Recreate Caesar's Legion in Your Classroom!

T.J. Howell has some imaginative suggestions for teaching Caesar, including setting up seating charts to resemble Roman battle lines! There are also suggestions for bulletin boards and props, as well as a bibliography. T.J. has also written two lesson plans, based upon Caesar's Gallic Wars: Decision at Alesia, which explores Caesar's perspectives of the motivations of the Gauls; and Roman Heroics, which is based upon Caesar's only campaign in Gaul that fails.

Remember, the Ides of March are approaching! See past blog entries keyed to Caesar for some interesting resources.

Stephen Colbert, Latin Scholar

Stephen Colbert interviewed Carl Wilson, author of the book Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste last week, about the concept of "good" and "bad" taste in popular culture. Stephen manages to work in an apt Latin proverb!

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Carl Wilson

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Political Humor

Rap Battle
Joke of the Day

You can also listen to Stephen sing Felicem Natalem Diem (Happy Birthday, in Latin) to Pope Benedict XVI in a clip from a previous show.

Minimus is Coming to America!

Barbara Bell, creator and author of Minimus, "the mouse who made Latin cool," will be spending two weeks in the United States (New York, Pittsburgh, and the Baltimore-Washington area) participating in children's events, teacher-training meetings, book-signings, events in conjunction with the Excellence Through Classics organization, and an online webinar!

Minimus: Starting Out in Latin is a popular course for elementary-age students (ages 7-10), which introduces the Latin language, Roman culture and Classical mythology using stories, dialogues and comic strips. The second volume, Minimus Secundus, continues the course through the middle school level (up to age 13). The Minimus series is published by Cambridge University Press. The author resides in the United Kingdom.

Minimus in the U.S.A.: July 12-26, 2009

New York City: The main event will be an “Online Webinar” from the US offices of Cambridge University Press on Tuesday, July 14. From 2-2:30pm Eastern, Barbara will do a Powerpoint presentation on the story of Minimus, followed by a question and answer session. Anyone who wants to take part in the webinar should sign up by contacting Jim Harmon, the Classics specialist at CUP in New York. The webinar makes it possible for teachers nation-wide to participate without having to leave home.

Baltimore-Washington, DC: On Friday, July 17, Barbara will be holding another teacher-training event at St. Vincent Pallotti High School in Laurel from 9:30 am-1:00 pm. Plans are also being firmed up for two activities for families: the first one will be held in Takoma Park from 10-11:30 am on Saturday and the second is on Sunday at the Laurel library from 1-3 pm. On both of these days, Barbara will be participating in a children’s celebration of Latin, Roman mythology, and Roman history. For more information, to volunteer or register, contact rabesse17ATgmail.com.

Pittsburgh: In the summer of 2009, the Excellence Through Classics Committee of the American Classical League will celebrate its 20th anniversary for promoting the study of Classics at the elementary and middle school levels. In conjunction with Barbara Bell's visit to the USA, several events are being planned in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Please mark your calendars for Wednesday, July 22 - Saturday, July 25th. Highlights include a Welcome TEA Party on Wednesday, a teacher training workshop on Thursday at St. Louise de Marillac Parish Center, a book signing on Friday at Barnes & Noble at South Hills Village Mall, and an event at the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh on Saturday. Details will follow in the next two months. These events will be a collaboration of local, state, national, and international Classics organizations. For more information, contact Zee Ann Poerio, pastchairATetclassics.org, Immediate Past Chair of ETC.


You can find out even more about Minimus by visiting the Official Minimus blog.

Cambridge Latin As Viewed from Space!

Latin teachers who would like to teach across the curriculum and make connections between science and the ancient world during this International Year of Astronomy 2009 may wish to take a look at David Parson's compilation of NASA Photos for Classics Lessons. David has listed links to a number of space shuttle photographs of particular interest to Cambridge Latin Course students.

Be sure to check out the rest of Classics Teaching Resources, as you'll find a treasure trove of teaching aids here, plus excerpts from the still relevant writings of W.H.D. Rouse, founder of the Association foR Latin Teaching (including sample chapters from Latin on the Direct Method and a terrific collection of Latin Chanties to sing in your classroom!)

Latin Immersion Summer Program at Christendom College

Christendom College is offering two one-week, intensive, active-Latin immersion courses for high school aged students designed to introduce aspiring Latinists to the beauty and power of the ancient language of the Church. Classes will be conducted primarily in Latin. The magistri are Dr. Mark Clark, Christendom's Associate Professor of Classical and Early Christian Studies and Dr. David Morgan of Furman University.

National Latin Teacher Recruitment Week

Zee Ann Poerio's third grade students celebrated National Latin Teacher Recruitment Week this week!

Zee Ann writes: It's National Latin Teacher Recruitment Week (NLTRW) and I am answering the call from Sherwin Little, President of the American Classical League, to celebrate the week with my third grade students! Yesterday coincided with a national reading event called Read Across America which marks Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2th.

My third graders were amazed to learn that there was a Latin translation of The Cat In the Hat – Cattus Petasatus, (Dr. Seuss' classic was translated by Jennifer Morrish Tunberg, Ph.D. and Terence O. Tunberg, Ph.D. and published by Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers,Inc.)

Each year, I encourage my students to memorize the first page in Latin and some of them challenge their parents to do the same.

You can download an animated ENGLISH version of The Cat In the Hat FREE through KID THING, a program on the NEA website.

My students viewed the English version on a screen and listened to parts of it in Latin from a podcast made possible by Bolchazy –Carducci Publishers, Inc., read by Rose Williams and produced by Andrew Reinhard. Thanks to everyone for your help!

Today we practiced Latin greetings from Chapter 1 of Dr. Traupman's Conversational Latin for Oral Proficiency. Dr. Traupman is a familiar name in my class since students who join the Latin Club use his dictionary. Thanks for all of your help too, Dr. Traupman!

Tomorrow...more fun!

For more information on National Latin Teacher Recruitment Week, visit the National Committee for Latin and Greek's official website.

Remembering the Present Subjunctive

In a recent Latinteach discussion, teachers shared the following memory tricks for remember the signature vowels used for the present subjunctive (E, EA, A, and IA):

• shE wEArs A dIAmond...
• hE hEArs A pIAno...
• wE fEAr All lIArs...
• wE fEAr A lIAr... (used in Wheelock's Latin)
• lEt's bEAt thAt gIAnt... (used in Latin for Americans)
• lEt's EAt cAvIAr...
• wE EAt cAvIAr...
• wE fEAr A trIAl...
  
• wE bEAt All lIArs...
• hE chEAts A lIAr...
  
• wE bEAt A frIAr...
• shE rEAds A dIAry
• shE wEArs A tIAra...
• clEm StEAms ClAms in SIAm ...
• wE bEAt A gIAnt lIAr...(All the rest take into account the 3rd-io conjugation.)
• shE wEArs A dIAmond tIAra...
  
• shE wEArs A gIAnt dIAmond...
  
• lEt's bEAt thAt gIAnt gIAnt... (And these two are hortatory subjunctive sentences.)
  
• lEt's bEAt A lIAr, frIAr...
  

Felicem natalem diem, Dr. Seuss!

Susan Larson, a columnist in the Gwinnett Daily Post, writes a birthday tribute to the creator of the Cat in the Hat (March 1, 2009, There's No Excuse Not to Know Dr. Seuss) which leads her into the classroom of Latin teacher, Robert Patrick, who teaches the ancient language as a living, spoken tongue.

Conventiculum Bostoniense Full Immersion Latin Language Seminar

The Conventiculum Bostoniense is a total immersion residential seminar designed and run professors of Latin with the cooperation of a research professor in the field of Second Language Acquisition. In addition, the Conventiculum Bostoniense is the venue for two full-fledged graduate-level courses with academic credit offered by UMass Boston.

This seminar is specifically designed for teachers in schools and universities, who want to gain some ability to communicate ex-tempore in correct Latin on a wide range of subjects. Participants will enhance and develop their own abilities to express themselves in Latin, both in speaking and writing, and at the same time will explore various ways to employ active Latin in the classroom to enhance the learning experience of their students. After the first evening’s arrival and orientation session, participants will speak Latin exclusively with one another and the faculty for seven days. Two different graduate level courses are offered during the Conventiculum, one for first time attendees and one for returning participants as described below. Days are filled with instructional activities, including sessions focused on oral expression or prose composition, opportunities for social interaction (particularly at meals and in the dormitories), and excursions to the beach and local attractions, including museums and a brewery or winery.

For many more details, please visit this website: http://www.conventiculum.org/

Lingua Latina Resurgens

There's an interesting essay entitled Latin Rising, explaining the resurgence of Latin and and the popularity of the Latin Mass (especially among young families) as a reconnection to unity and universality on The Catholic Thing.

New England Classical Newsletter - February 2009 Issue Now Online!

Be sure to visit the Classical Assocation of New England site to download a free copy of Canens, the New England Classical Newsletter. Even if you don't live in New England and even if you don't belong to CANE, you're sure to enjoy the feature article on Podcasting and the Classics (accompanied by a nice list of podcasts available to download free from iTunes) as well as a classroom activity, the old Roman game Rota, complete with rules and 2 reproducible game boards, plus some scanned clip art! The editors of Canens hope that you'll consider joining CANE and receiving the New England Classical Journal.

Dorothy Sayers and the Teaching of Latin

Those of you who are familiar with Dorothy Sayers and her essay "The Lost Tools of Learning" will enjoy reading the transcript of her Summer 1952 presentation to the Association foR Latin Teaching at the Ley's School in Cambridge, UK, entitled "Ignorance and Dissatisfaction" which ArLT has recently made available.

In this address, Ms. Sayers relates her many years of study of the the Latin language. She shares her own experiences learning Latin grammar and attempting to read the Classical authors and wonders what might have been if only her teachers had been more imaginative and if she'd had the opportunity to read medieval works. She concludes with some "constructive suggestions" regarding methodology and materials. You may not agree with everything she has to say, but it is a thought-provoking article and well worth reading.

Excellence Through Classics for Elementary and Middle School Students

The Excellence Through Classics Committee of the American Classical League has created a new Yahoo email discussion group, ETClassics to focus discussion and ideas on teaching Classics to middle school and elementary school students. This new list is dedicated to exploring methodologies, activities, and theories that can be applied to Classics-related courses at the middle school and elementary levels.

Topics will include articulation of Latin and Greek through the grades, activities for mythology, culture, and language acquisition, language and general teaching methodologies, Classics promotion, and general teaching support for and from peers.

The goal of this group is open sharing of ideas and thoughts related to teaching the Classics in the lower grades.

If you are interested in joining ETC: Classics in Middle and Elementary, please use the following address: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/etclassics/join

Draft Standards for Latin Teacher Training and Certification

The American Classical League and American Philological Association have released a draft copy of the new Standards for Latin Teaching and Certification. You may find a copy of this document on the front page of the ACL Website. The ACL and APA hope that these standards will eventually be used by state and local certification authorities and school boards as well as by schools of education and teacher training programs as they develop programs to train Latin teachers for certification. The ACL and APA plan to present a revised document at the 2009 ACL Institute, which will be held from June 26-28, 2009, at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.

Pompeiiana Vivit...Online!

Euge! Pompeiiana Vivit...online!

Many Latin teachers and students fondly remember the Pompeiiana Newsletter, which was published by Professor Bernard Barcio of Butler University, Indiana, from 1974-2003. Each issue featured news, comics, artwork, stories, games and puzzles in Latin, written by and for junior and senior high school Latin students.

The rights to all 227 issues of Pompeiiana have been granted by Professor Barcio to Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, who are now presenting one issue per day for the next 227 days at the Pompeiiana Newsletter blog!

Buffalo Spoken Latin Workshop

Conventiculum Buffaloniense will take place at the University of Buffalo, SUNY, from June 26-28, 2009. This spoken Latin workshop has two goals: to supplement the previous year's program by increasing participants’ familiarity with spoken Latin while continuing to offer an experience suitable for newcomers, as well as providing a forum for the discussion of spoken Latin pedagogy. More details are available at the Classical Association of Western New York website.

See the sidebar of this blog for other Conventicula to be held throughout the United States in 2009.

Podcasting and the Classics 2009 Now Available for Listening

Podcasting and the Classics, a collection of recorded panel talks from the 2009 American Philological Association's annual meeting, are now available online for download. Podcasting and the Classics is sponsored by the outreach committee of the APA.

This series of talks is available as a free download from Itunes. You will need to have the free iTunes software from Apple, which is available for both PCs and Macs. You may download each episode individually or subscribe to the full series. There is no charge.

For more information, visit the Podcasting and the Classics Blog.

Need Some Ideas for Valentine's Day?

Visit the Kentucky Educational Television Latin Distance Learning website! There you'll find Valentine's expressions in Latin, perfect for creating cards to share and exchange, as well as love myths from Greek, Roman and world mythology (most in English, but one in Latin, with vocabulary key and English translation), some Valentine's day trivia, links to some clip art, and a crossword puzzle! This is definitely a site that you must bookmark!

Also be sure to visit Rosa Latina, where Rose Williams has placed a collection of her holiday material. Here you'll find the Roman origins of Valentine's Day, a spring song of Love in Latin, as well as one of Catullus' famous poems.

Not Latin or Classics-related, but too cute are these do-it-yourself Heart-shaped Paper Clips! Get yourself a cheap multi-pack of colored clips at your favorite, local office supply store.

Announcing the Iris Festival, London (UK), June 2009

Coming this summer, the Iris Festival is a free, three-day festival celebrating the Classics and Greek drama! It will be held 17-19 June 2009 at the Scoop, City Hall, London, UK. Plays and performances will be presented by students from six inner London state-funded schools. The tentative schedule includes a double bill of Greek comedy by Aristophanes (the Birds and the Clouds), readings of classical poetry in translation and in Latin, and a Classical tragedy (possibly Euripides' Bacchae) performed by sixth form (equivalent to junior and senior level in the American high school system).

In addition, there will be activities (mosaic and mask making, storyboarding myths, etc.) for families to enjoy in the area alongside the venue.

To find out more, please visit the Iris Project to find out more about the different initiatives this wonderful organization sponsors in order to promote Classics for all students, regardless of background. The director of the Iris Project is Lorna Robinson, who has just published a new book, Cave Canem, a delightful compendium and commentary featuring Latin words and phrases.

Medusa Mythology Exam Registration Deadline Very Soon!

Just a reminder that Medusa Mythology Exam registrations are due Friday, February 14. The Medusa Exam is open to all students in grades 6-12. The format is a multiple-choice format with 50 questions (in English), and students have 40 minutes to complete the exam. The exam is administered during the week of March 23-27, with some alternative dates possible if there are conflicts with school schedules. Teachers may administer this exam to their own students.

This year's theme is Adventures on the High Seas featuring questions about the voyages of Jason and the Argonauts, Theseus, Odysseus and Aeneas. Questions will focus specifically on the events that take place during the sea voyage part of the myths.

A full syllabus is posted on the Medusa Mythology Exam website.