Looking for a stimulating week learning about the classics this summer?

 

Ah, May! As the musical Camelot proclaims, “the lusty month of May!” As a kid, I loved to play records from my grandmother’s collection on her hi-fi. A favorite was Camelot! So, it should come as no surprise that I seized the opportunity to see its revival at Lincoln Center at the end of April while visiting family in New York City. Julie Andrews was terrific in the original, but I must declare that Phillipa Soo in the current production also does a spectacular job.

 

Those of you in the classroom during May know firsthand that’s it’s a wild and lusty time of year! Warm weather and the flowers from those showers in April bring on full force spring fever. Of course, the lusty month of May means summer is around the corner. All of us at Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers send our teacher friends positive energy as they keep the kids focused. And, we congratulate your students who are graduating this month and next. May their futures bring them much joy and satisfaction.

 

Speaking of graduation, I am heading to my alma mater, Boston College High School, to join fellow graduates of the Class of 1973 for our class reunion. Saturday morning, the golden jubilee graduates welcome the current graduates as alumni and receive their golden diplomas at the commencement ceremony. Yes, it was September 1969 when I first encountered Latin, 1971 when I started Greek, and it’s been a wonderful adventure ever since.

Don

 

 

If you’re an AP Latin teacher, I highly recommend that you check out Patrick Yaggy’s compilation of suggested answers to the free-response questions. He has generously granted us permission to publish the compilation in this issue of eLitterae. The talented master teacher is not only the author of B-C’s online guided practice and review for AP Latin, Lumina for Caesar and Vergil Selections, but also the author of B-C’s The Thebaid of Statius: The Women of Lemnos. This latter title is this month’s eLitterae featured title offered at a special discount price.

AhaSlides is an interactive presentation platform that blends a presentation tool like PowerPoint or Google Slides with quizzing tools like Socrative and game platforms like Kahoot. I really appreciate this combination as it affords teachers so many options all in one place. Teachers can share content via slides, embed videos from YouTube, insert questions to check for understanding, conduct a brainstorming session, generate a word cloud, and more. The user interface is clear and fairly intuitive.

As we near the end of the academic year, review activities are a great way to consolidate students’ learning. AhaSlides would be a great tool for student-generated review materials. Teachers can consider assigning pairs or small groups of students a topic on which to focus and then allow them to create an interactive review presentation. The presentations created are easy to share via a link or QR code. A great way to set up an end-of-semester review activity would be to post QR codes to the various presentations around the classroom. Students can then move in groups around the room to engage with each presentation. To get started, visit www.ahaslides.com.

 

Lynne West is a veteran teacher and teacher leader in K–12 schools. She earned her teaching credentials at Santa Clara University, her master’s degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Los Angeles. In 2016, as a Fulbright Distinguished Teaching awardee, West studied pedagogy at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. She founded Sunodia Educational Consulting to share her passion for teaching with her fellow educators by providing creative, tailored, and patient professional development services.

The April 2023 edition of eLitterae wrapped up our second year of releasing Latin stories designed to accompany Latin for the New Millennium, Level 1. These stories, written by teacher and novella author Emma Vanderpool, introduce beginning Latin students to the myths, legends, and history of ancient Greece and Rome using the vocabulary and grammar of LNM. Bolchazy-Carducci has made all stories from eLitterae published in 2021–22 freely available on our Distance Learning webpage. Here, you can access Metabus et Filia Camila (Review 1) or Proserpina (Review 7). This summer, we will update this page so that you can access the new set of stories, which accompany chapters 3–9 in LNM, Level 1.

Vanderpool’s Latin stories have also been embedded within Lumina for LNM. Available only to Lumina users, special comprehension activities have also been created for each reading. Like all Lumina practice, these new activities are self-grading and give automatic feedback so that students can assess their own progress immediately after reading a story. Additionally, these exercises often require students to understand the Latin that they have read as Latin. For example, an exercise might ask students to match characters to short descriptions written in Latin or put Latin summaries of events in the order in which they occur in a story. Some questions are written in English, but require close reading of the Latin passage. Feedback encourages returning to and rereading specific lines of a passage.

 

Currently, comprehension activities are available on Lumina for the seven review stories. This summer, we will update Lumina for LNM to include similar activities to accompany the stories for chapters 3–9. B-C is pleased to make available a sample Lumina comprehension exercise to all eLitterae subscribers: the following link includes two tasks that accompany the story Cloelia et Lars Porsenna.

 

If you like what you see and would like to learn more about Lumina, send an email to lumina@bolchazy.com to set up a live demonstration of the platform. This short video overview shows the layout and functionality of Lumina for LNM. And, if you are looking for a fun, quick enrichment activity for a Latin class, be sure to try out this mythological monster activity.

 

Amelia Wallace, Editor

The 58th International Congress on Medieval Studies took place in a hybrid format Thursday, May 11, through Saturday, May 13, 2023. Some sixteen hundred medievalists converged on Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo while another five hundred tuned in from the comfort of their home or office. Attendees reveled in the opportunity to attend sessions in person for the first time since 2019! They proved equally eager to spend time chatting and catching up with their colleagues who hailed from all across the United States and from countries far and wide. Indeed, a copy of Bolchazy-Carducci’s new New Testament Greek: A Reading Course is on its way to its new owner’s home in Singapore.

 

 

Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers took delight in its return to Kalamazoo and proudly displayed a broad range of offerings for hands-on examination. As hoped, the beautiful banner for Ubi Fera Sunt drew a regular stream of comments as well as sales. ICMS attendees demonstrated an ecumenical interest in B-C’s titles—from A Byzantine Novel: Drosilla and Charikles to The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Latin of Science, our bilingual edition of The Plays of Hrotswitha of Gandersheim, and the aptly named and much beloved The Other Middle Ages. B-C rep Don Sprague addressed visitors’ questions about learning Latin and eagerly introduced them to B-C’s Lumina: Artes Latinae Self-Teaching Latin Online Course. Many a graduate student has found Artes Latinae a terrific vehicle for learning Latin.

 

 

To celebrate the return to an in-person conference after a four-year hiatus, Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers showcased a set of Greek titles as its special book drawing at “Medieval.” Undergraduate Alexander Millette won copies of the new Reading the Gospel of St. John and the much-praised Reading the Gospel of St. Mark and Reading the Gospel of St. Matthew. As he had already purchased a copy of New Testament Greek: A Reading Course, Level 1, Alex will receive a copy of New Testament Greek: A Reading Course, Level 2, which is in the final stages of production and to be available this fall. Sprague notes that no winner has ever been as surprised and ecstatic about winning as Alex!

 

While escorting my parents on their first ever trip outside North America, I encountered a few interesting tidbits, both classical and not. This troll, Giganta, was found around the end of the harbor in Keflavik, Iceland, just past a fascinating museum about the fishing culture of the original village.

 

 

A bubo—a symbol often used by the press—located just around the corner from Mozart’s birthplace made me pause here in Salzburg, Austria.

 

 

The breathtaking view from the top of the Untersbergbahn is not for those with acrophobia. We rode a gondola to the top and then toured the salt mine in nearby Berchtesgaden, which visit reminded me of the daily “salary” of a Roman soldier.

 

Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany was perfect for a casual visit. The old wall and moat, reminiscent of a Roman fortification, greeted us throughout our walk while an excavated Roman latrine lay exposed beneath the garage where we parked! Unfortunately, it was closed when we visited but the courtyard featured several great Roman statues and inscriptions, including this dedication to Mithras.

 

We visited many other points of interest, castles, war memorials, beautiful cathedrals, und so weiter. It was fun to venture outside my comfort zone of Greek and Roman sites. And, I must add, the food was delicious!

 

Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers is thrilled with the very positive response from students and instructors alike about this Lumina content: online exercises to accompany the Caesar and Vergil selections on the AP Latin syllabus! With its comprehensive, completely original content, Lumina: Caesar and Vergil Selections is a perfect complement to Bolchazy-Carducci's print and eBook resources for AP Latin. Better yet, Lumina: Caesar and Vergil Selections works on any internet-enabled device!

Features

• Hundreds of automatically-graded multiple choice questions promote close reading of all syllabus selections and provide students with immediate feedback

• Veteran AP Latin teacher Patrick Yaggy has carefully constructed Lumina to model the formatting, terminology, and question-type frequency of the AP Latin exam.

• Multiple choice questions cover every single line of Caesar and Vergil in the AP Latin syllabus.

• Copious AP-style free response questions ensure that students develop the necessary skills to thoroughly analyze and respond to all passages on the syllabus

• Thorough practice exams prepare students for the format of the AP Latin exam

• Vocabulary and figures of speech flashcards allow for additional review.

The current version reflects additions and revisions, as well as some corrections, made in response to student and teacher feedback.

An ideal learning tool, for online or in person classes, that provides exceptional AP Exam prep!

To learn more, visit the Lumina: Caesar and Vergil Selections product page and watch the overview video.

 

  

 The Thebaid of Statius: The Women of Lemnos

 

This offer is valid for up to (5) copies of each title, prepaid, no returns.