|
|
|---|
|
Welcome Letter |
LeaAnn A. Osburn, Executive Editor |
|
Dear Friends and Colleagues, It is a great pleasure to write to all of you again. The content of this publication has changed significantly since it began back in 2004 but its tone has remained one of collegiality and its goal of sharing ideas, teaching tips, and news for teachers has continued under the very capable leadership of Andrew Reinhart while I have been busy editing Latin for the New Millennium. I would like to share with you a few reflections about Latin for the New Millennium. When I was still teaching, I would often write worksheets for my Latin 3 and 4 students. The worksheets contained sentences in Latin that practiced a grammatical or syntactical point but which also featured some of the content and vocabulary of the literature the students were currently reading. When I wrote worksheets for my Latin 1 and 2 students, the worksheets likewise featured current vocabulary and focused on a particular grammatical topic. The content of what the students were reading was not contained in the sentences on these lower level worksheets because, frankly speaking, the "Latin stories" in the textbook we used were usually on trivial topics and did not require more practice. When Latin for the New Millennium reached my desk for editing, I was pleased to see that the "stories" were based on literature and that the renowned authors Minkova and Tunberg had written exercises that practiced content, vocabulary, and grammar. What Minkova and Tunberg achieved in Level 1 and what I had not been able to achieve until Latin 3 not only validated for me the method I had used in my classroom but also made me reflect upon what my goals had been when writing those worksheets and by extension what the goals for Latin for the New Millennium were. One of my goals had been to take the compartmentalized components of an upper level Latin class (namely vocabulary acquisition, the understanding of grammar as the backbone of a reading selection, and the topic of a section of Latin literature) and fuse them together. For I knew that students often wondered why we were learning about a particular grammatical topic if the goal was to read a piece of Latin. By fusing the components together, students were able to understand what we were doing and why. The second goal was to allow students another venue in which to discuss the important topics revealed in the reading selections. When we were reading In Catilinam I in Latin 3, both while we were reading the literature itself and while we were reading the content laden sentences on the worksheets, we were afforded the opportunity to discuss what sort of a man Catiline was and what factors drove him to do what he did. And we were able to explore whether such factors can still drive individuals today and what the outcome may be. Such discussions are the meat of a Latin class; such discussions allow students to see how what affected the ancients can still affect us today. And so why should we, as teachers, limit these discussions to upper level Latin classes where we have less students enrolled than in lower level classes. If I were to say the one most important thing which Latin for the New Millennium has achieved it would be this: that students from Lesson 1 in Level 1 have the opportunity to discuss an important topic, one which just might affect their own lives one day. Enjoy this issue of eLitterae and if you have not yet looked at a copy of Latin for the New Millennium, I recommend that you do so. LeaAnn A. Osburn |
 |
|
An Interview with Anna Andresian, No one could accuse Latin teacher Anna Andresian of being less than prepared. She works hard to make sure that her students are maximizing their in-class time by using active Latin and by practicing their grammar and vocabulary as they joyfully substitute words in sentences requiring ablatives, direct objects, and more. At home her students review the Latin grammar they just learned in class and get a preview via hand-outs on the parts of speech to be introduced the next day in class. It’s very much a state of play in Andresian’s classroom with the emphasis on using active Latin to learn the language, yet both the teacher and her students work hard to be ready to play hard the next day. When Andresian began her third year of teaching Latin at the Rocky Hill School in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, she decided that she needed to put together lesson plans that included charts and good examples that would illustrate the grammar for each day’s class. These notes were a helpful tool for her as a teacher. This is when she had her epiphany. “Why not make the charts look good and give them to the students?” Andresian asked herself. She prepared illustrated handouts each week for students in all her classes from Latin 1 to Advanced Placement. After one year of creating these charts, she had enough material for a book. That book became Looking at Latin. Andresian explained the origin of the book by saying, “I just wanted the kids to have something to depend on before the quiz in support of their notes. The idea was to give students a tool that would make this challenge of learning Latin more achievable for them and to save time in class.” Looking at Latin is organized along the lines of more traditional grammars to make it usable with any Latin textbook. Everything about nouns is grouped together in the first hundred pages. Everything about verbs is grouped in the next hundred. Adverbs, adjectives, and grammatical miscellany follow. Andresian used color theory and iconography to make information easy for the students to find. “Students can look for things that are red, or are in bold, or that are inside a yellow circle right away so that they can jump to the most critical points,” Andresian said. “At a glance, you can learn the critical elements”. As a Latin teacher now teaching at the Sage Ridge School in Reno, Nevada, she uses Looking at Latin at the end of Latin 1 and throughout Latin 2 and 3 with her eighth grade students. She recommends that when using the book in class, teachers go to the relevant page and ask students questions to guide them through reading the material there. “Start with the examples on the page and then encourage your students to say them aloud, substituting words for practicing the concept.” This kind of practice is also offered by the recently launched Looking at Latin Online, the grammar review website based on her book. She wrote close to 6,000 questions herself, moving from page to page in her book, determining how students could best learn how to approach Latin grammar. While having a copy of Looking at Latin is not required to use the site, “the exercises are designed to help the student read the page,” Andresian said. “The students can do the exercises before the teacher covers the material in class or they can do the exercises to prepare for their quiz. They can use Looking at Latin Online as both a preview and a review,” she added. Looking at Latin Online sports a free, all-access trial at http://lookingatlatin.com. Individual subscriptions and site licensing for schools are options for purchase. Also, the price of the book has been permanently reduced from $55.00 to $39.00. Price-bundling is available. Hundreds of Latin students at all levels, junior high school through university, are using both Looking at Latin and Looking at Latin Online in support of their main Latin textbooks. As one teacher described Looking at Latin, “it’s grammar for the PowerPoint generation”. |
 |
|
|
|
Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers invites its eLitterae subscribers to test drive Looking at Latin Online with a free trial. Get full access to all 5,000+ illustrated, self-correcting grammar questions for a 14-day period by visiting http://lookingatlatin.com. Evaluate the website for your own use, to use with your students, or to recommend to a Latin student or program. Hundreds of users are already enjoying practicing Latin grammar online with Looking at Latin Online. Individual subscriptions and site or schools are available. One copy, prepaid, no returns, not available to distributors. Offer expires 10/31/09. Make sure you mention that you are an eLitterae subscriber if you place your order by phone or fax. If you place your order via the Bolchazy-Carducci web site at www.BOLCHAZY.com, your discount price will be relfected in your online invoice. Monthly Specials are available on our website, check our "Special Offers" link. |
 |
|
Report of Colorado Classics Association Meeting Andrew Reinhard, Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers’ Director of eLearning gave a workshop on eLearning tools for Latin teachers at the Colorado Classics Association fall meeting on September 19, 2009. The conference was hosted at Holy Family High School in Bloomfield by Latin teacher and published eschatologist Dr. Frank Gumerlock. Attendees included junior high school, high school, and college Latin teachers from various places in Colorado. All participants had school-provided laptops with WiFi Internet connections so that delegates could follow along with talks that featured specific URLs and software programs. Reinhard spoke from ten until noon, starting with a 50-minute slideshow that toured various online supports for Latin (including the Latin for the New Millennium Teachers’ Lounge and eClassics), apps and other goodies for cell- and iPhones (including Bolchazy-Carducci Publisher’s Latin for the New Millennium, Wheelock, and Vergil vocabulary cards), and learning via virtual worlds (Second Life and World of Warcraft). After a short break, he lead the participants through a workshop where they created classroom social networks via Ning.com, classroom blogs with Blogspot.com, and finished up with making two podcasts using free Audacity software: a recitation of the first lines of Cicero’s In Catilinam I, and Catullus’ Carmina 5. The group also learned how to merge recorded readings with pre-recorded music, saving the finished podcast as an MP3 file after setting In Catilinam I to the dramatic music of Jan Novak’s Dido. Reinhard’s 12-page handout and 94-page guide for Latin teachers is freely available for download via the Colorado Classics Association website: http://www.coloradoclassicsassociation.org/html/events_calendar.html. Other presenters spoke about their experiences at the American Classical League’s Summer Institute, ancient Roman-themed activities in Google Earth, standardized testing for Latin, as well as Medieval Latin. See the “Links” section below in this month’s eLitterae to access the sites mentioned by the speakers. Reinhard would like to thank the Colorado Classics Association President Joy Collins for the invitation to speak. He will be giving his final workshop of 2009 at the Texas Classical Association on October 24th in Austin. Click here for details: http://www.txclassics.org/?page=fallconference. 2009 WEBINARS Whether you’re a new Latin teacher looking for teaching tips or a seasoned veteran in search of professional education credits for recertification, Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers offers you this final entry in the 2009 webinar series for teachers. Space is limited to 30 attendees per two-hour session
William J. Dominik, University of Otago October 21, 6:00-8:00 p.m. Eastern Time
This webinar will address a number of practical issues involved in teaching etymology, including how to plan and teach an etymology course, using etymology in Latin and other classes, and tailoring one’s approach and material to the specific academic needs and cultural contexts of students in a variety of educational settings. The utilitarian benefits of etymology and its use as a tool to promote the study of Latin and Greek in the schools will also be considered. Advice will be given about specific materials that are available to teachers and students. The speaker has experience in teaching etymology and Latin at universities and/or secondary schools in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and South Africa.
William J. Dominik has lectured widely in Classics and the Humanities at a number of universities, including the University of Otago (New Zealand), where he is presently Professor and Chair of Classics, and the University of Natal (South Africa), where he was also Professor and Chair of Classics. William has also taught at Texas Tech University (USA), Monash University (Australia), the University of Leeds (England), the University of Cambridge (England) and the University of Edinburgh (Scotland) for periods ranging from one semester to three years. William is the author or editor of over 222 publications, including 15 books, on Roman literature and other topics. He has delivered 97 papers internationally and received 146 grants and awards, including Commonwealth Fellowships in the United Kingdom and Australia. William has also served as the Founding Editor and Manager of the Classics journal Scholia since its founding in 1991. (click here to register) |
 |
|
In case you’ve missed it, it’s back-to-school time. Below are a few sites for Latin teacher resources as you start the new school year: Do your Latin classes need class mottoes? Something to put on a T-shirt or a poster to start the year off with a feeling of pride and solidarity? This fun, online motto generator might help: http://www.inrebus.com/latinmottogenerator.php The About.com information site contains a few useful articles and links for Latin teachers: http://tinyurl.com/o6fwxg: Latin teaching materials at Saint Louis University http://tinyurl.com/om5t49: Use nearly 3,000 sets of teacher-created Latin exercises on Quia.com. http://tinyurl.com/qxno6e: Latin classroom aids for grades 7-12 from Joe Kelly at the University of Nebraska (back to the top) |
|
|
 |
|||||
|
See the Bolchazy-Carducci web site for classroom tips on teaching Catullus and on using children's books translated into Latin, Christmas carols in Latin, and Latin proverbs to teach grammar. In the search box, type "teaching tips" to see all that are available (click on a title to view and click on the teaching tip link). Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers Affiliate Web Sites
|
| Subscribe | Unsubscribe | Preferences | Send to a Friend | Report Spam |
 |
del.icio.us
Digg
reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Twitter