password for this week: veni vidi vici (I came, I saw, I conquered)
Monday, Sept. 17, Day 28
- Calendar Talk
Instead of just talking about the date, weather, birthdays, etc. and pointing to the calendar, I started class everyday filling out this sheet (which I wrote in OneNote as I projected the text)
I then called on two students, one boy and one girl, one older student and one younger student, and asked each the following questions, filling in blanks and circling responses as I went. My classes have grade ranges from 8th grade through 12th grade.
I think that I will continue this again next week but will ask different some different questions. I even may begin discussing the student’s weekends, maybe starting with a simple questionnaire or card-talk. It wasn’t until this week (after a year(?) or so of trying) that I’ve been able to sustain Calendar/Weather talk for more than two minutes or so with some genuine student interest. For instance, we had a good discussion (in Latin) about who had the most tests or quizzes on a certain day, if they were prepared, and which quizzes were more difficult (I think the debate really raged between Biology and Physics). In fact, I had to stop them frequently from calling out in English, which to me is a good sign, because it shows that the topic was actually one that they had a lot to say about.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Digitis micare/”morra” (a ancient game similar to “Rock, Paper, Scissors” but one in which students have to be fairly quick with their numbers 1-10).
We will do a “digitis micare” tournament sometimes as a Brain Break. They new all of their cardinal numbers 0-10 already (just having picked them up from classroom conversation).
Prep Time: 0 minutes
- Movie Talk: “Dragon Boy” (first half)
This short film is a favorite among my students. I started with Keith Toda’s script, but I ended up with this story after by Thursday. I tailored the Movie Talk to my students, and took every opportunity to repeat/reuse words from previous stories.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Prep Time: 20 minutes
Tuesday, Sept. 18, Day 29
- Calendar Talk
A quick recap of yesterday’s calendar talk, and then continued with today, using the same prompts.
Prep Time: 0 minutes
- Movie Talk (Dragon Boy) – Part II
We watched everything except the ending. I wanted to try an activity on Wednesday where we predict the ending of the movie.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Interview #5
Prep Time: 0 minutes
Rather than take a quiz after the interview, I selected some of the new words from the Movie Talk, and had students create 4-Word Images. I will use some of them in class tomorrow for a Picture Talk.
Prep Time: 0 minutes
Wednesday, Sept. 19, Day 30
- Interview Quiz
a follow-up from yesterday’s interview. Afterwards, we checked the quiz.
Prep Time: 0 minutes
- Picture Talk (2-3 “4-Word Image” pictures from the day before)
Prep Time: 15 minutes
- “Predict the ending”
One at a time I projected a list of possible endings for “Dragonboy.” Students responded (on paper):
certum est, probabile est, possibile sed non probabile, impossibile est
The subsequent conversation allowed me to use for repetitions of “putat” and indirect statement.
exempla: quis putat certum esse? Landon putat probabile esse, etc.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Movie Talk – DragonBoy (ending) – Watch/Discuss the end of the movie
We compared the actual ending with the students predictions.
Prep Time: 0 minutes
Total Prep Time: 30 minutes
Thursday, Sept. 20, Day 31
- Calendar Talk
Prep Time: 0 minutes
- Picture Matching Quiz (10 minutes) – Based on the “Dragonboy” movie
Prep Time: 0 minutes
- Dragonboy Story – Reader’s theater re-enactment
I had two actors play all of the props, characters, and scenery in the movie. I projected the story, and read it in Latin, sentence by sentence, pausing to allow the actors to create a “freeze frame” picture. The actors were allowed props. They weren’t allowed to touch. In each class is a frantic and engaging 10 minutes.
Prep Time: 0 minutes
- “Alea Iacta Est”: My variation of the classic “Word Chunk Game.”
I have NEVER had success playing the traditional “Word Chunk Game.” There was low student interest and A LOT of downtime. I fully realize I’m probably just playing it wrong, as I have never actually seen someone play it. I’ve just read the rules. So this version developed as a way to increase student engagement, and eliminate downtime. I will write up a post about this game soon.
Prep Time: 0 minutes
Total Prep Time: 0 minutes
Friday, Sept. 21, Day 32
- Calendar Talk
Prep Time: 0 minutes
- Dictatio
10 sentences selected from the “Dragonboy” story
Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Ridiculum: my version of “Stultus”
The text was the same 10 sentences that the students just read.
Prep Time: 0 minutes
- Whole-Class OWI: “Create-a-dragon”
The student drew a picture of a dragon as we created the details on the fly. We would discuss the details, then I would say “pingite . . .” and the students would draw the detail that we agreed one. I found it very important to draw everyone’s attention to “pingite,” because sometimes students would start drawing before the class reached a consensus. They found this more engaging than “Read and Draw” (probably because it gave them more choice about the content of the pictures). I will use some of these pictures next week for a Picture Talk or two.
Prep Time: 0 minutes
- 5-minute Timed Write
I plan on sharing some sample results at the end of the first quarter (after 9 weeks)
Prep Time: 0 minutes
Total Prep Time: 10 minutes
Comprehensible Classics 