The Greek Myths from the Guardian Unlimited

The British newspaper, the Guardian, has recently published a series of six booklets with a unique retellings of the great mythological stories of the ancient Greek and Roman world.

You can read the text of the booklets at the Guardian Unlimited or order copies from their reader offers department.

6th Annual National Latin Teacher Recruitment Week 2008

National Latin Teacher Recruitment Week is coming up! This year it will be March 3-7, 2008, which is the first full week in March. The theme for this year is Your Future is Our Future. You can find out more about NLTRW, which is sponsored by the American Classical League, the American Philological Association, and other various regional and local classical organziations by visiting the National Committee for Latin and Greek website. There you can read about past celebrations, get ideas for your own promotions, apply for mini-grants, and more!

Ginny Lindzey has designed a number of extremely cool and very professional promotional items for National Latin Teacher Recruitment Week including t-shirts, mini-buttons, mugs, posters, greeting cards, and yard signs. In addition, the NCLG website has loads of free, downloadable items as well including mini-ads, mini-posters, articles, brochures, flyers, bookmarks and more. Check 'em out! They are mirabile dictu!

IT'S OFFICIAL! LATIN IS IN!

According to today's Washington Post, Latin is officially IN for 2008!

Apparently, AP Calculus is sooooo last year!

More Votes for Latin!

Harry Mount, who wrote the editorial in yesterday's New York Times lauding the study of Latin also wrote a similar piece for the Daily Mail (UK) last week.

You can also read a review of Mr. Mount's recent book in the Guardian Unlimited (UK).

Latin Wins the Vote!

Today's op-ed piece in the New York Times casts A Vote for Latin!

Grotto of Romulus and Remus May Have Been Found

The mythical cave Lupercal, where legend holds that the infant twins Romulus and Remus were cared for by a wolf, may have been unearthed by Italian archaeologists. More details from the New York Times.

Full Time Position for a Latin Teacher in FL

Windermere Preparatory School seeks a 7^th and 8^th grade Latin teacher, to start on January 2, 2008. It is a full-time position with five sections of Latin a day. Windermere's 7 ^th and 8^th graders use Ecce Romani and are required to take the Latin 1A and 1B series. The successful candidate will work with the high school Latin teacher to build a dynamic program in the Classics. Interested candidates should forward their CV, 3 letters of reference and a statement of teaching philosophy to William Ford, Assistant Headmaster, Windermere Preparatory School, 6189 Winter Garden-Vineland Road, Windermere, FL 34786.

Semester finals are coming!

Need some clever and imaginative ways to help your students prepare for semester finals?

Visit Perlingua for some wonderful ideas including a template for a Dial a Verb wheel that students can make for themselves, a Circle of Life sentence machine and an Excel template for a noun-adjective agreement booklet.

The Poet's Calendar

I came across this poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow recently and thought that others might enjoy it. It's positively full of allusions to mythology and the Classical world and seems appropriate for the upcoming winter holidays.

THE POET'S CALENDAR
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

JANUARY

Janus am I; oldest of potentates;
Forward I look, and backward, and below
I count, as god of avenues and gates,
The years that through my portals come and go.
I block the roads, and drift the fields with snow;
I chase the wild-fowl from the frozen fen;
My frosts congeal the rivers in their flow,
My fires light up the hearths and hearts of men.

FEBRUARY

I am lustration, and the sea is mine.
I wash the sands and headlands with my tide;
My brow is crowned with branches of the pine;
Before my chariot-wheels the fishes glide.
By me all things unclean are purified,
By me the souls of men washed white again;
E'en the unlovely tombs of those who died
Without a dirge, I cleanse from every stain.

MARCH

I Martius am! Once first, and now the third!
To lead the Year was my appointed place;
A mortal dispossessed me by a word,
And set there Janus with the double face.
Hence I make war on all the human race;
I shake the cities with my hurricanes;
I flood the rivers and their banks efface,
And drown the farms and hamlets with my rains.

APRIL

I open wide the portals of the Spring
To welcome the procession of the flowers,
With their gay banners, and the birds that sing
Their song of songs from their aerial towers.
I soften with my sunshine and my showers
The heart of earth; with thoughts of love I glide
Into the hearts of men; and with the Hours
Upon the Bull with wreathed horns I ride.

MAY

Hark! The sea-faring wild-fowl loud proclaim
My coming, and the swarming of the bees.
These are my heralds, and behold! my name
Is written in blossoms on the hawthorn-trees.
I tell the mariner when to sail the seas;
I waft o'er all the land from far away
The breath and bloom of the Hesperides,
My birthplace. I am Maia. I am May.

JUNE

Mine is the Month of Roses; yes, and mine
The Month of Marriages! All pleasant sights
And scents, the fragrance of the blossoming vine,
The foliage of the valleys and the heights.
Mine are the longest days, the loveliest nights;
The mower's scythe makes music to my ear;
I am the mother of all dear delights;
I am the fairest daughter of the year.

JULY

My emblem is the Lion, and I breathe
The breath of Libyan deserts o'er the land;
My sickle as a sabre I unsheathe,
And bent before me the pale harvests stand.
The lakes and rivers shrink at my command,
And there is thirst and fever in the air;
The sky is changed to brass, the earth to sand;
I am the Emperor whose name I bear.

AUGUST

The Emperor Octavian, called the August,
I being his favorite, bestowed his name
Upon me, and I hold it still in trust,
In memory of him and of his fame.
I am the Virgin, and my vestal flame
Burns less intensely than the Lion's rage;
Sheaves are my only garlands, and I claim
The golden Harvests as my heritage.

SEPTEMBER

I bear the Scales, where hang in equipoise
The night and day; and when unto my lips
I put my trumpet, with its stress and noise
Fly the white clouds like tattered sails of ships;
The tree-tops lash the air with sounding whips;
Southward the clamorous sea-fowl wing their flight;
The hedges are all red with haws and hips,
The Hunter's Moon reigns empress of the night.

OCTOBER

My ornaments are fruits; my garments leaves,
Woven like cloth of gold, and crimson dyed;
I do not boast the harvesting of sheaves,
O'er orchards and o'er vineyards I preside.
Though on the frigid Scorpion I ride,
The dreamy air is full, and overflows
With tender memories of the summer-tide,
And mingled voices of the doves and crows.

NOVEMBER

The Centaur, Sagittarius, am I,
Born of Ixion's and the cloud's embrace;
With sounding hoofs across the earth I fly,
A steed Thessalian with a human face.
Sharp winds the arrows are with which I chase
The leaves, half dead already with affright;
I shroud myself in gloom; and to the race
Of mortals bring nor comfort nor delight.

DECEMBER

Riding upon the Goat, with snow-white hair,
I come, the last of all. This crown of mine
Is of the holly; in my hand I bear
The thyrsus, tipped with fragrant cones of pine.
I celebrate the birth of the Divine,
And the return of the Saturnian reign;--
My songs are carols sung at every shrine,
Proclaiming "Peace on earth, good will to men."

Latin Thanksgiving Blessings and Graces

Perhaps some of you are looking for a Latin Grace before Meals for your Thanksgiving celebration. Not every Latin teacher will be able to use this in his or her classroom, but every year, there certainly are requests for a grace.

The following is a well-known blessing:

"Benedic nos Domine
et haec tua dona
quae de tua largitate
sumus sumpturi
per Jesum Christum
Dominum nostrum
Amen."

("Bless us, O Lord,
And these they gifts
which from your bount
we are about to receive
through Jesus Christ
Our Lord
Amen.")

A different version of the above prayer as well as a number of other traditional graces and blessings in Latin can be found at Queens College, Cambridge University's website.

It's possible that you might want to serve some authentic Roman recipes for Thanksgiving, but it's probably more likely that you'd serve a Thanksgiving Cornucopia. (Cornucopia derives from the Latin cornu, meaning horn, and copia, meaning plenty. The lesser Roman divinity of luck, Fortuna, was often portrayed with a cornucopia in one hand and a rudder in the other hand.)

Bookmark Rogue Classicism Now!

Every Latin, Greek and Classics teacher should have Rogue Classicism bookmarked! Why?

• Everyday you'll know just what happened On This Day in Ancient History!
• Cope with the writer's strike by checking out the Ancient World on Television!
• Find a Classics job, see what papers are being called for, and what conferences are coming up!
• Keep in touch with the Classical blogging world!
  

Even Volcanoes Have Official Websites!

It seems there's an official website for just about everything now. This evening I came across the Official Vesuvius National Park site. There are some nice slide shows and photographs as well as some good information for students who might be getting ready to visit Pompeii and Herculeanum, or simply doing a research project.

A few other excellent sites to visit for anyone interested in Vesuvius -- especially those of you using the Cambridge Latin Course -- include:

• Earth Observatory Maintained by NASA. Be sure to use their search option because there are quite a few images of the volcano available, as well as informative articles.
• Volcano World Hosted by the University of North Dakota, this wonderful educational site has information about volcanoes worldwide, including a page devoted to Vesuvius. Of course, you'll find instructions on building your own volcano too! Pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about volcanoes can be found here!
  

Latin for Dyslexic and Blind Students

Do you have a Latin student who is blind or dyslexic who would benefit from having a digitally recorded textbook? Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic is a national, non-profit organization that provides educational materials to students with severe vision impairments (such as blindness or dyslexia). Subscribers to RFB&D must have a documented disability in order to use their library. Details are on their site.

You'll be happy to know that they have several popular Latin textbooks in their library, including the Cambridge Latin Course, Ecce Romani, and Jenney's Latin.

Halloween Ideas!

Visit veteran Latin teacher Rose William's site for a free downloadable handout entitled "Holidays for Latin Class." Included are ideas for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine's Day! Included is a story "Pliny's Haunted House" for intermediate Latin students.

Project Gutenberg has a downloadable version of the Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories, which includes an English language version of the aforementioned haunted house story. There's another translation at Bartleby, which was originally published in the Harvard Classics series.

VRoma has an excerpt from the original Latin text along with an English version available.

The Kentucky Educational Television Latin Course site has a version of the story with interactive vocabulary hints for readers.

If you'd prefer that your students would write their own scary stories, KET also has a lesson plan with lots of scary Latin vocabulary words!

Long Lost Masterpieces May be Recovered

Classicists may soon have some "new" scrolls to read. The Times (UK) reports that archaeologists have resumed working on excavating a villa located in the ancient city of Herculaneum (destroyed by a volcanic eruption over 2000 years ago in 79 A.D.) which they believe may hold some lost papyri.

Catullus Summer Latin Workshop at Dickinson College

Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania is hosting a Summer Latin Workshop focusing on the works of Catullus from July 13-19, 2008. The daily schedule will involve group translation and discussion of the entire extant works of Catullus.

The application deadline is May 1, 2008.

Tuition for the course is $300 (due June 4, 2008) and includes housing (single or double accommodations in college-owned houses), all meals, and access to Dickinson facilities, including library and gym. Participants are responsible for their own travel and book expenses.

The workshop faculty includes Christopher Francese, Associate Professor of Classics, Dickinson College and Meghan Reedy, Visiting Assistant Professor of Classical Studies, Dickinson College.

(Nota Bene: Those of you who listen to the Latin Poetry Podcast undoubtedly recognize Professor Francese's name!)

The Dickinson Department of Classical Studies is an approved provider of
professional development opportunities under Pennsylvania Act 48. Those who complete the workshop will receive approximately 35 hours of Act 48 credit.

For more information, or to apply, please contact Mrs. Barbara McDonald at mcdonalb@dickinson.edu.

Pompeii: Tales from an Eruption

Those of you who live in Birmingham, Alabama (or nearby) have a unique opportunity. The Birmingham Museum of Art is currently featuring an exhibit of 500 works of art and artifacts from Pompeii and Herculaneum, the ancient Italian cities destroyed by the volcano Vesuvius in 79 AD.

To help visitors to the exhibit prepare, the curators have designed an impressive Pompeii Birmingham website. For those of us who can't go, the site is still quite impressive and worth browsing. If you're teaching a unit on Pompeii you'll find the site particularly useful. Students can read eyewitness accounts of Pliny the Younger and view actual artifacts from the show. see how the art from Pompeii has influenced modern interior designers. Teachers will especially like the printable lesson plans. and suggested reading lists.

Olivia The Essential Latin Edition

Amy High was a Virginia Latin teacher who had great vision and an amazing imagination but sadly passed away in 2003 at the young age of 39. A true loss for her family and also for the Latin teaching community as well. Realizing Latin teachers needed fun materials and incentives for their classrooms, she started her own company, Lumina, creating and distributing innovative stickers and activities to Latin teachers who couldn't find these items anywhere else. She also appeared in the ingenious Forum Romanum series, bringing spoken Latin into classrooms across the United States. Her innovative classroom technique drew the attention of Time Magazine in 2000.

Amy's legacy continues to live on through the Amy High Scholarship for aspiring and current Latin teachers as well as the Alexandria Academy of Fine Arts and Science.

Now Latin teachers have more of Amy's legacy to share with their students with the publication of her Latin translation of the beloved children's story Olivia, originally written by Ian Falconer.

The Toughest Job You'll Ever Love!

Thinking about becoming a Latin teacher because you'll only teach brilliant, highly motivated kids in the TAG (Talented and Gifted) program?

Ginny Lindzey's insightful article It's a Lot of Work should be required reading for all Latin teacher candidates. Unless you are teaching in a highly selective prep school -- and even that's no guarantee -- you will have students with widely varying abilities. You will also have students with special needs.

It's estimated 1 in 150 children are on the autistic spectrum. Some have classic autism. Others have higher functioning forms of autism, including Asperger's Syndrome. These students are often quite academically able and may very well sign up for Latin. You will have to go to IEP meetings. Don't skip that special education course because you think you won't need it.

Latin Outreach in London, UK

The BBC News reports that inner city students in London will be learning Latin from 15 university students from Kings College and University College of London as part of a project conducted by the Iris Project, directed by Lorna Wing, and sponsored by various classical organizations in the United Kingdom. Teachers and students are responding enthusiastically to the project, which is getting a great deal of positive press coverage.

This is a initiative definitely worth following as it progresses!