My third and fourth year Latin students wrote an essay about the physical and psychological reaction that the poet has when he sees Clodia speaking to another man at a party.  For those not familiar with the poem here is a translation: http://rudy.negenborn.net/catullus/text2/e51.htm

Whenever my students compose essays I challenge them to write clever titles for their compositions.  They have really outdone themselves with these selections.  I chose the best ones and I will give some extra credit to the student who receives the most votes in this poll:

 

 

Salvete Discipuli et Discipulae,

I am so excited to spend the year teaching you Latin. Now that you all have I-pads, all the assignments will be posted on Edline. If you go to the tab above for your Latin class you can click on the link to the Edline calendar.

This is one final message from me to wish you all a happy and pleasant summer.  It has

truly been a pleasure to translate Catullus, Caesar and Vergil with you.  Congratulations to the seniors who are graduating.

I thought you would like to see some pictures of the Latin 5 final projects.  Max and James made a Lorica Segmentata to go along with their research project on the Roman army in the Caesar class:

 

And, of course, we can’t forget the Catullus class who so enjoyed translating his poetry and further entertained me with their funny jokes, quips and paper titles:

For anyone who wants to brush up on Latin over the summer, click on the “Extra Help” tab above for Wheelock exercises.  (Yes, I know, you are taking the summer off but I just had to add that.)

Our Latin 3/4 class is translating Catullus and we have, of course, been scanning the hendecasyllables.  I found a poem by Tennyson which uses this meter in English and even mentions our favorite poet.

O you chorus of indolent reviewers,

Irresponsible, indolent reviewers,

Look, I come to the test, a tiny poem

All composed in a metre of Catullus…

I am very excited to continue our discussion of meter after break. I am going to try to write some hendecasyllables for my students in English over our spring break. We will see what I can come up with for them!

Salvete Discipuli et Discipulae,

If you are absent from class then please visit this site and click on the “tab” above for your class.  There is a link to the Edline calendar on which you will find all class assignments, homework, handouts, Powerpoints, etc.  You do NOT need to log into Edline in order to view the calendar.  I have made it as easy as possible for you to keep up-to-date on what is going on in class!

Salvete Latin 2!

Here is a chart that you can use for the Passive Voice quiz on Monday:
Present:
amor- I am loved
amâris*- You are loved
amâtur- He, she, it is loved
amâmur- We are loved
amâminî- You (all are loved)
amantur- They are loved

Imperfect:
amâbar- I was loved
amâbâris*-You were loved
amâbâtur- He, she, it was loved
amâbâmur- We were loved
amâbâminî- You all were loved
amâbantur- They were loved

Future:
amâbor- I will be loved
amâberis*- You will be loved
amâbitur- He, she, it will be loved
amâbimur- We will be loved
amâbiminî- You (all) will be loved
amâbuntur- They will be loved

Now that we have had our first Latin grammar and vocabulary quizzes for the year, I thought I would remind you of some ways to improve your scores.  I always say that the more senses you use (see, touch, speak, etc.) the easier it will be to memorize your words:

1. Write your words out over and over until you can do it without looking at your notes.

2. Have a friend or family member quiz you out loud.  Have them say the word in English (to call) and you say the Latin (voco, vocare, vocavi, vocatum).

3. Make some flash cards, either the “old fashioned” kind with index cards or get an app from your phone.

4. Make a friend in the class and form a study group.  Many of my Latin students meet in the library after school to study together.  I can also pair you up with and advanced Latin student to help you out.  Please see me if you are interested in this.

5. Use some of the online tools for our book that will help you do drills to memorize the words.  Click here for some vocab. and grammar games.

Well, that’s it for today.  Keep up the great work.  Do you have any other study tips for your fellow students?  I would love to hear them in the comments!

Salvete Discipuli et Discipulae,

I have had a great first two days of school with the most enthusiastic Latin students!  Thanks so much for a great opening to this school year.  Don’t forget, tomorrow is an advisory schedule.

Now, for an extra credit opportunity.  Identify the sculpture above to get some extra credit on your first quiz!  Leave a comment on this post with your answers.