Based Instruction
In an effort to teach the content of my Latin classes in Latin, following the advice of one of the best sessions I attended at ACTFL 2019: Building Better Courses: The Case for Content-Based Instruction by Kevin Ballestrini, Mark Pearsall, and Lindsay Sears, I have been creating One Page Wonders with my students, based on … Continue reading Content-Based Instruction
Hodie in Historia
Have you ever been reminded of something, from a while ago, that at THAT time just passed you by - ZIP, right over your head - but now seems like a miracle... one you wish you'd known about earlier? Or rather, that you'd been in the right place, at the right moment, in the right … Continue reading Hodie in Historia
Chunking a Class Block
I've been thinking a lot on how to plan for 90-minute blocks, every other day, with enough variety and activity to keep students engaged and the lesson compelling. Side note: Also need to take into account not wearing me out (as an introvert I need breaks to keep up my enthusiasm in public) In the … Continue reading Chunking a Class Block
EdCampCIVa 2019
This was my first time attending a conference specifically for Comprehensible Input and I had a great time! Organized by Maris Hawkins and Lynne Hendrick, and held at Deep Creek High School in Chesapeake, Virginia. For more information: https://edcampciva.wordpress.com/. I was expecting only two or three other Latin teachers. I am still blown away by … Continue reading EdCampCIVa 2019
Four Heroes (Quattuor Heroes) #1: Hercules
Hercules - MAXIMUS HEROS! Hercules, the greatest of the Greek heroes... maybe, maybe not. If you are a teacher looking for Hercules resources: a simplified, vocabulary-sheltered, comprehensive story on Hercules, along with CI activities to preview, assess, and review the story... look no further! [Disclaimer: I have not class-tested these resources yet, but am planning … Continue reading Four Heroes (Quattuor Heroes) #1: Hercules
Our First Class SSR
[Disclaimer: This year, in my Latin III Prose class, I used SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) to mean the time at the start or end of my class when students chose a novella, magazine, comic, etc. to read on their own. I have since been informed that SSR is generally used to mean the reading of … Continue reading Our First Class SSR
Additional Vocabulary
For each thematic group of vocabulary and unit, there are always a few words I use in the context of comprehensible input which I don't introduce as a flashcard (target vocabulary for that unit). Here's how I handle those additional words: Whiteboard I write a list of the additional words at the start of the … Continue reading Additional Vocabulary
Translate, Tell, Ask
First of all, this was not my idea. A colleague of mine, Chloe Scales, learned it from a mutual professor, Dr. Andrew Becker, as a student, then applied it to her own classes as a Latin teacher, and then shared it with me. This reading strategy can be used in two different ways, with a … Continue reading Translate, Tell, Ask
Dinosaurs Speak Latin 