Comments about Grades

Class,

I'm ready to send out grades, but first a quick comment about this class and this semester.

Grading a foreign language class is a tricky thing.  Students learn languages differently.  Some are strong visual learners who see clearly the words and charts; others who are auditory learn best when they can hear the various charts recited and repeated.  Some are more analytical and the language is like decoding a math equation; others are more global and intuitively put the words together for translations.  

As I watched by own children learn Latin, I saw that each one took to it in a different way.  The intuitive ones needed more time to memorize the charts but understood the "feel" of the language.  The analytic ones could quickly commit charts and vocabulary to mind, but were sometimes slower at translating large sections.

In this class, I attempted to give a variety of opportunities for the students to learn and gain greater grasps of Latin.  We played games, quizzed one another in vocabulary and endings, and completed exercises from the text book.  Some activities were probably more beneficial to some students than others.

We made a change in the correcting and grading of our class exercises this semester.  It seemed to be good to have students correct their own work from the Ecce Romani book so that they could get feedback more quickly about their progress.  For that reason, we had more quizzes in class.

The grades that you will be getting will include a composite score -- a straight percentage of that includes scores from in class participation, book exercises, quizzes, and tests.  I have given a suggested grade, which is what the tutors at CHAT are meant to do.

All in all, I feel that the students worked hard this semester.  I've had a great time with them this year!

Mrs. Prichard

Party Sub Arbore

Party Sub Arbore 

Verse 1:

Moved to the country recently

With a plan and a simple dream

To reunite with my dear old friend

And form a girly team

We'd laugh and cry and stay up all night

Cause everything in Rome is alright

Romans got that swagger 

No one else really matters

I'm feeling nervous cause I really want to see her

Yes, I even want to be her

That's when she walked right into our carriage path

And the driver saw her there

And the driver saw her there

And we both just stood and stared

Chorus:

So we go running into the fields

Now sitting under a tree

Reading the books like yea

Writing the scrolls like yea

We'll only run if we see a big wolf

We're probably gonna be ok

Yeaaaa, its a party with the Romani 

Yeaaaa, its a party sub arbore

Verse 2:

Hopped to the house in the cisium 

The mailman's looking at us now

He's got mail from Rome

Maybe gifts from Rome?

But no, its for my dad

Cornelius is a Roman senator 

With a wife that likes to shout a lot more

The letters from the emperor 

Recalling back the Roman senators 

Feeling worried cause I don't want to leave here

Cause I really want to see her

That's when my mom screamed out in a blazing voice

Come on and pack your bags

Won't you stop trying to lag

Just say good-bye to her again

Chorus 2:

So we go running into the fields

Now sitting under a tree

Reading the books like yea

Writing the scrolls like yea

Hey! Boom Boom! What is that sound?

Its Sextus falling from the tree

Yeaaaa, its a party with the Romani 

Yeaaaa, its a party sub arbore:)

Latin I Class Notes -- OUR FINAL WEEK!! (May 8)

Salvete!

We have finished a good, productive, and fun year of learning Latin.  Our last class of the year was much more on the fun side. Each of the students brought their presentations to share with the class.  Everyone contributed something different.  We had some great edibles -- honey-seed cakes, round bread (donuts), and Laetus Natalus (Happy Birthday) cupcakes. We had 2 history presentations (one on Caesar Augustus and the history of the Latin language), a PowerPoint on the Roman gods, a story with hand-drawn characters and scenes, a Jeopardy game, and an original song about our Ecce Romani characters.

I've posted pictures from our last period on the blog.

I will be posting grades for the class later in the week, along with my thoughts about grading and this class.

Have a great summer!

See you next year ...

Mrs. Prichard

Latin I Class Notes -- Week 14 (May 1)

Salvete!

A brief and belated set of Class Notes:

We are almost done with the year, and for me this is always a bittersweet time.  Most of us could use a break and some easing up of our schedules, but have enjoyed this group of students so much that I'm sad to see the end of the year.

Last week students handed in their Take Home Finals, and we went over some of the sections that they had questions about.  We had a brief review of vocabulary and watched a few videos that other classes have put together for their Latin classes.

This week, our final week, will be Presentations from the class members. The parameters of the presentations are pretty wide.  If they chose to write a paper, they can hand that it and do not have to give it as an oral presentation unless they would like to.  If they created something, they can take time to tell the class about it, or they can just bring it to show us.   The only firm guidelines about these presentations is that they have to be about Latin or Ancient Rome in some way AND they can't take more than 10 minutes.

This week's Class Notes

I'm looking forward to hearing from each of these remarkable students!

Mrs. Prichard