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Welcome to the home of I Speak Latin, the innovative new elementary Latin curriculum for young learners by classical educator Andrew Campbell. I Speak Latin uses students' natural capacity for language learning to help them master Latin vocabulary and syntax quickly and easily, without tedious worksheets, charts, or chants.I Speak Latin engages students right from the start, getting them up out of their seats to learn verbs through physical motions. Students soon converse about their daily lives - family, pets, sports, clothing, food, weather - all the while building a rich and varied Latin vocabulary. Each lesson teaches a single grammar point and introduces vocabulary in natural groupings, based on context. Students can produce complete, meaningful, and correct Latin sentences after only a few lessons. Games and songs keep the class engaged and excited.I Speak Latin is perfect for homeschools, co-op classes, cottage schools, or traditional classrooms.The program couldn't be easier to teach. Each lesson in the I Speak Latin book includes a full script with pronunciation guides and translations for teachers with little or no previous Latin experience. Free MP3 downloads teach you correct pronunciation. Dr. Campbell shares his years of teaching experience with tips for each lesson and hints on how to keep the class fun and exciting. And best of all, the I Speak Latin book gives you everything you need to teach the course, making I Speak Latin one of the most affordable elementary Latin curricula on the market.
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I Speak LatinA Conversational Latin Course for Young Beginners
Andrew A. Campbell
Quidnam PressShelburne Falls, Massachusetts
© 2011 by Andrew A. Campbell
All rights reserved.
Quidnam Press78-B Main StreetShelburne Falls, MA 01370
ispeaklatin.com
How to Use I Speak Latin
This book provides everything a teacher needs to create an engaging and enjoyable Latin learning experience, whether at home or in a traditional classroom. There are no student textbooks to purchase, and all of the activities can be done with a few basic materials, such as index cards, colored pencils, old magazines, and family photographs.
Each lesson plan covers one topic and takes 15-30 minutes to teach, depending on the size of the group. Teaching notes (Quid Novī?, What's New) explain the objectives for the lesson and provide simple grammar explanations. This preparatory material gives you, the teacher, the information you need to present the lesson, even if you have little or no background in Latin yourself.
Vocabulary Cards
At the end of most lessons, students create flashcards. These cards contain no English, only a picture on one side of the card and the appropriate Latin word or phrase on the other. The cards are a key part of the program and are used for a variety of different activities.
It is very important that the students make the connection between an object or action and the corresponding Latin word without the intermediary of their native language. There may be instances where translation is necessary, but it should play a very small role in the lessons. (Grammar explanations take place in English.)
Scheduling
I Speak Latin includes a total of 64 lessons. The pacing is flexible. Assuming a 36-week school year with four weeks of catch up or review time built in, suggested completion times are as follows:
Students who begin in... Can complete the program in...Grade 2 Two years (=1 lesson per week)Grades 3-5 One year (=2 lessons per week)Grade 6 One year (=2 lessons per week) if combined with
another program; as little as one semester (=4 lessons a week) if used alone
All students should also allot at least one 20-minute lesson period a week for vocabulary review.
How to Pronounce Latin...Like a Barbarian
New Latin teachers, particularly homeschooling parents, are often worried about how to pronounce Latin. Should they use the Restored Classical pronunciation preferred by university teachers and classics scholars? Or should they teach Ecclesiastical (Church) Latin for its relevance to religion and music? What about regional accents coming through in Latin? Is it all right to speak Latin with a twang?
Today most scholars model their Latin pronunciation on that of the educated class during the reign of Augustus, but this is a convention based on a number of factors, not least an academic bias toward the high literary culture of that time. But Latin was spoken long before the Augustan Age and continued to be used as a spoken language into the Middle Ages and beyond. At its height, the Roman Empire stretched from Hadrian's Wall at the Scottish border to North Africa and the Middle East. Regional accents in Latin were at least as varied as those of countries where English is spoken today.
The accents of almost all contemporary Latin speakers reflect their respective mother tongues; Pope Benedict XVI, for example, speaks Latin with a German accent. All of these speakers are “barbarians” – foreigners – by birth, and all have learned Latin as a foreign language. As with any language, the bottom line is that we are able to understand each other well enough to communicate.
So please do not worry about the “correct” accent. Speak Latin like a barbarian, and speak it proudly!
The good news is that, whatever your background, Latin is easy to pronounce. It is phonetically regular, and most of the letters are similar to English.
Latin has five vowels:
A (as in father)E (as in grey)I (as in Igor)O (as in open)U (as in super)
These are pure vowel sounds, not diphthongs. For example, cur (=why) is pronounced like the English word “core,” not “cure.”
Some vowels appear with a long mark (macron) over them. This does not change the quality of the vowel, but indicates that it is to be held longer than the unmarked version. The difference is subtle and sometimes difficult for beginners to hear. Do have your students write the macrons, but don't worry too much about the subtleties of their pronunciation at this stage.
Latin also has the following diphthongs (vowel blends):
ae (like the English word eye)au (to rhyme with the English word how)ei (as in the English word eight)ui (like the English word we)
The consonants are mostly pronounced as in English with a few exceptions:
C (always hard, as in cat)G (always hard, as in good)V (=U, usually sounds like the English W) GN (as in the word lasagne or the Ñ in piñata)
The letters J and W do not appear in the classical Latin alphabet. You will sometimes see the letter J used in post-classical Latin texts; it is pronounced like the letter I. Similarly, W appears in medieval Latin in names of Germanic origin; as our name for the letter indicates, it is pronounced like a long or “double” U.
The last two letters of the alphabet, Y and Z, appear rarely in Latin and then only in words of Greek origin. The Y is pronounced like the U in the French word tu, or the German word über, though if you pronounce it like the Latin U, no one will look askance! The Z is as in English.
I have tried to make the pronunciation guides reflect North American English as much as possible. Syllables that appear in capital letters receive the accent.
Examples: Salvē, Magistra! [SAHL-way, mah-GEE-strah!] = Hello, teacher!Bene! [BAY-nay!] = OK. Well done!
Additional Resources
The following titles, although not necessary to teach I Speak Latin, may be helpful to you as references.
John C. Traupman, Conversational Latin for Oral Proficiency, 4th ed. (ISBN 978-0-86516-622-6).
John C. Traupman, The Bantam New College Latin & English Dictionary, 3rd ed. (ISBN 978-0-553-59012-8).
Norma W. Goldman, English Grammar for Students of Latin, 3rd ed. (ISBN 978-0-934034-34-0).
Lesson One
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, you will introduce four simple commands in Latin: surge (stand up), cōnsīde (sit down), ī (go), and venī (come). You and your students will also decide on a way to indicate the need to switch from Latin to English for a short time to clear up confusion.
The commands are given in the imperative form of the verb. The word “imperative” comes from the Latin word imperō, which means to command. You will be addressing each student individually during this lessons, using the singular form of the imperative.
The teaching technique used in this lesson is called Total Physical Response, or TPR. Students move around and act out the words physically. This is an excellent way to introduce action verbs, and we will be using it often during the course of this program.
To prepare for this lesson, make sure your students have space to move around. Put a piece of paper with a big X on it on the floor at least four or five steps away from the students' seating area. Work with one student at a time, using English names. In the script, I have used the name “Julia” (spelled Iūlia in Latin) as a model. Students begin the lesson seated.
Lesson Plan
Say... Do...Iūlia, surge.[SOOR-gay]Julia, stand up.
Make rising gesture with hands. If necessary, demonstrate by standing up yourself. When student stands up...
Bene! [BAY-nay]Good!
Applaud.
Iūlia, cōnsīde. [kon-SEE-day]Julia, sit down.
Make “down” gesture. Demonstrate sitting, if necessary.
Bene! [BAY-nay]Good!
Applaud. Repeat the commands several more times. When the student is standing...
Iūlia, ī! [EE]Go!
Point to the paper with the X. Make “shooing” motion. Once the student has moved to the spot...
Bene![BAY-nay]Good!
Applaud.
Iūlia, venī! [WAY-nee]Julia, come!
Make beckoning gesture until student returns. Repeat the commands several more times. When the student is back at the seating area...
Bene, cōnsīde. [BAY-nay, kon-SEE-day.]Good. Sit down.
Repeat with remaining students until each has had a turn.
As you can see, TPR lessons can be fun. Spontaneous, humorous moments make lessons all the more enjoyable. Don't be afraid to get silly!
After the TPR activity, you will want to debrief in English with your students. Ask them what they understood. As a class, settle on a method for signaling the need for a time out when the students are confused, or if the teacher needs to stop and regroup. Three possible signals:
• the T-shaped time-out gesture used in sports• thumbs up for “I understand”/thumbs down for “I'm lost” (Switch back and forth rapidly for “I
sorta, kinda get it, but I'm not 100% sure.”)• index cards with green, yellow, and red dots on them
Using one of these signals acts like a “pause button” for the lesson. Everyone can use English until the confusion has been cleared up. To restart the lesson, ask, Bene? (OK?) and when you get the go-ahead (thumbs up, green card, etc.), continue with the lesson from where you left off.
To complete today's lesson, distribute index cards to each student, then draw a stick figure* for each action on the board. Under each drawing, write the Latin word.
surge: figure rising from chair (up arrow between chair seat and figure)cōnsīde: same, but with down arrowī: Arrow from figure to Xvenī: Arrow from X to figure
Students make individual cards for each word, with the stick figure on the unlined side of the card and the Latin word on the other. Have students orient the cards horizontally so they can be filed easily.
* For sample flashcard drawings, visit ispeaklatin.com.
Lesson Two
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, we will introduce the greeting words Salvē (hello) and Valē (goodbye). In addition, you will teach the words for “teacher” and “student,” so you and your pupils can address each other more easily.
There are several grammar concepts at work here. First, although it will not become apparent until the next lesson, students are learning the singular forms of the greetings. These forms are used when addressing only one person. Next, they will encounter the concept of grammatical gender. If you are a woman, you will use the feminine word Magistra (teacher) to refer to yourself; if you are a man, use Magister, the masculine equivalent. Likewise, a male pupil is discipulus, and a female one is discipula.
Finally, you will be using the vocative form of these nouns to address each other. The term “vocative” comes from the Latin verb that means “call,” and is the root of English word vocation (“calling”). The vocative form is used when speaking to a person directly, by name. If you were to translate the sentence “John, come here, please!” into Latin, the name “John” would appear in the vocative case. Many vocative forms in Latin are the same as the nominative (subject) form, but most nouns ending in -us change to -e. So when addressing a discipulus directly, you will say discipule.
The word dīc is an imperative singular form meaning “say.”
It is not necessary to explain these points to your students; they are for your understanding and assistance.
Lesson Plan
Warm up by repeating the TPR activity from Lesson One with each student. Some students may have completely forgotten the words; don't worry. Just repeat the activity for a minute or two before moving on. With repeated exposure, the words will sink in. Allow students to refer to their cards if necessary.
Once the students are all seated again, introduce the new material. In the script, the teacher is addressing a male student. A female student would be addressed as discipula [dis-KEE-poo-lah].
Say... Do...Magistra [Magister] sum.[mah-GEE-strah {mah-GEE-stair} soom].I am a teacher.
Point to yourself and repeat:
Magistra. Ma-gi-stra sum.[mah-GEE-strah. mah-GEE-strah soom.]Teacher. I am a teacher.
Now point to a (male) student.
Discipulus es. Dis-ci-pu-lus.[dis-KEE-poo-loos ess. dis-KEE-poo-loos]You are a student.
Point emphatically at the student.
Magistra...[mah-GEE-strah...]Teacher...
Point at yourself...
...discipulus.[...dis-KEE-poo-loos.]Student.
Point at the student.
Bene?[BAY-nay?]OK?
Raise eyebrows and tilt head to say “Do you understand?”
Bene. Discipule, surge.[BAY-nay. dis-KEE-poo-leh, SOOR-gay]OK. Student, stand up.
Point to the student and make rising gesture with hands. Student stands. Approach the student, smile, and hold out your hand for a handshake.
Salvē, discipule![SAHL-way, dis-KEE-poo-lay]Hello, student.
Shake the student's hand, repeating the phrase several times. Then point to yourself and in a stage whisper, say...
Dīc, “Salvē, magistra!”[deek, SAHL-way, mah-GEE-strah]Say, “Hello, teacher!”
If the student does not repeat the phrase Salvē, magistra, point to your mouth and repeat:
Dīc... “Salvē!”[deek, SAHL-way!]Say...Hello!
When the student says the word, repeat:
Salvē, discipule![SAHL-way, dis-KEE-poo-lay]Hello, student.
Shake hands heartily. Then let go, turn away slightly, and wave over your shoulder.
Valē, discipule![WAH-lay, dis-KEE-poo-lay]Goodbye, student.
Continue walking away and repeating the phrase. If the student does not reply, use your stage whisper.
Dīc... “Valē!”[deek WAH-lay]Say... Goodbye!
When the student replies, applaud.
Bene, discipule! Cōnsīde.[BAY-nay, dis-KEE-poo-lay. Kon-SEE-day.]Good, student. Sit down.
When the student returns to his seat, repeat the process with remaining students.
To complete the lesson, make index cards for the new words:
magistra/magister: large figure with graduation capdiscipulus: small figure holding a bookdiscipula: small figure with hair bow holding a booksalvē: two figures shaking handsvalē: two figures walking away from each other, wavingdīc: picture of a face with open mouth, lines coming out to indicate sound
Lesson Three
Quid Novī?
This is a review lesson. Choose at least two of the activities listed below to do today.
Lesson Plan
1. Concentration
Write the following words on individual index cards:
surge, cōnsīde; ī, venī; magistra or magister, discipulus; salvē, valē
Shuffle the cards and deal them face down in two rows of four. Students take turns flipping over two cards. If they get a match, they keep the cards and get another turn. If you have an odd number of students, play with the one who needs the most encouragement or help.
If you play this game today, store the cards for later use.
2. Artist's Challenge
Call out words from the vocabulary learned so far, and have students draw a stick figure to represent it. Or have the students give you the words to draw. To add some fun and challenge, you can deliberately make mistakes and see if the students catch you!
3. Simon Dīcit (Simon Says)
Students stand in a line at one end of the room. Say Simon dīcit [SEE-mohn DEE-keet] followed by one of the action verbs learned so far: surge, cōnsīde, ī, venī. For ī students move one step forward; for venī, they turn around and take one step back, then turn around again. Demonstrate this before beginning the game. Students only move when the command is prefaced by Simon dīcit; otherwise, they are out. The students who reach the other side of the room without making a mistake win the game.
Lesson Four
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, students learn how to ask “who are you?” (Quis es?), state who or what they are ([ego]...sum), ask for someone's name (Quid est nōmen tibi?), and give their own (Nōmen mihi est...). You can use the students' English names, or they can choose a Roman name. One advantage to using a Roman name is that students will need to use the vocative (direct address) form with certain masculine names. The forms in parentheses are the corresponding vocative forms. As you can see, masculine names ending in -ius do not add the final -e, but end with -ī. Feminine names do not change in the vocative.
Common Roman boys' names include: Aulus (Aule), Decimus (Decime), Lucius (Lucī ), Mārcus (Mārce), Publius (Publī ), Quīntus (Quīnte), Sextus (Sexte), and Titus (Tite).
Common Roman girls' names include: Aemilia, Aurelia, Claudia, Cornelia, Fabia, Flavia, Iūlia, Paula, and Tullia.
If you are teaching your own children at home, it may seem funny to ask their names. To make the lesson more engaging, act as if you were struck with amnesia. Scratch your head, squint, and act dazed and confused. Begin by pointing to one student. (Remember to substitute discipula if you are speaking to a girl.)
Lesson Plan
Say... Do...Surge, discipule![SOOR-gay, dis-KEE-poo-lay!]Stand up, student.
If necessary, gesture for the student to rise. Then put out your hand for a handshake.
Salvē, discipule![SAHL-way, dis-KEE-poo-lay!]Hello, student!
Prompt as necessary for the reply Salvē, magistra!
Discipule, quis es?[dis-KEE-poo-lay, kwees ess?]Student, who are you?
Point at the student, shrug your shoulders in a questioning movement, and look confused.
Quis es? Quid est nōmen tibi?[Kwees ess? Kwid esst NO-men TEE-bee?]Who are you? What is your name?
Continue to point and look confused. Then point to yourself...
Ego magistra. Magistra sum.[AY-go mah-GEE-stra. Mah-GEE-stra soom.]I [am] the teacher. I'm the teacher.
Repeat as necessary: E-go, ma-gi-stra. Ma-gi-stra sum. Then point again to the student.
Quis es?? Magistra es?[Kwees ess?? mah-GEE-strah ess?]Who are you? Are you the teachers?
The student will likely shake his head no. He may answer discipulus sum (the correct answer) or discipulus es, which is not correct but on the right track.
Discipulus es?[dis-KEE-poo-loos ess?]You're a student?
Student nods.
Dīc “discipulus sum.”[deek “dis-KEE-poo-loos soom.]Say, “I am a student.”
Student repeats.
Bene. Sed quid est nōmen tibi?[sed kwid esst NO-men TEE-bee?]Good. But what is your name?
Emphasize nōmen. Student probably will not answer, or may repeat discipulus sum. Point to yourself...
Nōmen mihi est [your name].[NO-men MEE-hee esst...]My name is...
Emphasize the word mihi (my). When giving your name, use whatever will be familiar to your students: Mom, Mrs. Jones, etc.
Quid est nōmen tibi?[kwid esst NO-men TEE-bee?]What is your name?
Emphasize tibi (your). The student will probably give his name at this point, but if not ask...
Est nōmen tibi [X]?[esst NO-men TEE-bee...?]Is your name...?
For X, insert incorrect and humorous possibilities: Captain Jack Sparrow, George Washington, Darth Vader, Rumpelstiltskin...At this point, the student will almost certainly understand and give his name.
Ah! Nōmen tibi est […]! Salvē [name]![Ah! NO-men TEE-bee esst...! SAHL-way...]Ah! Your name is...! Hello,...!
Insert the student's name in the sentence and shake hands heartily. If the student has only give his name (“John”) but not used the whole phrase, write Nōmen mihi est plus his name on the board.
Dīc “nōmen mihi est..”[deek, NO-men MEE-hee esst...]Say “my name is...”
Point to the board and have the student repeat the phrase. When he has done so successfully, continue.
Bene, [name]. Cōnsīde.[BAY-nay […]. Kon-SEE-day.]Good, …. Sit down.
Repeat with remaining students.
Complete the lesson by making cards for the following new words and phrases:
Quis es?: Two figures close together, one pointing to other, dialog bubble with ?? in it[Ego]...sum: Figure with arrow pointing over head.nōmen: Figure with name underneath. Arrow pointing to name.
Lesson Five
Quid Novī?
This lessons builds on the last one by teaching students how to ask about and identify another person. Students have been hearing the verb est (he/she/it is) all along, but now will use it actively to refer to other individuals. In addition, they will learn the word eī (AY-ee, literally “to him” or “to her”) in the phrase Quid est nōmen eī? (What is his/her name?)
Lesson Plan
Warm up using one of the games from Lesson Three, then continue by introducing the new material as follows.
Note: If you are working with only one student, you will need pictures of familiar people or characters. In a classroom, you can use pictures and/or refer to the other students in the class.
Say... Do...Discipule, quid est nōmen tibi? Quis es?[dis-KEE-poo-lay, kwid esst NO-men TEE-bee? Kwees ess?]Student, what is your name? Who are you?
Point to the student and give a questioning shrug. If necessary, prompt the student in a stage whisper: Nōmen mihi est... When the student replies, point to yourself.
Bene. Et quis sum?[BAY-nay. Eht kwees soom?]Good. And who am I?
The student will probably not be able to answer this question straight away. Remind the student...
Magistra sum. Quis sum?[mah-GEE-strah soom. Kwees soom?]I'm the teacher. Who am I?
The student should now answer magistra.
Bene. Dīc “Magistra es.”[BAY-nay. Deek “mah-GEE-strah ess.]Good. Say “You're the teacher.”
The student repeats Magistra es.
Bene. [BAY-nay]Good.
Now point at another student or a picture of someone known to the student.
Quis est?[kwees esst?]Who is he (she)?
Emphasize est (he/she is) so the student can distinguish it from es (you are). If the student gives just the name, respond:
Bene! [...] est.[BAY-nay. {…} esst.]Good! It's […].
Repeat the question Quis est? at least three more times with different people or pictures, until the student is able to generate the phrase [name] est accurately. Then write the phrase nōmen eī est... on the board.
Bene, [name] est. Nōmen eī [name] est.[BAY-nay, {name} esst. NO-men AY-ee {name} esst.]Good, it's [name]. His name is [name].
Using whatever picture you're referring to, fill in the blank at the end of nōmen eī est. For example, Nōmen eī est Captain Jack Sparrow. Then add = Captain Jack Sparrow est. Point to the picture again.
Quid est nōmen eī? If necessary, point to the board and have the student read the
[kwid esst NO-men AY-ee?]What is his name?
response: Nōmen eī est Captain Jack Sparrow. Then point to another picture (or student).
Et quid est nōmen eī?[eht kwid esst NO-men AY-ee?]And what his his (her) name?
Student responds: Nōmen eī est...
Et quid est nōmen tibi?[eht kwid esst NO-men TEE-bee?]And what is your name?
Emphasize tibi. If the student looks confused or gives an incorrect response, point at the student and repeat the question until the student gives the correct response: Nōmen mihi est...
Bene![BAY-nay!]Good!
Applaud. Repeat with other students as necessary.
Complete the lesson by having students make cards for the new vocabulary.
et: A+B, arrow pointing to the plus sign. Students may not have even noticed the introduction of this intuitive little word. It means “and.”Quis est?: Three figures, two close together, one further way. One figure points to the furthest figure, ?? inside speech bubble.Nōmen eī est...: Same drawing as Quis est, but with name under furthest figure. Arrows pointing to figure and name.
Note: Please look ahead at the next lesson, and ask the students to review their cards before the next class.
Lesson Six
Quid Novī?
This is a review lesson. If you need to assess student progress formally, as in a school setting, you can also use this activity to see how much your students have retained from the first five lessons.
Lesson Plan
Prepare four cards for each student with stick figures for the following words and phrases:
Salvē!Quis es?...sum.Valē!
Shuffle each set of cards so they are in a random order.
The student assignment has two parts: first, place the cards in a logical order, and second, write a short dialog in Latin that reflects the story told by the cards. As an alternative, you can ask students to display the cards to you in a logical order and deliver the dialog orally.
At minimum, students should be able to produce a dialog consisting of the four phrases above, and some may include additional words and phrases, e.g., Salvē, magistra; Quid est nōmen tibi, etc.
If the students struggle with this task, review the previous lessons before moving on. If the problems are minimal, have the students work together in class to create a comic strip version of the dialog. Use the stick figures in sequence as the basis of the comic strip, and add the phrases in speech bubbles above the characters. The finished product can be displayed your teaching space.
Lesson Seven
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, you will add to the students' repertoire of commands in the singular. The new actions are: ambulā (walk), curre (run), salī (jump), and saltā (dance). You will also teach two adverbs: lentē (slowly) and cito (quickly). There are a few other words in the lesson as well, although the students are not responsible for these yet. Quaesō means please, nunc means now, and age means go on.
Lesson Plan
Say... Do...Salvē, discipula![SAHL-way, dis-KEE-poo-lah!]Hello, student.
Wave hello.
Venī, quaesō![WAY-nee, QUEYE-so!]Come, please!
Make beckoning gesture.
Nunc, ambulā![noonk, AHM-boo-lah!]Now walk!
Demonstrate walking. (Use your fingers on the table if space is at a premium.) Then repeat the command and demonstration until the student begins walking.
Bene![BAY-nay!]Good!
Applaud. Invite each student to follow suit, one by one.
Age, discipule, ambulā! Bene.[AH-gay, dis-KEE-poo-lay, AM-boo-lah! BAY-nay.]Go on, student, walk! Good.
Address one student again, and continue...
Nunc, curre![noonk, KOO-ray!]Now, run!
Jog in place or use fingers to demonstrate.
Bene, curre![BAY-nay, KOO-ray!]Good, run!
Again, invite each student to run, one by one.
Age, discipula, curre! Bene.[AH-gay, dis-KEE-poo-lay, KOO-ray! BAY-nay.]Go on, student, run! Good.
Address one student again, and continue...
Nunc, salī![noonk, SAH-lee!]Now, jump!
Jump up and down, or use your fingers to demonstrate. Repeat with other students as above.
Et nunc, saltā![eht noonk, SAHL-tah!]And now, dance!
Dance. (Be silly!) One by one, invite the students to join you.
Discipule, saltā lentē! Lentē![dis-KEE-poo-lay, SAHL-tah LEN-tay! LEN-tay!]Student, dance slowly. Slowly.
Dance very slowly until the student follows your lead.
Discipula, saltā cito! Cito![dis-KEE-poo-lah, SAHL-tah KEE-toh! KEE-toh!]Student, dance quickly! Quickly!
Dance quickly until the student does the same.
Bene, bene.[BAY-nay, BAY-nay.]Good, good.
Gesture for everyone to stop. Now call on each student one at a time, giving a specific command to each. (If you have only one or two students, call out commands in turn.)
Ambulā (lentē, cito)! Curre (lentē, cito)! Salī (lentē, cito)! Saltā (lentē, cito)![AM-boo-lah (LEN-tay, KEE-toh)! KOO-ray...SAH-lee...SAHL-tah.]Walk (slowly, quickly)! Run...jump...dance.
As you call on each student, briefly demonstrate the desired action.
Bene![BAY-nay!]Good!
Applaud.
Complete the lesson by having the students make cards for each of the new words:
ambulā: figure walkingcurre: figure running with speed linessalī: figure jumpingsaltā: figure dancing (music notes in the air)lentē: picture of a turtle with slow speed linescito: picture of a rabbit or race car (fast speed lines)
Lesson Eight
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, students will learn words to describe different types of people. You will need a collection of pictures showing adults and children. You will be teaching the words vir (man), fēmina (woman), puer (boy), and puella (girl). The word quoque means also, and nōn means not.
Introducing nouns is not as high energy as the TPR activities used with verbs. Although the nouns are given only a few at a time, some students may need to take a break from making their cards. If you notice the students getting fidgety, get everyone up for a quick round of Simon Dīcit (Lesson Three) using the commands they have learned so far (see Lessons One and Seven). Then return to a quieter activity.
Beginning with this lesson, pronunciation guides will be given only as new words are introduced. If you are unsure of the pronunciation of a word, please refer to previous lessons or to the audio files at ispeaklatin.com.
Lesson Plan
Say... Do...Quid est?[kwid esst?]What is it?
Display a picture of a man.
Est vir. Vir est.[esst weer. Weer esst.]This is a man. It's a man.
Write the word vir on the board. Show a different picture of a man.
Est quoque vir.[esst QWOH-quay weer.]This is also a man.
Point to the word vir. Now show a third picture of a man.*
Et vir est.And this is a man.
Now show a picture of a woman and ask:
Est vir? Nōn est! Est fēmina.[esst weer? Non esst. Esst FAY-Mē-nah.]Is it a man? It is not. This is a woman.
As you say nōn est, shake your head decisively, then emphasize the word fēmina in the next sentence. Write the word on the board as you pronounce it slowly.
Fē-mi-na.Wo-man.
Show another picture of a woman.
Est fēmina.This is a woman.
And another. Point to the picture.
Est fēmina. Discipula, est vir?This is a woman. Student, is it a man?
The student will likely shake her head no. Invite her to say Nōn est.
Nōn est. Nōn est vir. Fēmina est.It is not. It is not a man. It is a woman.
Use a beckoning gesture to encourage the student to repeat what you have said. Then turn to the other students.
Est vir? Gesture again and repeat the question until a student answers: Nōn est.
* If students question the word quoque, write quoque=et on the board. Although they are not exact synonyms, this will convey the general idea. At the end of the lesson, you can translate quoque into English if questions remain.
Is it a man?
Quid est? Est...What is it? It's...
Student: fēmina.
Bene.Good.
Display a picture of a boy.
Puer est.[POO-air esst.]It's a boy.
Students may try to call out the English word. Do not acknowledge them, but write the word puer on the board. Then display another picture of a boy.
Puer quoque est.[POO-air KWOH-quay esst.]This is also a boy.
Call on a student and point to the picture of the boy.
Discipule, quid est?Student, what is this?
Student: Puer or puer est.
Nōn est vir?It's not a man?
Student: Nōn est.
Bene.Good.
Display a picture of a girl.
Puella est. Pu-el-la.[poo-ELL-lah esst. poo-ELL-lah.]This is a girl.
Show another picture of a girl. Write the word on the board.
Est quoque puella.This is also a girl.
Show a third picture.
Discipula, quid est?Student, what is this?
Student: Puella. If the student is unable to answer, point to the word on the board and help pronounce it. Now shuffle the pictures and display one at random. Call on a student and ask:
Quid est?What is it?
If the student answers correctly, nod and move on. If the answer is incorrect, repeat it with a rising, questioning tone (puer est?!) and see if the student can self-correct. If not, provide the correct word: Nōn est. Fēmina est. Continue questioning until each student has correctly identified each type of person at least once.
Complete the lesson by making cards for the new words:
vir: Oval head, downward pointing triangle bodyfēmina: Over head, upward pointing triangle bodypuer: Half size, round head, downward pointing triangle bodypuella: Half size, round head, upward pointing triangle body
You can also add long hair to the female figures if that helps your students distinguish them, but try not to make the drawings too elaborate. Remember that no English should appear on the cards!
Lesson Nine
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, we will expand on the nouns learned in the last lesson by adding names for members of the immediate family (familia). They are: māter (mother), pater (father), frāter (brother), soror (sister), avus (grandfather), and avia (grandmother). Students will also learn the very useful word ecce, meaning “here is, look at, behold.”
Students will be generating sentence like māter est fēmina (the mother is a woman). In this sentence, māter is the subject, est is a linking verb, and fēmina is the subject complement. In Latin as in English, both the subject and the subject complement use the same form, the nominative or subject form. The subject complement is also sometimes called a predicate nominative because it is a nominative (subject) form that appears in the predicate of the sentence. Many students learn these terms in the middle grades, so when you encounter them in your English grammar lessons, you can let students know that they've already learned the concept in Latin, even if they didn't know it at the time.
We will also be introducing the Latin question particle -ne. This particle is a suffix added to the end of the first word in a sentence to signal interrogative meaning. (Interrogat means “he/she asks,” hence our grammatical term for “questioning.”) It is not a negative. Estne fēmina? means exactly the same as Est fēmina?: Is she a woman? If students question you about -ne, write -ne=? on the board, followed by the example: estne=est...?
If possible, gather pictures of the students' family members for this lesson; otherwise, use photos from magazines or books that show families.
Lesson Plan
Say... Do...Quis est?Who is it?
Hold up a picture of a mother (ideally holding a baby). Some students may answer Fēmina est, which is correct. Others may try to give the English word “mother.” Ignore any answers given in English.
Bene. Fēmina est. Est quoque māter.[esst KWOH-kway MAH-tair.]Good. It's a woman. It's also a mother.
Point to the woman.
Ecce māter. Mā-ter.[EK-kay MAH-tair.]Here's a mother. Mo-ther.
Write the word on the board.
Est fēmina. Est māter.This is a woman. This is a mother.
Now show a picture of a father, again preferably with an infant or small child.
Ecce pater. Pa-ter.[EK-kay PAH-tair.]Here's a father. Fa-ther.
Write the word on the board. Now show the mother again.
Estne pater? [esst-nay MAH-tair.]Is it a mother?
Student: Nōn est.
Quis est?Who is it?
Student: Pater est.
Bene. Good.
Now show a picture of two siblings, a boy and a girl.
Ecce frāter...[EK-kay FRAH-tair...]Here is a brother...
Point to the boy...
et soror.[eht SOH-rohr.]and a sister.
and to the girl.
Frāter...et soror.[FRAH-tair...eht SOH-rohr.]Brother...and sister.
Point to the respective pictures and then write the words on the board. Then ask a student...
Estne soror fēmina?[esst-nay SOH-rohr FAY-Mē-nah?]Is the sister a woman?
Student: Nōn est.
Bene. Soror est puella. Estne māter fēmina?[SOH-rohr esst poo-ELL-lah.]Good. The sister is a girl. Is the mother a woman?
Student: Māter est fēmina. Nod.
Māter est fēmina, et soror est puella. The mother is a woman, and the sister is a girl.
Point to the brother again.
Et frāter? Est vir?[eht FRAH-tair? Esst weer?]And the brother? Is he a man?
Student: Nōn est.
Est puella?Is he a girl?
Student: Nōn est.
Est...?He is...?
Student: Est puer.
Bene.Good.
Show a picture of grandparents. Point to grandfather...
Ecce avus...[EK-kay AH-wooss...]Here is a grandfather...
...then point to grandmother, then back and forth.
...et avia. Avus et avia.[eht AH-wee-ah. AH-wooss eht AH-wee-ah.]...and a grandmother. Grandfather and grandmother.
Write the words on the board.
Discipula, estne avia fēmina?[...estne AH-wee-ah FAY-Mē-nah?]Student, is the grandmother a woman?
Student: Avia est fēmina.
Et avus, est puer?[eht AH-wooss, esst POO-air?]And the grandfather, is he a boy?
Student: Nōn est puer or Vir est. Continue questioning until students can match the words from the last lesson from the new vocabulary.
Complete the lesson by making cards for the new words.
familia: Group of adults and childrenmāter: Same as for fēmina, but holding an oval shaped bundle with face showingpater: Same as for vir, but with baby, as abovefrāter et soror: Same as for puer and puella, but holding handsavus et avia: Like vir and fēmina, but with eyeglasses
Although some students may not have all of these people in their own families, they should draw them on their cards. In upcoming lessons they will learn additional vocabulary that will allow them to talk about their own families more fully.
Lesson Ten
Quid Novī?
This is a review lesson. Use activities #1 and #3 listed in Lesson Three, adding the new vocabulary as indicated.
Lesson Plan
For Concentration, the new pairs are: vir/fēmina, puer/puella, pater/māter, frāter/soror, avus/avia. To distinguish puer/puella from frāter/soror, make two copies of the latter with identical pictures of the two holding hands, but put an arrow pointing to the boy (frāter) on one, and to the girl (soror) on the other. The pater/māter pictures should show adults holding babies, to distinguish them from the more generic vir/fēmina.
For Simon Dīcit, use the following commands: surge, cōnsīde, ī, venī, ambulā, curre, salī, saltā.
Have fun!
Lesson Eleven
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, students will learn two possessive adjectives, meus (my) and tuus (your, singular). They will also learn that adjectives agree with the nouns they modify. In this lesson, we will focus on the masculine and feminine singular forms: meus/tuus and mea/tua, respectively.
Each student needs a photo or drawing of his or her family for today's lesson. You will also need a photo or drawing of your own family of origin (including you, your parents, and your siblings, if any).
Lesson Plan
Say... Do...Ecce familia.[EK-kay fah-MEE-lee-ah]Here is a family.
Show the picture of your family. Point to your chest.
Mea familia est.[MAY-ah fah-MEE-lee-ah esst.]It's my family.
Hug the picture to your chest lovingly, then display it again.
Ecce māter mea...pater meus...soror mea...frāter meus...et ego![EK-kay MAH-tair MAY-ah...PAH-tair MAY-oos, SOH-rohr MAY-ah...FRAH-tair MAY-oos...eht AY-goh!]Here are my mother...my father...my sister...my brother...and I!
Point to each family member in turn. (Adapt what you say to the actual picture.) When you say et ego, point back and forth from the picture to your chest to indicate that you are the same person.
Familia mea est![Fah-MEE-lee-ah MAY-ah est!]It's my family!
Write the words Familia mea on the board. Then draw stick figures of each member of your family underneath, placing the girls and women in one column and the boys and men in another. As you draw, repeat the names of the people, e.g....
Ecce māter mea...pater meus...soror mea...frāter meus...et ego!Here are my mother...my father...my sister...my brother...and I!
Put yourself in the appropriate column. Now write the words māter mea, soror mea, pater meus, frāter meus, under the corresponding stick figure. Repeat the words aloud as you write them.
Ecce māter mea...pater meus...soror mea...frāter meus...et ego!Here are my mother...my father...my sister...my brother...and I!
When you've finished writing, call on one student, and point to each phrase in turn, inviting the student to repeat them. Repeat with each student. (If you have a large group, have the students repeat the words together.)
Discipule, dīc “māter mea...pater meus...” etc.Student, say “my mother...my father...” etc.
Now move around behind a student, and point to his or her picture.
Estne familia tua? When saying tua, point to the student. The student may nod. In any case,
[esst-nay fah-MEE-lee-ah TOO-ah?]Is this your family?
repeat...
Familia tua est!It's your family!
Move to the board and point to the words Familia mea.
Dīc “Familia mea est!”Say, “It's my family.”
The student repeats. Have the student stand up, hold the picture above his or her head, and proclaim Familia mea est! proudly. (You may need to model this, or physically move the student into place.) Repeat with each student:
Est familia tua?Is this your family?
Student: Familia mea est! Now return to the board and point to your māter mea stick figure.
Quis est?Who is it?
The correct response is māter tua (your mother), but some students may just read the words on the board and respond māter mea. If so, look surprised, point to the student and say...
Māter tua est?!It's your mother?!
Most students will catch their mistake at this point. If not, you can exclaim Soror! or Frāter! as if the student were a long-lost sibling. If the students still do not understand, correct them now briefly in English: Who is this? Students: Your mother. You respond:
Bene. Dīc, “Māter tua est.”Good. Say “It's your mother.”
Now point to the stick figure of your father (or brother).
Quis est?Who is it?
Student (reading from board): Est pater...? The student will probably not be able to generate the appropriate form and may say tua. Ignore this error for the time being and move on.
Pater meus est.It's my father.
Point to the appropriate person in student's picture, and ask:
Est pater tuus?Is it your father?
Prompt as necessary:
Dīc, “Pater meus est.”Say, “It's my father.”
Repeat with the other students. Continue this pattern with soror mea/tua and frāter meus/tuus. Some students may ask for how to say “stepfather” or “stepsister.” For now, just call these people “father, sister,” etc.
End this lesson with a short debriefing in English. Ask the students what they noticed about today's new words:
Q. When do you use the words that end in -us (meus/tuus)? A. With males. Q. When do you use the words that end in -a (mea/tua)? A. With females.
Point out that the word familia does not refer to a male or female person, but to a group. It uses the feminine ending because it is a grammatically feminine word that ends in -a, like puella or fēmina.
Lesson Twelve
Quid Novī?
In this lesson we will introduce the words for extended family members, including aunts, uncles, and cousins. There is a lot of new material in this lesson, so you may want to spread it out over two class periods or assign the vocabulary cards as homework.
Latin has different words for maternal and paternal relations. These are illustrated in the family tree below. A maternal aunt and uncle are mātertera and avunculus, respectively; a paternal aunt and uncle are amita and patruus. A maternal cousin is a cōnsōbrīnus (m.) or cōnsōbrīna (f.); a paternal cousin, whether male or female, is a patruēlis. In our family tree below, the patruēlis is a fīlius ūnicus, an only son, or a fīlia ūnica, only daughter.
Have students gather photos of their extended families, including aunts, uncles, and cousins, that can be cut up and used on the students' vocabulary cards. If no photos are available, ask the students to draw their relations to the best of their ability.
At the beginning of class, draw a large family tree on the board, as follows:
avus meus------avia mea avus meus------avia mea ______________| |_______
| | | | mātertera mea---avunculus meus māter mea----------------------------pater meus amita mea---patruus meus ____|_____ ____________________ |_______ | | | | | | patruēlis cōnsōbrīnus cōnsōbrīna EGO frāter meus soror mea meus/mea meus mea (fīlius ūnicus/fīlia ūnica)
The words in bold are new vocabulary.
Lesson Plan
For today's activity, have students draw their family tree, based on a model you have put on the board. Have students write the names of their various relations along with the Latin terms for the relationship, e.g., Robert, frāter meus; Alexandra, cōnsōbrīna mea.
Younger students may be unclear about the relationships between the various members of their family, and some may have situations (divorce, step-parents, half-siblings, etc.) that make the family tree complicated. Be prepared for many questions (in English) about how to represent these relationships. The following additional vocabulary may come in handy:
noverca: stepmothervītricus: stepfatheramīcus: boyfriend*
amīca: girlfriend
There are specific terms in Latin for “stepsister on the mother's side” and so on, but at this stage, it is best
* Amīcus and amīca can also be used to refer to platonic friends.
to stick with the simple terms soror and frāter for all siblings.
Some students may have nieces and nephews of their own. The terms for these are:
niece: fīlia sorōris (=sister's daughter), fīlia frātris (=brother's daughter)nephew: fīlius sorōris (=sister's son), fīlius frātris (=brother's son)
When the students have completed their family trees, have them make cards for the new vocabulary and paste photos of their relations on these as appropriate. If they do not have a given relationship in their family, have them copy the relevant portion of the family tree with a blank for the vocabulary word, and then put the word on the back of the card. For example, the drawing below could be used to represent cōnsōbrīnus.
mātertera---avunculus | ( ) (m.)
Lesson Thirteen
Quid Novī?
In this short lesson, you will teach a new and extremely useful question word, ubi, which means “where?”
You will need your wallet with your picture ID and a single dollar bill.
Lesson Plan
As you teach this lesson, you are going to pretend to be disoriented. You will be asking students to give their names, and then promptly forgetting where they are. For the purpose of the script, I will use random names; you will substitute the names of the actual students in your class. Approach a student, peer into his or her face...
Say... Do...Salvē! Quis es?Hello! Who are you?
Most students will not answer immediately. A few may give a correct response, e.g., John sum or Nōmen mihi John est.
Quis es, puer (puella)? Quid est nōmen tibi?Who are you, boy (girl)? What is your name?
Student responds as above.
Ah. John es. Dīc, quis sum?Ah. You're John. Say, who am I?
Point to yourself. Students may not understand the question, so repeat:
Nōmen tibi est John. Quid est nōmen mihi?Your name is John. What is my name?
Look confused. Students may give various responses, including your name or Magister es!
Magister sum?! Hmmm....I'm the teacher?! Hmmm...
Continue to look confused. Then perk up and lift your index finger as if you've just had a brilliant idea. Get out your wallet and look at your ID.
Ah-ha! Nōmen mihi est [your name]. Magister (magistra) sum!Ah-ha! My name is […]. I'm the teacher!
Applaud. Then turn to another student.
Quis es?Who are you?
Student: Teresa sum.
Teresa? Ubi est John??[OO-bee esst...]Teresa? Where is John??
Shade your eyes as if searching for something in the distance. Either John or Teresa will likely speak up or point to John. Give a relieved sigh.
Ahhh. Ecce John.Ahhh. There's John.
Move on to another student.
Quis es, discipula?Who are you, student?
Student: Maria sum.
Maria?! Ubi est Teresa?Maria?! Where is Teresa?
Search again. Student points. Act confused.
Nōn est Teresa. John est!That's not Teresa. It's John!
By this time, the students are likely laughing, or at least protesting (possibly in English).
Ubi est John?Where is John?
John identifies himself.
Et Teresa? Ubi est Teresa?And Teresa? Where is Teresa?
Teresa identifies herself. Continue this questioning pattern until you have spoken with every student at least once.
Ubi est George?Where is George?
Students are confused. There is no George in the class. Call and search for George...
George...! Ubi es, George? George...! Where are you, George?
Put your finger up again in the “bright idea” gesture. Take out your wallet, take out the dollar bill, and announce:
Ecce George! Salvē, George!Here's George! Hello, George!
Drop your imaginary persona now.
Note: If you have only one student, use names of pets, other people in the family, or friends, present or not, in place of the names of other students.
If there is a George in your class, substitute the appropriate name for whatever currency you have available.
Finish off the lesson by writing Ubi...? on the board and demonstrating the corresponding stick figure.
Ubi?: Figure with question marks over its head, holding map. Alternative: figure with question marks next to a compass.
Lesson Fourteen
Quid Novī?
In this review lesson students practice using family vocabulary, the possessive adjectives meus/tuus, and the question word ubi.
Lesson Plan
1. Ubi est...?
This game works best in classroom settings. Students pair up. (If there is an odd number of students, you can join in.) Both students take their family cards, mix them together, and place them face up on the table in random order. They then take turns asking questions about the people in the pictures:
Ubi est māter tua? Ubi est pater meus? Ubi est cōnsōbrīna tua?
If the other student is able to identify the person correctly, she claims the card before asking a question of her own. If she does not identify the person, she does not get a card but still asks a question. The student with the most cards wins. Make sure all the cards go back to their owners at the end of the game.
2. Ubi/Ecce
This is a variation on Concentration. It works best with one student or in a home-based setting. You will need a set of cards with family photos on them but no labels on the back. Shuffle the cards and place them in a row, face up. The student has one minute to look at the cards and memorize their positions. Turn the cards face down, and ask the student:
Ubi est māter tua?Ubi est pater tuus?Ubi est soror tua?Ubi est frāter tuus?Etc.
(See Lesson Twelve for a complete list of family vocabulary.)
When the student finds the card, he says
Ecce māter mea! Etc.
If you are working with your own child, you can make the game more challenging by asking questions like Ubi est māter mea? (i.e., the child's grandmother) or Ubi est soror mea? (the child's aunt).
Lesson Fifteen
Quid Novī?
In previous lessons, students have learned to express possession with the adjectives meus/mea and tuus/tua. In this lesson, they will an idiomatic way to say “I have”: ...est mihi. This phrase literally means “...is to me.” If you speak French, you will recognize this as the equivalent of “[quelque chose] est à moi.” To speak about something someone else has, we say …est tibi, literally, “[it] is to you,” or “it is yours.”
Students have already encountered this usage in the phrase nōmen mihi est X, “my name is X,” or, more literally, “the name X is to me,” “I have the name X.”
We will also be introducing the preposition in, which means in, inside, or on. In Latin, nouns and adjectives that appear after this preposition are placed in the ablative case.* For example, the phrase “in your family,” is in familiā tuā in Latin. Note that the final vowels of familia and tua have a macron (long mark) over them; this signals the ablative for feminine nouns in the first declension. (A declension is a family of nouns that share endings.) Other declensions have different ablative endings, and we will encounter them later. For now, students will learn in familiā tuā and in familiā meā as set phrases.
We will again be using family vocabulary. There are two new words: frāterculus (m.), meaning little brother, and sorōrcula (f.), meaning little sister. You may also need to remind students of the terms fīlius ūnicus (m.) and fīlia ūnica (f.), meaning only child.
Lesson Plan
Begin by drawing a stick figure family of six on the board: mother, father, boy, girl, smaller boy, and smaller girl. In this instance, the mother and father do not need to be holding babies to be recognizable. Label this picture “Familia Mea,” even if it is not an accurate depiction of your real family. Draw the students' attention to the picture.
Say... Do...Ecce familia mea.This is my family.
If the students are your own children, or know your family, wink broadly. Then point to each member of the family in turn.
Ecce māter...et pater...et frāter...et soror. Et ecce frāterculus...et sorōrcula.[frah-TAIR-koo-loos...eht soh-ROHR-koo-lah]Here are the mother...and father..and brother...and sister. And here are the little brother...and little sister.
As you name the last two members of the family, gesture to indicate that they are very small. Using a squeaky voice to say the words helps get the point across. Write the new words on the board. Then call a student up to the board.
Ubi est familia tua?Where is your family?
Hand the student the chalk or marker, and mime drawing on the board. If necessary, repeat familia tua, while gesturing. As the student is drawing, narrate what you see.
Ah, ecce māter tua...et pater tuus.
As the students comes to drawing siblings, change to a questioning voice.
* The same word, in, can also mean into, in which case it is followed by the accusative, or direct object, case. This use will not be introduced at this point, however.
Ah, there's your mother...and your father.
Est frāter tuus?Is that your brother?
The student may be drawing himself or herself and may say “It's me!” or something similar. In this case, respond: Ah, tu es! (Oh, it's you!) We'll assume here that the student has a brother and a sister.
Ah, est soror tua?Ah, is that your sister?
Student nods, or repeats Soror (mea) est.
Est sorōrcula?Is she a little sister?
If the student does not understand the question, hold your hand to indicate a child much shorter than the student. Confirm the student's response as appropriate:
[Nōn] est sorōrcula.She's [not] a little sister.
Now introduce the new phrase, speaking slowly and clearly.
Puella est soror tua. In familiā tuā est soror. Soror est tibi.The girl is your sister. There is a sister in your family. You have a sister.
Repeat the last sentence, pointing first at the board (Soror est) and then at the student (tibi).
Et puer?And the boy?
Point to the boy in the picture.
Est frāter tuus?Is he your brother?
Student affirms.
Est frāterculus?Is he a little brother?
Gesture to indicate a very small child. Student confirms or denies.(We'll assume it is a little brother.)
Puer est frāterculus tuus. In familiā tua est frāterculus. Frāterculus est tibi.The boy is your little brother. In your family there is a little brother. You have a little brother.
Again, say the last sentence slowly, pointing to the board (frāterculus est) and then to the student (tibi).
Bene!Good!
Invite another student up to the board and repeat the process. If there are many students, you may want to repeat your questions only one or two more times. Then point back to your original picture of the stick figure family.
In familiā meā est māter...et pater...et frāter...et soror...et sorōrcula...et frāterculus.In my family there is a mother...and a father...and a brother...and a sister...and a little sister...and a little brother.
Point to each figure as you say the word.
Māter est mihi. Pater est mihi. Soror est mihi. Frāter est mihi. Sorōrcula est mihi. Frāterculus est mihi.I have a mother...and a father...and a brother...and a sister...and a little sister...and a little brother.
Point to each figure as you repeat. Then turn to a student and ask:
Est frāter tibi?Do you have a brother?
Student should reply Frāter est mihi or Frāter nōn est mihi. Prompt in a stage whisper if necessary. Continue questioning the students using
the words soror, frāter, sorōrcula, and frāterculus. If a child does not have siblings, supply the phrase fīlius ūnicus sum (for a boy) or fīlia ūnica sum (for a girl). If the students are catching on quickly, expand the vocabulary pool to include other family words: avia, avus, mātertera, avunculus, amita, patruus, cōnsōbrīnus, cōnsōbrīna, patruēlis.
Conclude the lesson by having the students make cards for the new vocabulary.
sorōrcula: girl and smaller girl holding hands, arrow pointing to smaller girlfrāterculus: boy and smaller boy holding hands, arrow pointing to smaller boy
Lesson Sixteen
Quid Novī?
In this short lesson, students learn how to ask and respond to the question Quōmodo tē habēs (How are you doing?). Answers take the form of Mē habeō... plus an adverb: I am doing well, poorly, etc. The five adverbs you will be teaching are: optimē (great), bene (well), satis bene (well enough, OK), male (badly, poorly), and pessimē (very badly, terribly).
Lesson Plan
Before class, draw five large circles on the board. These will be faces that show the various emotions the students will be talking about. They will also be the models for the students' vocabulary cards.
Begin the lesson by greeting one student.
Say... Do...Salvē, discipula.Hello, student.
Student: Salvē!
Quis es? Quid est nōmen tibi?Who are you? What is your name?
Student: Nōmen mihi est [name].
Quōmodo tē habēs?[KWOH-moh-doh tay HAH-bayss?]How are you?
Student: ?? Move to board and fill in the first circle with a big smiley face. Grin, bop around a bit, and point to yourself, saying enthusiastically:
Mē habeō optimē! [may HAH-bay-oh OP-tee-may!]I'm doing great!
Point to the face on the board and repeat.
Optimē![OP-tee-may!]Great!
Point to your own face and grin. The point to the student.
Quōmodo tē habēs?How are you?
If the student does not reply, write the words Mē habeō... on the board and label the smiley optimē. Point to the words in turn as the student repeats them.
Optimē!Great!
Return to the board and fill in the next smiley with a normal smile and label it bene. Match the smile with the expression on your own face.
Mē habeō bene. Bene.I'm doing well. Well.
Then fill in the next circle with a neutral face, using a straight line for the mouth and label it satis bene.
Mē habeō satis bene. Satis bene.[...SAH-teess BAY-nay]I'm doing OK. OK.
As you repeat the words, see-saw your hand back and forth to signal “so-so.” Then fill in the next circle with a downturned mouth and label it male.
Mē habeō male. Male.[MAH-lay]I'm doing poorly.
As you repeat the word, put on a sad expression and point to your own face. Finally, fill in the last circle with a sad face and tears and label it pessimē.
Mē habeō pessimē! Pessimē![...PAY-see-may]
Repeat the word with a catch in your voice, as if you were about to
I'm doing terribly. Terribly! cry, then mime weeping. Now call on each student in turn.Quōmodo tē habēs?How are you?
If necessary, point to the words Mē habeō on the board and then let the student choose one of the five options.
Complete the lesson by having students copy the models onto individual index cards. Remember that the picture should go on one side of the card and the word on the other.
Lesson Seventeen
Quid Novī?
The students now have enough conversational elements to create a simple dialog. In this lesson, they will map out a dialog in comic strip form and then perform it. If you are working with only one student, you will take one part in the dialog; otherwise, supervise the students to make sure they are on task and understand the assignment. This lesson may serve as a review and/or as an assessment of student progress.
Lesson Plan
Write the following on individual slips of paper. (For a larger class, type the sentences out on a single sheet, photocopy it, and then cut the slips apart.)
Salvē!Quid est nōmen tibi?Quōmodo tē habēs?Valē!
Each student will need a piece of plain white paper, held horizontally. On the board, draw four connected boxes to represent the comic strip frames. Have the students copy this onto their papers. (For larger classes, you may want to provide a pre-printed sheet with the frames already in place.)
Explain (in English) that the students will be writing comic strips using the phrases provided. Notice that the phrases represent only one person's side of the dialog; the students will have to generate appropriate responses as well as draw the figures. To get the students started, demonstrate by filling in one of the frames on the board with two figures facing each other. Each has a speech bubble with the word “Salvē!” in it. Assist and correct as necessary.
Once everyone has finished, call students forward in pairs to perform the dialogs they have created. Most will be identical, or nearly so:
A. Salvē!B. Salvē!A. Quid est nōmen tibi?B. Nōmen mihi est [name].A. Quōmodo tē habēs?B. Mē habeō....A. Valē!B. Valē!
When everyone has performed, take a moment to congratulate the students on their progress. They are speaking Latin!
Lesson Eighteen
Quid Novī?
Like the previous lesson, today's class serves as a review and may also be used as an assessment.
Lesson Plan
Give each student a large piece of plain paper on which to draw a family portrait. The students can use stick figures or draw more realistic likenesses. Each student then shows the drawing to the class and introduces each person:
Ecce māter mea...Ecce pater meus...Ecce sorōrcula mea...
You can prompt students as necessary with questions:
Ubi est māter tua?Est pater tuus?
Lesson Nineteen
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, students will learn to sing the alphabet in Latin, enabling them (and you) to spell out words in Latin. Knowing the names of the letters, particularly the vowels, will also help students pronounce unfamiliar Latin words correctly.
Lesson Plan
Write the letters of the Latin alphabet on the board. If students notice that some letters are “missing,” explain (in English) that the Latin alphabet does not have a J or W, and that in Latin U and V are the same letter. The last two letters, Y and Z, are Greek imports and retain their Greek names.
Point to each letter and pronounce it clearly; the students repeat after you.
A ah, as in fatherB bayC kayD dayE ay, as in sayF effG gayH haI ee, as in seeK kah as in coffeeL ellM emN enO ohP payQ kooR err (slightly rolled)S essT tayU ooX eeksY OOP-see-lohnZ ZAY-tah
Once you have repeated the alphabet two or three times, you can sing it to the tune of “This Old Man.” (Some students may know the tune as “The Barney Song.”) The last three words translate loosely as “now our song is done.”
A, B, CD, E, FG, H, IK, L, M, NO P Q R S TU et Y [=upsilon]Z [=zeta]. Carmen nostrum iam.
After teaching the alphabet, play a few rounds of Carnifex (Hangman) to drill the letters. Pay special attention to the pronunciation of the vowels. English speakers tend to confuse the Latin E (ay) with the English long A, and the Latin I (ee) with the English long I. Ignore macrons (long marks) when playing the game.
In future lessons, you may find the phrase Quōmodo scribitur... [KWOH-moh-doh SKREE-bih-toor...] useful. It means “How do you write/spell...?”
Lesson Twenty
Quid Novī?
In this and the next lesson, students will learn to count in Latin. They will also learn, or review, Roman numerals. You will introduce the question word quot? (pronounced like the English word “quote”), which means “how many?”
Lesson Plan
Warm up by singing the Latin Alphabet Song twice.
Write the Arabic numerals 1-10 on the board. Point to each as you say the Latin word and have the students repeat after you. Say the numbers through three times.
1 – I – ūnus [OO-noos]2 – II – duo [DOO-oh]3 – III – trēs [like the English word “trace”]4 – IV – quattuor [QUAH-too-or]5 – V – quīnque [QUEEN-quay]6 – VI – sex [sex]7 – VII – septem [SEP-tem]8 – VIII – octō [OHK-toh]9 – IX – novem [NOH-whem]10 – X – decem [DAY-kem]
Students may notice that the last four numbers in the sequence appear in the names of the months September, October, etc. This will be discussed when students learn about the months, but at this point, you can confirm that some of our month names do indeed derive from the Latin numbers.
Some students may giggle at the pronunciation of the number 6. My policy is to let students get their snickers out once and only once. After that, it's just another Latin word! If you find that some students can't get past it, you can exaggerate the vowel: [SAYX].
Once the students have heard the numbers at least three times, drill by holding up random numbers of fingers and asking Quot sunt? (How many are there?) If the classroom is too large for all the students to see your fingers, write random numerals on the board instead.
Now write the Latin words next to the Arabic numerals, followed by the Roman numerals. Demonstrate that the Roman numeral I represents one finger, and V represents the shape made between the thumb and forefinger when all five fingers are outstretched. To show X, hold all ten fingers outstretched and cross your thumbs.
Drill again, writing random Roman numerals on the board.
Finish the lesson by having students write the ten numerals (Arabic and/or Roman) on their cards, with the corresponding Latin word on the opposite side.
Lesson Twenty-One
Quid Novī?
This lesson introduces the numbers from eleven to twenty, plus the words centum and mille – 100 and 1000 respectively. Students will learn to do simple addition problems in Latin, using the question: Quot sunt X et Y? (What are X and Y?) The word sunt (they are) was used in the last chapter without comment, as most students will understand it intuitively. In coming chapters, they will learn how to use it with plural nouns.
Lesson Plan
Warm up by singing the Latin Alphabet Song. Then review the numbers 1-10 by having students stand up and count off. If you have more than ten students, number eleven begins again at ūnus.
Now introduce the new numbers just as you did in the previous lesson.
11 – XI – ūndecim [OON-day-keem]*
12 – XII – duodecim [DOO-oh-DAY-keem]13 – XIII – trēdecim [TRAY-day-keem]14 – XIV – quattuordecim [QUAH-too-oor-DAY-keem]15 – XV – quīndecim [QUEEN-day-keem]16 – XVI – sēdecim [SAY-day-keem]17 – XVII – septendecim [SEPT-en-day-keem]18 – XVIII – duodēvīgintī [DOO-oh-day-wee-GIN-tee]19 – XIX – ūndēvīgintī [OON-day-wee-GIN-tee]20 – XX – vīgintī [wee-GIN-tee]
100 – C – centum [KEN-toom]1000 – M – mille [MEE-lay]
Drill the numbers by writing random numerals from 1-20 on the board. The teens may be somewhat challenging to pronounce, so don't be surprised if the students are hesitant. Give them plenty of chances to say the numbers and repeat them (correctly) after each answer is given to reinforce the pronunciation.
The students may notice that the numbers 18 and 19 do not follow the same patterns as the other teens. They are, respectively, “two from twenty” and “one from twenty.” Centum (100) is the root of our word “century,” and mille (1000) gives us “millennium.”
Once the students have had a chance to practice the numbers, go to the board and write the equation 1+1= . Point to the numbers as you say:
Say... Do...Ūnus et ūnus sunt...[OO-noos eht OO-noos soont...]One and one are...
Point to a student, who answers: duo.
Eh? Quot sunt ūnus et ūnus? Cup your ear as if you didn't hear the answer. Student repeats: DUO!
* Some of these numbers are pronounced almost as if they were two words, e.g., quattuor/decim. I indicate the resulting natural accentuation in the pronunciation guide. Remember, too, that in the Restored Classical pronunciation the G is a hard sound, as in the English “good.”
Eh? How much are one and one?
Ah, duo! Ūnus et ūnus sunt duo! Optimē!Ah, two! One and one are two! Great!
Most students will be able to recognize the word optimē in this new context. If not, say bene (one thumb up)...optimē! (two thumbs up). Then write 1+2= on the board.
Quot sunt ūnus et duo?How much are one and two?
Student: Trēs.
Bene!Good!
Continue to write equations on the board with sums up to 20. For an extra challenge, use Roman numerals.
Finish up the class by having the students create vocabulary cards for the numbers 11-20, 100, and 1000.
Lesson Twenty-Two
Quid Novī?
In the last two lessons, we gently introduced the plural verb sunt (they are, there are). Today we will introduce some plural nouns with numbers and sunt. Students will discover that the numbers ūnus, duo, and trēs are adjectives that decline; that is, they change form depending on the gender of the noun they modify. The other numbers up to 20 do not change. For your reference, the forms used in this lesson are as follows:
masculine: ūnus vir, ūnus puerfeminine: ūna [OO-nah] fēmina, ūna puella
masculine: duo virī [DOO-oh WEE-ree] (two men), duo puerī [DOO-oh poo-EH-ree] (two boys)feminine: duae fēminae [DOO-eye FAY-mee-neye] (two women), duae puellae [poo-ELL-eye] (two girls)
masculine/feminine: trēs virī, trēs puerī, trēs fēminae, trēs puellae
There are additional forms for neuter nouns; these will be introduced in a later lesson.
Lesson Plan
Warm up by singing the Latin Alphabet Song and counting together from one to twenty in Latin.
Draw stick figures of one man, one boy, one woman, and one girl on the board, leaving space around each to add more figures. Point to the man.
Say... Do...Quis est?Who is it?
Student: Vir est.
Bene. Good.
Hold up one finger.
Ūnus vir est. Ūnus.It is one man. One.
Now draw a second man next to the first.
Quot sunt?How many are there?
Student: Duo.
Bene! Duo virī sunt.Good! There are two men.
Hold up two fingers, then write the words I vir, II virī on the board. Draw one more man.
Quot sunt?How many are there?
Student: Trēs.
Bene.Good.
Write III virī on the board. Now point to picture of the boy.
Quis est?Who is it?
Student: Puer est. (Prompt as necessary if students have forgotten the word.)
Ūnus puer est.It is one boy.
Hold up one finger, then draw a second boy.
Quot sunt?How many are there?
Student: Duo.
Bene. Sunt duo puerī.Good. There are two boys.
Emphasize the new plural form.
Duo virī, duo puerī.Two men, two boys.
Point back and forth between the men and the boys, emphasizing the -ī ending of the words. Draw one more boy.
Quot sunt?How many are there?
Student: Trēs puerī.
Bene! Sunt trēs puerī.Good! There are three boys.
Now point to the woman.
Quis est?Who is it?
Student: Fēmina est.
Bene. Ūna fēmina est.Good. It's one woman.
Emphasize ūna, especially the ending. Point back and forth between the figures as you say:
Ūnus vir, ūnus puer, ūna fēmina.One man, one boy, one woman.
Emphasize the endings, then have students repeat them. Now draw a second woman.
Quot sunt?How many are there?
Student: Duo.
Ah!Ah!
Cup your ear to indicate that students should listen carefully.
Duo virī, duae fēminae!Two men, two women!
Emphasize the new ending -ae (pronounced like the English word “eye”).
Duo virī, duae fēminae.Two men, two women.
Have students repeat these two phrases. The draw a third woman.
Quot sunt?How many are there?
Students: Trēs? (Students may hesitate, expecting a new form.)
Bene! Trēs fēminae! Ūna fēmina, duae fēminae, trēs fēminae.Good! Three women!
Point to each woman in turn as you count off. Then point to the girl.
Quis est?Who is it?
Student: Puella est.
Quot sunt?How many are there?
Student: Ūn..a? If the student says ūnus, repeat it back with a questioning tone: Ūnus?? Most students will self-correct.
Bene! Est ūna puella.Good. There is one girl.
Draw a second girl.
Quot sunt?How many are there?
Some students may guess correctly: duae. Some won't. Point back to the women...
Duae fēminae...Two women...
Point back to the girls.
Et duae puellae....and two girls.
Now draw a third girl. Point back to the women.
Trēs fēminae, et... Point to the girls. Student: Trēs puellae.
Three women, and...
Bene! Sunt trēs puellae.Good! There are three girls.
Debrief in English, explaining that what you have been working with are plural forms, used when we are talking about more than one of something. If the students are not familiar with the term plural, give some examples in English: boy → boys; girl → girls; child → children; woman → women. (Latin plurals are much more regular than English ones!) Explain that the numbers ūnus, duo, and trēs change according to whether we're counting male persons or female persons. Guide students in making vocabulary cards for these new forms.
ūnus vir: man with the Roman numeral I over his headduo virī: two men with the Roman numeral II over their headstrēs virī: three men with the Roman numeral III over their headsūnus puer: boy with the Roman numeral I over his headduo puerī: two boys with the Roman numeral II over their headstrēs puerī: three boys with the Roman numeral III over their headsūna fēmina: one woman with the Roman numeral I over her headduae fēminae: two women with the Roman numeral II over their headstrēs fēminae: three women with the Roman numeral III over their headsūna puella: girl with the Roman numeral I over her headduae puellae: two girls with the Roman numeral II over their headstrēs puellae: three girls with the Roman numeral III over their heads
Lesson Twenty-Three
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, we will continue to introduce plural noun forms and reinforce the declension of the numbers ūnus, duo, and trēs.
To prepare, gather or draw pictures of families with various numbers of children, parents, etc. You may need to adjust the script to reflect the pictures you have.
Lesson Plan
Warm up by counting together from one to twenty.
Begin by showing a picture of a family with one mother, one father, and one child (boy or girl).
Say... Do...Ecce familia. Ecce māter, et pater, et puer (puella).Here is a family. Here is a mother, and a father, and a boy (girl).
Point to each member of the family in turn.
Quot sunt in familiā?How many are in the family?
Student: Trēs.
Bene. Ūna māter, ūnus pater, ūnus puer (ūna puella).Good. One mother, one father, one boy (one girl).
Now show a family with two boys.
Quot sunt in familiā?How many are in the family?
Student: Quattuor.
Numerā!Count!
Demonstrate this command by counting on your fingers in Latin: ūnus, duo, trēs, quattuor... Then point to each person in the family as student describes each. Prompt or confirm:
Ūna māter, ūnus pater, et duo puerī.One mother, one father, and two boys.
Now point to the two boys individually.
Ūnus frāter. Ūnus frāter. One brother. One brother.
Write 1+1=2 on the board.
Ūnus frāter et ūnus frāter sunt duo frātrēs.[DOO-oh FRAH-trayss]One brother and one brother are two brothers.
Write the words duo frātrēs. Then point back to the picture.
In familiā sunt duo frātrēs.In the family are two brothers.
Now show a family with two girls.
Quot sunt in familiā?How many are in the family?
Student: Quattuor.
Numerā!Count!
Point to each person as student counts: ūna māter, ūnus pater...
Ūna soror et ūna soror.One sister and one sister.
Write 1+1=2 on the board again.
Ūna soror et ūna soror sunt duae sorōrēs.One sister and one sister are two sisters.
Write the words duae sorōrēs, and point back to the two girls.
Continue in this manner with different family configurations: duo frātrēs et ūna soror, duae sorōrēs et ūnus frāter, quattuor sorōrēs, duae mātrēs, duo patrēs, etc. Students should recognize that the four core family words – māter, pater, frāter, and soror – form their plural with -ēs, and all but soror also contract: māter → mātrēs (not māterēs), pater → patrēs, frāter → frātrēs.
Have students create cards for these vocabulary words in the same way they did in the last lesson.
Lesson Twenty-Four
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, we will introduce the plural form of commands. If you are teaching one student, you will need two stuffed animals, dolls, or puppets to demonstrate the actions.
Lesson Plan
Warm up by playing Simon Dīcit (Simon Says) using the singular commands learned so far: venī, ī, surge, cōnsīde, ambulā, curre, salī, saltā. (See Lessons One and Seven.) You may need to remind the students of the meanings of some of the words; either demonstrate, or draw the appropriate stick figure on the board.
Next, have the students pair up with a partner. You will be playing Simon Says again, but this time mixing plural and singular commands. Demonstrate this with one pair first. Have the students link arms. Point to the pair.
Say... Do...Discipulī, ambulāte![ahm-boo-LAH-tay]Students, walk!
If the students do not move, use your fingers to mime two people walking together.
Bene. Ambulā!Good. Walk.
Demonstrate that the students should let go of each other and each walk separately.
Curre!Run!
Each student runs separately.
Discipulī, currite![KOOR-rih-tay]Students, run!
They link arms and run together.
Venī!Come!
Each comes forward separately.
Venīte![way-NEE-tay]Come!
They link arms and come forward together.
Ī!Go!
Point to a location on the floor; each student goes there separately.
Īte![EE-tay]Go!
Point to another location; students move together.
Salī!Jump!
Students jump separately.
Salīte![sahl-EE-tay]Jump!
Students link arms and jump together.
Saltā!Dance!
Students dance separately.
Saltāte! Students dance together.
[sahl-TAH-tay]Dance!
Once you've demonstrated how the game works, play Simon Says as usual, mixing singular and plural commands. Students are “out” if they move without hearing Simon dīcit or if they move together in response to a singular command, or vice versa.
At the end of the lesson, write the plural commands on the board and have students make vocabulary cards for them. In each case, they should draw two stick figures doing the action on the front of the card. See Lessons One and Seven for the action stick figures.
Lesson Twenty-Five
Quid Novī?
In previous lessons, students have learned that adjectives like meus, tuus, and the numbers ūnus and duo change their endings depending on the noun they are modifying. In this lesson, they will learn another group of common adjectives: colors. You will also slip in the masculine demonstrative adjective hic (this) in the phrase hic color est... (this color is...).
In addition, we will be introducing the neuter gender. Up to this point, almost all of the nouns we've learned have been the names of persons, so natural and grammatical gender have been the same. But Latin, like English, has a grammatical gender that is neuter: literally, “neither of the two.” Unlike English, however, all three Latin genders extend to inanimate objects: mēnsa (table) is feminine, liber (book) is masculine, and cubiculum (bedroom) is neuter.
To demonstrate the forms of the color words in each of the three genders, we will use three shapes (fōrmae, singular fōrma):
circulus (m) – circle stella (f.) – startriangulum (n.) – triangle
Prepare for the lesson by creating a set of flash cards. Each of the three shapes should appear once in each of the following colors:
albus, alba, album [AHL-boos, AHL-bah, AHL-boom] – whiteāter, ātra, ātrum [AH-tair, AH-trah, AH-troom] – blackruber, rubra, rubrum [ROO-bair, ROO-brah, ROO-broom] – redcaeruleus, caerulea, caeruleum [ky-ROO-lay-oos, ky-ROO-lay-ah, ky-ROO-lay-oom]* – blueflāvus, flāva, flāvum [FLAH-woos, FLAH-wah, FLAH-woom] – yellow
If you have colored chalk or markers for a white board, you can use them for this lesson. Otherwise, make cards with a swatch of each of these colors.
To ask what color something is, use the phrase Cuius colōris est...? [KWEE-us koh-LOH-rees esst?] This literally means “Of what color is...? The words cuius colōris are in the genitive (possessive) case. For now, teach it as a set phrase.
Lesson Plan
Warm up by singing the Latin Alphabet Song. Then play a short game of Simon Dīcit to review the plural verb forms taught in the last lesson.
To introduce the new material, begin by drawing the three fōrmae (shapes) on the board. Do not color them in.
Say... Do...
* Remember that -ae sounds like the English word “eye.”
Ecce trēs fōrmae.[EK-kay trayss FOR-my.]Here are three shapes.
Write the words fōrma, fōrmae on the board.
Ecce circulus.[KEER-koo-looss]Here is a circle.
Point to the circle and write the word underneath.
Et ecce stella.[STEHL-lah]And here is a star.
Point and write the word.
Et ecce triangulum.[tree-AHN-goo-loom]And here is a triangle.
Point and write the word. Point back to the circle.
Discipulī, quid est?Students, what is it?
Gesture for the whole class to answer in unison: circulus. Point to the star.
Bene. Et quid est?Good. And what is it?
Students: Stella. Point to the triangle.
Et quid est?And what is it?
Students: Triangulum.
Bene.Good.
Now show the cards with the various color swatches, or quickly draw scribbles of each color on the board.
Discipulī, colōrēs sunt.[koh-LOH-rayss]Students, these are colors.
Write the words color, colōrēs on the board.
Hic color est albus.[hik KOH-lohr esst AHL-boos.]This color is white.
Show or point to white swatch and write the word. Students repeat.
Et hic color est āter.[AH-tair]And this color is black.
Show or point to the black swatch and write the word. Students repeat.
Hic color est ruber.[ROO-bair]This color is red.
Show or point to the red swatch and write the word. Students repeat.
Hic color est caeruleus.[ky-ROO-lay-oos]This color is blue.
Show or point to the blue swatch and write the word. Students repeat.
Et hic color est flāvus.[FLAH-woos]And this color is yellow.
Show or point to the yellow swatch and write the word. Students repeat. Now show the white circle.
Circulus albus est. Cuius colōris est circulus?[KEER-koo-looss AHL-booss esst. KWEE-oos koh-LOH-rayss esst KEER-koo-looss?]The circle is white. What color is the circle?
Student: Albus. (Prompt for the whole sentence: Circulus albus est.)Show the black circle.
Circulus āter est. Cuius colōris est circulus?The circle is black. What color is the
Student: Circulus āter est. Show the red circle.
circle?
Circulus ruber est. Cuius colōris est circulus?The circle is red. What color is the circle?
Student: Circulus ruber est. Show the blue circle.
Circulus caeruleus est. Cuius colōris est circulus?The circle is blue. What color is the circle?
Student: Circulus caeruleus est. Students may stumble over this long word. Pronounce it slowly with them if necessary. Show the yellow circle.
Circulus flāvus est. Cuius colōris est circulus?The circle is yellow. What color is the circle?
Student: Circulus flāvus est. Now show both the white circle and the white star.
Circulus albus est. Stella alba est.The circle is white. The star is white.
Emphasize the difference in the adjective forms albus and alba. Repeat once or twice to make sure students notice. Write the word alba on the board. Now show the black circle and the black star.
Circulus āter est. Stella ātra est.The circle is black. The star is black.
Repeat as above. Next show the red circle and star.
Circulus ruber est. Stella rubra est.The circle is red. The star is red.
Repeat as above, adding āter, ātra; ruber, rubra. Then show the blue circle and star.
Circulus caeruleus est. Stella caerulea est.The circle is blue. The star is blue.
Repeat as above. Then show the yellow circle and star.
Circulus flāvus est. Stella flāva est.The circle is yellow. The star is yellow.
Repeat as above.
If students appear confused, switch to English as this point to explain that the color words are changing form so that they agree or “match” with their nouns. Identify circulus as a masculine noun like discipulus. Identify stella as a feminine noun like puella. Then return to the Latin demonstration. Show the white triangle.
Ecce triangulum. Triangulum album est. Circulus albus est. Stella alba est. Triangulum album est.[tree-AHN-goo-loom AHL-boom]Here is a triangle. The triangle is white. The circle is white. The star is white. The triangle is white.
Emphasize the endings of the color words to help students hear the change. Then write the word album on the board. Show the black triangle.
Triangulum ātrum est.The triangle is black.
Again, emphasize the -um endings. Then show the red triangle.
Triangulum rubrum est.The triangle is red.
Next, show the blue triangle.
Triangulum caeruleum est.The triangle is blue.
Finally, show the yellow triangle.
Triangulum flāvum est.The triangle is yellow.
In English, explain that the word triangulum is a neuter word and that all Latin nouns are either masculine like circulus, feminine like stella, or neuter like triangulum. See if the students can tell you some other masculine words they've learned (puer, pater, frāter, etc.) and some feminine ones (fēmina, puella, soror, etc.). Explain that, in Latin, even objects can be masculine or feminine, and that from now on, students should identify the gender of nouns on their vocabulary cards.
Have students make cards for the three shapes and the five colors introduced in this lesson.
Lesson Twenty-Six
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, students learn four new color words and drill all the colors they have learned so far.
To prepare, create cards in the three shapes (circle, star, and triangle) in the following colors:
prasinus, prasina, prasinum [PRAH-see-nooss, PRAH-see-nah, PRAH-see-noom] – greenpurpureus, purpurea, purpureum [poor-POO-ray-ooss, poor-POO-ray-ah, poor-POO-ray-oom] – purpleroseus, rosea, roseum [ROH-say-oos, ROH-say-ah, ROH-say-oom] – pinkaurantius, aurantia, aurantium [ow-RAHN-tee-ooss, ow-RAHN-tee-ah, ow-RAHN-tee-oom] – orange
Add these to the deck of color flash cards you made in for the last lesson.
Lesson Plan
Students warm up in pairs (or one-on-one with the teacher) by greeting their partner and asking and answering the question Quōmodo tē habēs? (See Lesson Sixteen.)
Begin by making color swatches on the board as in Lesson Twenty-Five. Also draw the three shapes (circulus, stella, triangulum) on the board.
Say... Do...Ecce trēs fōrmae. Here are three shapes.
Point to the circle.
Quid est?What is it?
Student: Circulus est. (Prompt as necessary.) Point to star.
Quid est?What is it?
Student: Stella est. Point to the triangle.
Et quid est?And what is it?
Student: Triangulum est.
Bene. Ecce colōrēs. Good. Here are the colors.
Indicate the colors, pointing in turn. As the students identify each color, write the name below the swatch. Be sure to write all three forms, e.g., albus, alba, album. Then show or point to the green swatch.
Hic color est prasinus.[PRAH-see-nooss]This color is green.
Write the words prasinus, prasina, prasinum under the swatch. Then hold up the green circle, star, and triangle cards in turn.
Ecce circulus prasinus...et stella prasina...et triangulum prasinum.Here is a green circle...and a green star...and a green triangle.
Emphasize the -us, -a, -um endings on both the nouns and color adjectives so that students hear how they match. Then point to the purple swatch.
Hic color est purpureus.[poor-POO-ray-ooss]This color is purple.
Write the words purpureus, purpurea, purpureum under the swatch. Then show or point to the purple circle, star, and triangle cards in turn.
Ecce circulus purpureus...et Again, emphasize the matching endings. Then point to the pink
stella purpurea...et triangulum purpureum.Here is a purple circle...and a purple star...and a purple triangle.
swatch.
Hic color est roseus.[ROH-say-ooss]This color is pink.
Write the forms on the board and hold up the corresponding cards.
Ecce circulus roseus...et stella rosea...et triangulum roseum.Here is a pink circle...and a pink star...and a pink triangle.
Emphasize the endings as before. Finally, point to the orange swatch.
Hic color est aurantius.[ow-RAHN-tee-ooss]This color is orange.
Write the forms as before and show the cards.
Ecce circulus aurantius...et stella aurantia...et triangulum aurantium.Here is an orange circle...and an orange star...and an orange triangle.
Drill all of the colors by using the flash cards. If you have a large class, split the group into two teams. In order to get a point, the team members must identify the shape and the color correctly, using the correct adjective ending (-us/-r, -a, -um). For example, the white circle must be identified as circulus albus (masculine).
End the class by having students create cards for the four new color words.
Lesson Twenty-Seven
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, you will use games to review letters, numbers, colors, and plural commands.
Lesson Plan
1. Simon Dīcit
See Lesson Twenty-Four. Use both singular and plural commands.
2. Carnifex (Hangman)
Play several rounds using shape-and-color phrases, e.g., triangulum ātrum, stella rosea, etc.
3. Math War
Students pair up. Take decks of playing cards and remove the face cards and joker. Split the remaining cards into two equal piles. Students take turns flipping cards over. Whichever student gives the correct number of the card in Latin wins it. The player with the most cards wins.
Lesson Twenty-Eight
Quid Novī?
In this lesson we will introduce the plural forms of circulus, stella, and triangulum, and the corresponding color adjectives.
Lesson Plan
Begin by drawing groups of stick figures on the board to represent the following:
ūnus vir et ūna fēmina – one man and one womanūnus puer et ūna puella – one boy and one girlduo virī et duo puerī – two men and two boysduae fēminae et duae puellae – two women and two girlstrēs puerī et trēs puellae – three boys and three girls
Review these words by pointing to each grouping and asking Quot sunt? Prompt and write words on the board as necessary. Do not erase the figures, but draw the following additional items on the board:
ūnus circulus – one circleūna stella – one starūnum triangulum – one triangleduo circulī – two circlesduae stellae – two starsduo triangula – two trianglestrēs circulī – three circlestrēs stellae – three starstria triangula – three triangles
Begin by pointing to the circle.
Say... Do...Quid est?What is it?
Student: Circulus.
Bene. Ūnus circulus est.Good. It's one circle.
Point to the two circles.
Quot sunt?How many are there?
Student: Duo.
Duo circulī sunt.[KEER-koo-lee]There are two circles.
Point back and forth between the two men and the two circles.
Duo virī...duo circulī.Two men...two circles.
Emphasize the -i [EE] ending as you say the words. Then point the three circles.
Quot sunt?How many are there?
Student: Trēs.
Trēs circulī sunt. Trēs virī...trēs Repeat as above. Now point to the star.
circulī.There are three circles. Three men...three circles.
Quid est?What is it?
Student: Stella est or Ūna stella.
Ūna stella est.It is one star.
Point to the two stars.
Quot sunt?How many are there?
Student: Duae. (May answer duo.)
Sunt duae stellae.There are two stars.
Point to the two women and two girls, then to the stars.
Duae fēminae...duae puellae...duae stellae.Two women...two girls...two stars.
Emphasize the -ae [EYE] ending. Then point to the three stars.
Quot sunt?How many are there?
Student: Trēs stellae. Point to the three girls, then to the three stars.
Bene. Trēs stellae sunt. Trēs puellae...trēs stellae.Good. There are three stars. Three girls...three stars.
Now point to the triangle. Note that there is no counterpart among the human figures.
Quid est?What is it?
Student: Triangulum. (May answer ūnus triangulum.) Emphasize the endings as you correct.
Ūnum triangulum est.It's one triangle.
Then point to the two triangles.
Ah...quot sunt?Ah...how many are there?
Students may make various guesses. Cup your ear to indicate that they should listen carefully.
Sunt duo tri-an-gu-la. Ūnum triangulum...duo triangula.There are two triangles. One triangle...two triangles.
Write the plural form triangula on the board. Then point to the three triangles.
Quot sunt?How many are there?
Students may guess trēs triangula. Again, cup your ear.
Sunt tria triangula. Tria!There are three triangles. Three!
Write the whole phrase tria triangula on the board. Point to the circles.
Ūnus, duo, trēs...One, two, three...
Then point to the stars...
Ūna, duae, trēs...One, two, three...
Then to the triangles.
Ūnum, duo, tria.One, two, three.
If necessary, debrief in English. Explain that the plural of neuter nouns like triangulum ends in a short -a, and that the neuter form of the number three is tria, which has a short -a ending just like the noun triangula.
Complete the lesson by having the students make cards showing the different numbers of shapes on one
side and the number and noun written out on the other. Make sure that the students are accurately writing the various forms of the numbers.
Lesson Twenty-Nine
Quid Novī?
Beginning in this lesson, we will be learning about different types of homes, rooms, and furnishings. Today we start with different habitations: domus (house, home), casa (cottage), īnsula (apartment building), vīlla (villa, country estate). These words will appear in the phrase habitō in...: I live in a... .
Prepare by drawing pictures of the different types of homes or collecting photographs from magazines.
Lesson Plan
Warm up by asking each student Quōmodo tē habēs? (How are you?). Then sing the Latin Alphabet Song together.
Draw or show a picture of a house, then write the word Domus above the picture.
Say... Do...Ecce domus. [EK-kay DOH-mooss.]Here is a house.
Point to the house. Show another picture of a house.
Ecce domus...Here is a house...
And another picture...
Et ecce domus.And here is a house.
Write the word domus. Now show a picture of a small cottage.
Ecce casa.[EK-kay KAH-sah.]Here is a cottage.
Write the word casa. Then show a picture of a big apartment building.
Et ecce īnsula.[EEN-soo-lah]And here is an apartment building.
Write the word īnsula. Finally, show a picture of a Roman villa or a country estate house.
Ecce vīlla.[WEE-lah]Here is a villa.
Write the word vīlla.
Habitō in...[HAH-bee-toh in...]I live in a...
Write this phrase on the board, then fill in the type of building you live in: domō, casā, īnsulā, vīllā. Call on a student and ask where he or she lives:
Ubi habitās?[OO-bee HAH-bee-tahss?]Where do you live?
If the student doesn't understand, point to the words habitō in... as you repeat them and then point to yourself. Then point to or draw a picture of your dwelling place. Repeat the whole sentence: Habitō in [domō]. Now point to the student and repeat your question:
Ubi habitās?Where do you live?
If the student doesn't answer, offer some possibilities, pointing to the various pictures:
Habitās in vīllā? In īnsulā?[HAH-bee-tahss in WEE-lah? In EEN-soo-lah?]
The student may try to repeat Habitās in... Correct in a stage whisper:
Do you live in a villa? In an apartment building?
Habitō in...I live in a...
Student: Habitō in... domō.
Bene.Good.
Call on all the students in turn and ask:
Ubi habitās?Where do you live?
Complete the lesson by having students make vocabulary cards for the words domus (f., plural: domūs), casa (f., plural: casae), īnsula (f., plural: īnsulae), and vīlla (f., plural vīllae). You can add a few interesting facts about these words.
• Domus is the root of our words domestic and domesticate.• The Latin word casa comes into Spanish as the word for house.• The word īnsula literally means “island” but was also used to refer to an “island of humanity” rising
up out of the sea of the urban landscape. Ancient Roman apartment buildings were cheap dwellings and notoriously unsafe; they burned and even collapsed regularly.
As a special project, older students can research and report on the layout of an ancient Roman villa.
Lesson Thirty
Quid Novī?
In this lesson we will continue to talk about homes. We will use the vocabulary learned in the last lesson to introduce two new adjectives: magnus, magna, magnum (large, big, great) and parvus, parva, parvum (little, small).
To prepare, draw pictures or collect photos of the following: a large country house (villa), a small cottage, an elephant, a mouse, large circles, small circles, large stars, small stars, large triangles, small triangles, a tall man, a toddler boy or girl.
Lesson Plan
Warm up by counting from 1 to 20 in Latin. Begin by showing a picture of a villa.
Say... Do...Quid est?What is it?
Student: Vīlla est.
Vīlla est magna. [WEE-lah esst MAH-nyah].The villa is large.
Gesture to show “very big.” Then show a picture of a large apartment building.
Īnsula est magna.[EEN-soo-lah esst MAH-nyah.]The apartment building is large.
Gesture “very big” again.
Casa est parva.[KAH-sah esst PAR-wah.]The cottage is small.
Gesture to show “very small.” Show the picture of the elephant, and using a deep, slow voice say...
Elephantus est magnus.[el-ay-FAHN-tooss esst MAH-nyooss.]An elephant is large.
Now show the mouse, and use a squeaky little voice as you say...
Et mus est parva.[eht mooss esst PAR-wah.]And a mouse is small.
Now show the large circle, star, and triangle. Point to each in turn as you say...
Magnus, magna, magnum...[MAH-nyooss, MAH-nyah, MAH-nyoom]Large, large, large...
Then show the small shapes and point.
Parvus, parva, parvum.[PAR-wooss, PAR-wah, PAR-woom.]Small, small, small.
Drill the adjectives by showing random pictures of buildings and shapes and people. Make sure all the pictures show extremely large or small items to avoid ambiguity. Verify that the students are accurately matching the correct adjective to each noun: masculine -us forms with masculine nouns, feminine -a forms with feminine nouns, and neuter -um forms with neuter nouns. (The only neuter nouns introduced so far is triangulum.) Avoid the word domus at this point, since it belongs to a different declension (noun group) and
may confuse the students.
Conclude the lesson by having students make cards for the words magnus, -a, -um, and parvus, -a, -um.
Magnus, -a, -um: big circle, star, triangleParvus, -a, -um: small circle, star, triangle
Lesson Thirty-One
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, we will introduce the nominative (subject) plural forms of magnus and parvus, and also the conjunction aut (pronounced like the English word “out”), which means “or.”
Prepare cards with groups of large or small shapes: circles, stars, and triangles. You will also need pictures of the following: one very large house, one large apartment building, one small cottage, two very large houses, two large apartment buildings, and two small cottages.
Lesson Plan
Begin by showing the picture of the large house (villa).
Say... Do...Quid est?What is it?
Student: Vīlla est.
Estne vīlla magna aut parva?[Esst-nay WEE-lah MAH-nyah owt PAR-wah?]Is the villa large or small?
Gesture “big” or “small.” Student: Vīlla est magna.
Bene. Ecce īnsula. Estne īnsula magna aut parva?Good. Here is an apartment building. Is the apartment building large or small?
Student: Īnsula est magna.
Ecce casa. Estne casa magna aut parva?Here is a cottage. Is the cottage large or small?
Student: Casa est parva.
Bene.Good.
Now show the picture of two villas.
Sunt duae vīllae. Ūna vīlla et ūna vīlla sunt duae vīllae.[DOO-eye WEE-leye]There are two villas. One villa and one villa are two villas.
Write 1+1=2 on the board.
Sunt vīllae magnae aut parvae?[soont WEE-leye MAH-nyeye owt PAR-weye?]Are the villas large or small?
Emphasize the endings. Write the words magnae and parvae on the board.
Magnae aut parvae?Large or small?
Student: Magnae. Now show the apartment buildings.
Bene. Et īnsulae? Sunt magnae aut parvae?[EEN-soo-leye]Good. And the apartment buildings? Are they large or small?
Student: Magnae. Now show the cottages.
Et casae? Sunt magnae aut parvae?And the cottages? Are they large or small?
Student: Casae sunt parvae.
Bene.Good.
Now show the large stars.
Sunt stellae magnae aut parvae?Are the stars large or small?
Student: Magnae. Now show the small stars.
Sunt magnae aut parvae?Are they large or small?
Student: Parvae. Show the large circles and cup your ear to indicate that students should listen carefully. Emphasize the endings.
Ecce circulī. Sunt circulī magnī aut parvī?Here are circles. Are the circles large or small?
Write the words magnī and parvī on the board.
Magnī aut parvī sunt circulī?Are the circles large or small?
Student: Magnī. Now show the small circles.
Bene. Magnī aut parvī?Good. Large or small?
Student: Parvī. Now show the large triangles and cup your ear.
Bene. Ecce triangula. Sunt triangula magna aut parva?Good. Here are triangles. Are the triangles large or small?
Student: Magna. Write the words magna and parva on the board.
Bene. Triangula sunt magna.Good. The triangles are large.
Show the small triangles.
Ecce. Magna aut parva?Look here. Large or small?
Student: Parva.
Use the cards to drill the plural forms of the adjectives as above. Be sure that students are correctly pairing plural nouns with plural adjectives of the correct gender, e.g., circulī magnī, stellae magnae, triangula magna. If the students need an extra challenge, add in the singular shape cards (circulus magnus, circulus parvus, stella magna, etc.).
Conclude the lesson by having students make cards showing the plural forms.
circulī magnī: several large circlescirculī parvī: several small circlesstellae magnae: several large starsstellae parvae: several small starstriangula magna: several large trianglestriangula parva: several small triangles
Ask the students to review their color flashcards before the next lesson.
Lesson Thirty-Two
Quid Novī?
This lesson reviews singular and plural adjectives and adds the plural forms of the color adjectives. You will present the forms the students already know and help them transfer that knowledge to other words.
Prepare cards showing the three shapes in a variety of sizes and colors. Try to use as many variations as you can: one vs. many, small vs. large, all the possible colors.
Lesson Plan
Warm up with a quick game of Simon Dīcit, using singular and plural commands.
Begin by drawing a large circle on the board.
Say... Do...Quid est?What is it?
Student: Circulus.
Est circulus magnus aut parvus?Is the circle large or small?
Student: Magnus. Draw a small circle and point to it.
Est circulus magnus aut parvus?Is the circle large or small?
Student: Parvus. Draw another small circle next to the first one and point to them both.
Sunt circulī magnī aut parvī?Are the circles large or small?
Student: Parvī. Try to elicit the complete sentence: Circulī parvī sunt. Now color one small circle yellow.
Cuius colōris est circulus?What color is the circle?
Student: Flāvus. Now color the other small circle yellow. Emphasize the endings as you say:
Cuius colōris sunt circulī parvī?What color are the small circles?
Student:...flāvī?
Bene!Good!
Draw two large stars.
Sunt duae stellae magnae aut parvae?Are the two stars large or small?
Student: Magnae. Color the stars yellow.
Cuius colōris sunt duae stellae magnae?What color are the two large stars?
Student: Flāvae. Correct as necessary, emphasizing how the ending on all of the adjectives match the noun ending -ae. Now draw three small triangles.
Sunt triangula magna aut parva?Are the triangles large or small.
Student: Parva.
Bene. Tria triangula parva sunt.
Now color them yellow.
Good. The triangles are small.
Cuius colōris sunt triangula parva?What color are the small triangles?
Student: Flāva?
Bene!Good!
Continue the drill in this manner using other colors. Work from the known plural forms (circulī magnī, stellae magnae, triangula magna) to the new forms of the color words. Where possible, add in numbers:
ūnus circulus, duo/trēs circulīūna stella, duae/trēs stellaeūnum triangulum, duo/tria triangula
Lesson Thirty-Three
Quid Novī?
In this lesson you will use a listening exercise to review colors, numbers, and size adjectives. This activity can be used an assessment of student progress, if desired.
Students will each need three sheets of plain paper and a set of colored pencils.
Lesson Plan
Explain to the students (in English) that you will be telling asking them to draw various numbers of objects in various sizes and colors. Ask the students to keep the drawings simple. Have the students fold their papers into quarters; they will use one quarter for each drawing. Have them number each quarter with a number from 1-10. Tell them that you will read a description of each drawing. They should first write down each phrase next to the appropriate number, then go back and do the drawings. Read each description three times slowly in Latin to give students time to understand and write. (English translations are provided for your convenience in evaluating the students' work.)
1. ūnus magnus circulus āter (large black circle)2. duae magnae īnsulae rubrae (two large red apartment buildings)3. tria parva triangula aurantia (three small orange triangles)4. duo parvī circulī caeruleī (two small blue circles)5. trēs parvae stellae prasinae (three small green stars)6. duae magnae stellae flāvae (two large yellow stars)7. triangulum parvum caeruleum (a small blue triangle)8. trēs casae roseae (three pink cottages)9. duo parvī circulī purpureī (two small purple circles)10. vīlla magna prasina (a big green country house)
If you are using this exercise as an assessment, grade as follows:
Spelling (1 point)Correct type of object (3 points)Number of objects (3 points)Color of objects (3 points)
If you find that your students are struggling with the material at this point, review vocabulary thoroughly before moving on.
Lesson Thirty-Four
Quid Novī?
In this and the following few lessons, students will be learning the names of the rooms in a house and the fixtures and furnishings that go in them. The focus is on vocabulary building, but there is one grammar point of note.
In Lesson Fifteen we briefly mentioned that the Latin preposition in (in, inside, on), when it refers to the place where something is located, will be followed by words in the ablative case.* Examples we have seen so far include in familiā meā and habitō in domō, in villā, etc. Note the macrons over the final A's in the feminine word, and the change from domus to domō.
In this lesson we will introduce the first of our modern rooms, the culīna, or kitchen. Like familia and vīlla in the examples above, culīna is a feminine word that adds a macron to its final A after the preposition in: in culīnā (in the kitchen).
The words you will be introducing are as follows:
frīgidārium – refrigerator (plural: frīgidāria)foculum – stove (plural: focula)furnus – oven (plural: furnī)fusōrium – sink (plural: fusōria)mēnsa – table (plural: mēnsae)sellae – chairs (singular: sella)
(These last two items may also appear in cēnāculō: in the dining room.)
To prepare, draw a simple picture of a kitchen or find one in a book or magazine. (Look in cooking or decorating publications for large, detailed pictures.) If you have a large class, you may want to duplicate the picture for each student.
Lesson Plan
To begin the lesson, display the picture of the kitchen.
Say... Do...Ecce culīna. In culīnā sunt...[EK-kay koo-LEE-nah. In koo-LEE-nah soont...]Here is a kitchen. In the kitchen are...
Point to each item in turn. Begin with the refrigerator.
Frīgidārium...[free-gee-DAH-ree-oom]a refrigerator...
Now point to the stove.
Foculum...[FOH-koo-loom]a stove...
Next, point to the oven.
* When used with a verb of motion, in can also mean “into” and is then followed by the accusative (direct object) case. The accusative will be introduced in later lessons.
Furnus...[FOR-nooss]an oven...
Then, the sink.
Fusōrium...[foo-SOH-ree-oom]a sink...
Now, the table.
Mēnsa...[MEN-sah]a table...
And finally, the chairs.
Et sellae.[eht SEL-leye]and chairs.
Point back to the refrigerator.
Discipulī, dīcite frī-gi-dā-ri-um. Frīgidārium.Students, say “refrigerator.” Refrigerator.
Students repeat. Next, point to the stove, inviting the students to repeat after you as you write the word on the board.
Ecce fo-cu-lum. Foculum.Here is the stove. Stove.
Then point to the oven.
Fur-nus est. Furnus.This is the oven. Oven.
Now the sink.
Et fu-sō-ri-um. Fusōrium.And the sink. Sink.
Now point to the table.
Ecce mēn-sa. Mēnsa.Here is the table. Table.
Finally, point to one chair.
Sella est. Ūna sella...It's a chair. One chair...
Point to indicate all of the chairs...
Quattuor sellae.Four chairs.
(Substitute the correct number for the quantity of chairs in the picture.)
Have students make vocabulary cards for each of these items. Students may have a hard time distinguishing between the “four F's” in the kitchen. Share these details to help them:
• Frīgidārium is a neo-Latin word for refrigerator. In classical Latin, it refers to the cold room in Roman baths. Our word frigid comes from the Latin frigidus, meaning cold or cooling.
• The word foculum literally means “little hearth.” The hearth, or focus, was the center of the Roman home, which is why we use the word “focus” to mean a thing worthy of attention. Remind students that people used to cook over the hearth fire.
• Furnus, oven, is the source of our word furnace, an enclosed space that heats up.• Fusōrium refers to a big sink, as in a kitchen. There is another word for a bathroom sink, which
students will learn in a later lesson.
Now have students break into pairs (or work one-on-one with you) to drill each other with their flashcards. Plan to spend no more than 5 minutes on this part of the lesson.
Lesson Thirty-Five
Quid Novī?
In this lesson we will be introducing the contents of the living room, or mediānum.
As we saw in the last lesson, feminine nouns like culīna receive a macron on the final A after the preposition in. In this lesson, we see that neuter nouns of the sort we've encountered so far will replace their final -um with a long O. For example, the neuter noun mediānum changes to mediānō: in mediānō means “in the living room.” Since most of the names of household rooms are neuter, they will also change according to this pattern.
The items in the living room are as follows:
lucerna – lamp (plural: lucernae)lectulus – sofa (plural: lectulī)arcisellium – armchair (plural: arcisellia)tapētum – rug, carpet (plural: tapēta)tēlevīsiōrium – television set (plural: tēlevīsiōria)stereophōnium – stereo (plural: stereophōnia)
To prepare for the lesson, draw or find a picture of a living room. For this and the next lesson, you will be following the same pattern as in the last lesson: introducing the vocabulary, having students make vocabulary cards, drilling the vocabulary.
Lesson Plan
Warm up with one of the following activities: Simon dīcit, Latin Alphabet Song, Counting 1-20.
Show the living room picture, and write the word mediānum on the board.
Say... Do...Ecce mediānum. Me-di-ā-num.[EK-kay may-dee-AH-noom.]Here is the living room. Living room.
Point to the word as you pronounce it slowly.
In mediānō sunt...[in may-dee-AH-noh soont...]In the living room are...
Point to each item in turn, beginning with the lamp. Invite the students to repeat each word after you as you write it on the board.
Lucerna: lu-cer-na.[loo-KAIR-nah]a lamp...
Next, point to the sofa.
Lectulus: lec-tu-lus.[LEK-too-looss]a sofa...
Then the armchair.
Arcisellium: Ar-ci-sel-li-um.[ahr-kee-SEL-lee-oom]an armchair...
Now the carpet or rug.
Tapētum: Ta-pe-tum.[tah-PAY-toom]a rug...
Then the TV.
Tēlevīsiōrum: tē-le-vi-si-o-rum.[tay-lay-wee-see-OH-room]a television set...
Finally, the stereo.
Stereophōnium: Ste-re-o-pho-ni-um.[stay-ree-oh-PHOH-nee-oom]a stereo.
Have the students create cards for these items.
As an additional activity, have students draw the layout of a house on graph paper. The house should include a kitchen, living room, bathroom, and one or more bedrooms. Today, ask the students to draw in the furnishings for the kitchen and living room. They will complete the layout in the next lesson.
Lesson Thirty-Six
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, we will introduce the vocabulary for the two remaining rooms: the balneōlum (bathroom) and the cubiculum (bedroom). Like mediānum, both words substitute a long O for the final -um when they appear after the preposition in: in balneōlō, in cubiculō.
lātrīna – toiletlabellum – sink, wash basinsolium – bathtub lectus – bedvestiārium – wardrobe, closetarmārium – dresser, bureau
Lesson Plan
Begin by showing a picture of a bathroom.
Say... Do...Ecce balneōlum. In balneōlō sunt..[EK-kay bahl-nay-OH-loom. In bahl-nay-OH-loh soont...]Here is a bathroom. In the bathroom are...
Point to each item in turn, beginning with the toilet. Invite the students to repeat each word after you as you write it on the board.
Lātrīna: la-tri-na...[lah-TREE-nah]a toilet...
Next point to the sink.
Labellum: la-bel-lum...[lah-BEL-loom]a sink...
Now point to the tub.
Et solium. So-li-um.[eht SOH-lee-oom.]And a bathtub.
Show the picture of a bedroom.
Ecce cubiculum. In cubiculō sunt...[EK-kay koo-BEE-koo-loom. In koo-BEE-koo-loh soont...]Here is a bedroom. In the bedroom are...
Point to each item in turn, beginning with the bed. Invite students to repeat the words as you write them on the board.
Lectus...[LEK-tooss]a bed...
Now point to the closet or wardrobe.
Et vestiārium...[eht wess-tee-AH-ree-oom]and a closet (wardrobe)...
Then point to the dresser.
Et armārium.[eht ahr-MAH-ree-oom]and a dresser.
Students now create vocabulary cards for these items and complete their house layouts. Ask them to study these before the next lesson period.
Lesson Thirty-Seven
Quid Novī?
This lesson reviews the household vocabulary.
Lesson Plan
Choose one of the following activities:
• Give each student an empty layout and slips of paper with the furniture names on them. Have students stack the slips on the appropriate room. (Works best with younger students in a homeschool setting.)
• Distribute pictures of furnished rooms and ask the student to give the name of each room and label the pieces of furniture in Latin. You can also use famous paintings for this exercise, such as Vincent van Gogh's “Bedroom in Arles.”
• Provide each student with an empty layout with the rooms labeled in Latin. Read the names of pieces of furniture aloud and ask students to write the words in the appropriate room.
• Verum aut Falsum? (True or False)
Have students number a piece of paper from one to ten. Read each of the following statements and ask students to indicate if the statement is verum (true) or falsum (false).
1. Labellum est in cubiculō. (Falsum)2. Furnus est in culīnā. (Verum)3. Stereophōnium est in mediānō. (Verum)4. Mēnsa est in culīnā. (Verum)5. Lectulus est in cubiculō. (Falsum)6. Lectus est in cubiculō. (Verum)7. Fusōrium est in balneōlō. (Falsum)8. Tapētum est in culīnā. (Falsum)9. Frīgidārium est in balneōlō. (Falsum)10. Tēlevīsiōrium est in mediānō. (Verum)
Lesson Thirty-Eight
Quid Novī?
In this lesson and the following lessons, we will introduce the Latin words for various types of clothing (vestīmenta). We will also review colors.
To prepare for the lesson, draw or gather pictures of the articles of clothing listed below, in various solid colors. Catalogs and fashion magazines are good sources for pictures. Alternatively, you can use actual clothing items.
brācae (f. pl.) – pants, trousersbreviōrēs brācae (f. pl.) – shortstunīcula (f.) – T-shirtindūsium (n.) – shirtgunna (f.) – skirtpēlūsia (f.) – blousesubūcula (f.) – underwear (lit. undertunic)
Lesson Plan
Begin by showing a picture of a bedroom with a dresser and wardrobe/closet. Point first to the wardrobe or closet.
Say... Do...Ecce cubiculum. Quid est?Here is a bedroom. What is this?
Student: Vestiārium est.
In vestiāriō sunt vestīmenta.[in wess-tee-AH-ree-oh soont wess-tee-MEN-tah.]In the closet are clothes.
Write Vestīmenta on the board. Show or draw a picture of a pair of trousers or jeans.
Sunt brācae.[BRAH-keye.]There are pants.
Write the word on the board under Vestīmenta.
Cuius colōris sunt brācae?What color are the pants?
Student: Caeruleae. (Adjust for the actual color for this and all following garments.) Students are likely to get the ending wrong here; it should be -ae. Correct verbally as necessary, repeating the whole sentence and emphasizing the endings: Brācae caeruleae sunt. (The pants are blue.) Now show a picture of a shirt (not a T-shirt).
Ecce indūsium.[in-DOO-see-oom]Here is a shirt.
Add this word to the list.
Cuius colōris est indūsium?What color is the shirt?
Student: Rubrum. Again, correct any mistakes on the adjective ending and repeat the correct forms, emphasizing the endings: Indūsium rubrum est. Now show a picture of a skirt.
In vestiāriō est gunna.[GOON-na]
Write the word on the board.
In the closet is a skirt.
Cuius colōris est gunna?What color is the skirt?
Student: Flāva. Correct as before. Next, show a blouse.
Ecce pēlūsia.[pay-LOO-see-ah]Here is a blouse.
Write the word on the board.
Cuius colōris est pēlūsia?What color is the blouse?
Student: Alba. Correct as before.
Bene. In vestiāriō sunt brācae... indūsium...gunna...et pēlūsia.Good. In the closet are pants...a shirt...a skirt...and a blouse.
Point as you repeat the words. Then point back to the dresser in the picture of the bedroom.
Quid est?What is it?
Student: Armārium.
Et quid est in armāriō?[ahr-MAH-ree-oh]
Student: Vestīmenta. If the students do not come up with this answer on their own – and they may not – point back to the word on the board and have them repeat it. Then show a picture of a T-shirt.
Ecce tunīcula.[too-NEE-koo-lah]Here is a T-shirt.
Write the word on the board.
Cuius colōris est tunīcula?What color is the T-shirt?
Student: Prasina. Adjust and correct as above. Now show a pair of shorts.
Sunt breviōrēs brācae. Brācae sunt breviōrēs.[bray-wee-OH-rayss BRAH-keye]There are shorts. The pants are short(er).
Breviōrēs brācae literally means “shorter pants.” Write the words on the board, then...
Brācae...The pants...
Point to pants.
Sunt breviōrēs.Are shorter.
Gesture to indicate the difference in length: shorter.
Cuius colōris sunt breviōrēs brācae?What color are the shorts?
Student: Ātrae. Adjust and correct as before. Like brācae, this term is feminine plural. Finally, show a pair of underwear. (Men's boxer shorts seem to cause less giggling!)
Ecce subūcula. Sub-ū-cu-la.[soob-OO-koo-lah]Here is underwear.
Say the word slowly as you write it on the board.
Cuius colōris est subūcula?What color is the underwear?
Student: Rosea! Adjust and correct as before. Now you will go over the items one more time, with their colors. Point to each in turn, having students repeat. As before, adjust the color words to reflect the actual pictures you have.
Bene. In vestiāriō sunt...brācae caeruleae, indūsium rubrum, etc.Good. In the closet are...blue pants, a red shirt, etc.
Repeat the items as above.
Et in armāriō sunt...tunīcula Repeat as above.
prasina, etc.And in the dresser are...a green T-shirt, etc.
To conclude the lesson, have the students make vocabulary cards for the new words.
Lesson Thirty-Nine
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, we will review the use of color adjectives and introduce some new clothing words:
paenula (f.) - coatiacca (f.) - jackettunica lānea (f.) - sweater (lit. “wool tunic”)amictorium (n.) - scarfpilleus (m.) - capdigitālia (n. pl.) - gloves
This lesson works best if you have the actual clothing items on hand. If not, you can also use pictures.
Lesson Plan
Warm up by showing a picture of a stack of T-shirts. (The Lands' End catalog regularly has these.) If you have them available, you can also use real T-shirts. Point to each in turn as you ask: Cuius colōris est tunīcula? Skip any colors that students do not yet know. The answers should all end in -a: alba, ātra, rubra, etc. Then ask: Quot tunicae sunt? Have the students count together: ūna, duae, trēs, quattuor...
Next, show a stack of polo or dress shirts and ask: Cuius colōris est indūsium? In this case, all the answers should end in -um: caeruleum, roseum, aurantium, etc. Again, ask how many there are all together: Quot indūsia sunt? Ūnum, duo, tria, quattuor...
If necessary, remind the students (in English) that the endings of the color words should match the endings of the noun.
Begin the next part of the lesson by miming being cold: shiver, hug yourself, rub your hands together and blow on them.
Say... Do...Frīgidum est![FREE-gee-doom]It's cold!
Hold up a sweater.
Ecce tunica lānea.[TOO-nee-kah LAH-nay-ah]Here is a sweater.
Put on the sweater, then write the word on the board. Again, mime being cold. Hold up a jacket. (A light fleece or windbreaker works well.)
Ecce iacca.[YAK-kah]Here is a jacket.
Put on the jacket, then write the word on the board. Again, mime being cold. Hold up a coat.
Ecce paenula.[PEYE-noo-lah]Here is a coat.
Put on the coat, then write the word on the board. Continue to mime being cold. Hold up a scarf.
Ecce amictorium. A-mic-to-ri-um.[ah-meek-TOH-ree-oom]
Put on the scarf, then write the word on the board. Repeat the word slowly as you write. Again, mime being cold. Hold up the cap/hat.
Here is a scarf.
Ecce pilleus. Pil-le-us.[PILL-lay-ooss]Here is a hat.
Put on the hat, then write the word on the board as you repeat. Then hold up the gloves.
Ecce digitālia. Di-gi-tā-li-a.[dee-gee-TAH-lee-ah]Here are gloves.
Repear the word slowly as you write it on the board, then put on the gloves. Now, suddenly act very hot: fan yourself.
Calidum est![KAHL-ee-doom]It's hot!
Take off all of the garments in the reverse order, saying the names as you go.
Digitālia, pilleus, amictorium, paenula, iacca, tunica lānea. Heu!Gloves, hat, scarf, coat, jacket, sweater. Whew!
Make the last sound like a huff: “whew” in English.
Have the students make cards for the new words, then play a couple of rounds of Carnifex (Hangman), using some of the longer clothing and furniture words.
Lesson Forty
Quid Novī?
In this lesson we review plural nouns and adjectives in the nominative (subject) case and complete our clothing vocabulary with the following words:
calceī (singular: calceus) - shoescalceī gymnicī (m. pl.) - sneakers, athletic shoessandalia (n. pl.) - sandalscaligae (f. pl.) - boots*
impīlia (n. pl.) - socks
Bring a selection of shoes to class, or gather pictures of the various types.
Lesson Plan
Warm up by playing Simon Dīcit (Simon Says). At the end of the game, have the students line up facing you. Hold up a pair of shoes, or point to your own.
Say... Do...Ecce calceī. Cal-ce-ī.[KAL-kay-ee]Here are shoes.
Repeat the word as you write it on the board.
Cuius colōris sunt calceī meī?[KAL-kay-ee MAY-ee]What color are my shoes?
Student: Ātrī. Whatever the color, the word should end in -ī since calceī is a masculine plural word. Go down the line of students, pointing to their shoes and asking:
Cuius colōris sunt calceī tuī?[KAL-kay-ee TOO-ee]What color are your shoes?
In each case, the color word should end in -ī. Now select a student wearing sneakers, or hold up a pair of sneakers or a photo.
Ecce calceī gymnicī. Gym-ni-cī.[KAL-kay-ee GÜM-nee-kee]Here are athletic shoes.
Remember that the Y sound in Latin is a nasal U, as in the French tu. If the sound is too difficult, substitute the regular Latin U [OO]. Repeat the word slowly as you write it on the board.
Cuius colōris sunt calceī gymnicī?What color are the athletic shoes?
Student: Albī. Now hold up a pair of sandals.
Ecce sandalia.[sahn-DAH-lee-ah]Here are sandals.
Write the word on the board.
Cuius colōris sunt sandalia?What color are the sandals?
Student: Alba. Most students will try to repeat the -ī ending here, but sandalia is neuter plural. Repeat to clarify, emphasizing the short -a ending:
Ah! Sandalia ātra.Ah! Black sandals.
Next, show a pair of boots.
* In classical Latin, this word refers to a short boot worn by soldiers. The mad Roman emperor Caligula got his nickname - “Little Boot” - from this word.
Ecce caligae.[KAHL-ee-geye]Here are boots.
Write the word on the board.
Cuius colōris sunt caligae?What color are the boots?
The students may not pick up on the gender of this word (f. pl.). If not, help them out...
Caligae rubrae sunt.The boots are red.
Now repeat the phrases, writing them on the board and adjusting the colors to reflect the items on hand...
Calceī ātri, caligae rubrae, sandalia alba.Black shoes, red boots, white sandals.
Debrief in English as necessary, showing the students how the endings of the plural adjectives and nouns match: -ī for masculine plural nouns (calceī), -ae for feminine plural nouns (caligae), -a for neuter plural nouns (sandalia).
Finish by having students make vocabulary cards for the new words.
Lesson Forty-One
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, students will review vocabulary and set phrases with an in-class writing assignment. You will provide pictures and writing prompts to help students compose a descriptive paragraph. The goal is to have students bring together words from different topic areas: family, rooms, furnishings, clothing, and colors.
Students may need a couple of new words and phrases to complete the exercise.
eius [AY-oos]: his or her, e.g., Brācae eius sunt caeruleae. (His [or her] trousers are blue.) This word, which literally means “of him” or “of her,” does not change form to agree with the noun it modifies.
In picturā: in the picture. Most students will understand this cognate phrase with no further explanation.
To prepare, gather pictures of individuals and families in home settings. These may be from books, magazines, or famous paintings.
Lesson Plan
Explain, in English, that the students will be writing a description of a picture. The description should be in the form of a paragraph of at least five Latin sentences. Provide the following sample Latin paragraph as a model.
The picture is a magazine ad showing a man in a kitchen.
In picturā est vir. Vir est in culinā. Brācae eius sunt caeruleae. Tunīcula eius est rubra. In culinā sunt mēnsa, sellae, frīgidārium, et foculum.
Translation: In the picture is a man. The man is in the kitchen. His pants are blue. His T-shirt is red. In the kitchen are a table, chairs, a refrigerator, and a stove.
Some students may ask how to describe other things in the pictures. Reassure them that they will learn more as they continue to study Latin, but for right now, they should stick with words they already know.
When evaluating the students' paragraphs, look for the following:
• Words after in appear in the ablative (long O or long A ending): in culinā, in medianō• Adjectives agree with (match) their nouns: tunīcula rubra but indūsium rubrum• Singular subjects agree with singular verbs: Vir est...but Sellae sunt...
Lesson Forty-Two
Quid Novī?
In this and the following lessons, students learn how to talk about what they do at different times of day.
Up to this point, students have been exposed to a limited range of verbs. They have learned singular and plural imperative (command) forms and some forms of the verb to be (sum, es, est, sunt).
Beginning in this lesson, you will be introducing action verbs and verb phrases in the infinitive form. The infinitive in English is expressed by the word to followed by a verb, e.g., to go, to run, to see. In Latin, the (present) infinitive is one word, typically ending in -re.
Rather than having students memorize verb forms in isolation, here they will learn verbs as part of meaningful phrases and sentences that help cement both form and meaning.
For this lesson, you will colored markers or chalk for your board. If you have the kind of clock used for teaching time, it will come in handy, but it is not strictly necessary.
Here is the vocabulary you will be introducing:
māne – morning, in the morning*
sōl (m.) – sunlūcet – shines, is shiningTempus est + infinitive – It is time to...surgere - to get upientāculum sūmere – to eat breakfast (lit., to take breakfast)studēre – to studymerīdiē – at noon, middayprandium sūmere – to eat lunch (lit., to take lunch)postmerīdiē – in the afternoonlūdere – to play
There are many more possible activities, of course, but these should be enough to give students a framework for the passage of time without overwhelming them with new words.
Lesson Plan
Begin by drawing a yellow circle on the board.
Say... Do...Ecce sōl.[SOHL]Here is the sun.
Now draw rays around the circle.
Sōl lūcet.[SOHL LOO-ket]
Write the words on the board. Have the students repeat. Set the play clock (or draw) to 7:00. Draw a horizon line a few inches under the
* Māne is one of the rare nouns in Latin that does not change form.
The sun is shining. sun, so it appears that the sun has just come up.Māne est. Sōl lūcet.[MAH-nay]It is morning. The sun is shining.
Point to the clock.
Tempus est surgere![TEM-poos esst SOOR-gay-ray]It is time to get up!
Mime sleeping with your head on a pillow, then open your eyes and pretend to jump out of bed, pointing at the clock. Repeat:
Tempus est surgere! It's time to get up.
Call on one student.
Discipule, surge!Student, get up!
The student should remember this command from Simon Dīcit and other activities. Repeat with another student:
Discipula, surge!Student, get up!
Then indicate all the students.
Discipulī, surgite!Get up, students!
All students stand. Write the words Tempus est surgere on the board.
Bene. Cōnsīdite, discipulī.Good. Sit down, students.
Students sit. Change the clock to say 8:00.
Māne est. Tempus est ientāculum sūmere. I-en-tā-cu-lum sū-me-re.[ee-en-TAH-koo-loom SOO-may-ray]It's morning. It's time to eat breakfast.
Repeat the phrase slowly as you write it on the board. Sit down and pretend to eat a bowl of cereal and drink a cup of coffee.
Māne tempus est ientaculum sūmere.In the morning it's time to eat breakfast.
Point to the clock, then invite the students to repeat the words after you. Now set the clock to 9:00. Point to it as you say
Māne tempus est... studēre.[stoo-DAY-ray]In the morning it's time to study.
Take a book and pretend to read. Then pretend to write. Furrow your brow and tap your forehead to indicate thinking. Read again. Then write the word studēre on the board and have students repeat. Change the clock to noon.
Merīdiē tempus est prandium sūmere.[may-REE-dee-ay...PRAHN-dee-oom]At noon, it's time to eat lunch.
Point at the clock, then mime eating a sandwich. (If you have a lunchbox or bag handy, you can use it as a prop.) Then write the sentence to the left on the board and have students repeat it. Now change the clock to 3:00.
Postmeridiē tempus est lūdere![POST-may-REE-dee-ay...LOO-day-ray]In the afternoon, it's time to play!
Mime playing with a ball, or draw children playing on the board. (A child flying a kite or two children on a seesaw are good visual cues.) Write the words on the board and have the students repeat.
Debrief with the students in English, asking them what they understood. Explain that the words merīdiē and postmerīdiē mean “at noon” and “in the afternoon,” respectively. You can also discuss the abbreviations a.m. and p.m., which stand for the Latin words antemerīdiem (before noon) and postmerīdiem (after noon).
When the students make their vocabulary cards, they should draw the action indicated with a small clock in the corner, showing the appropriate time (as in the lesson). On the back, have them write the complete sentences given in the lesson, e.g., Merīdiē tempus est prandium sūmere. They should have six cards: (1) Māne sōl lūcet. (2) Māne tempus est surgere. (3) Māne tempus est ientāculum sūmere. (4) Māne tempus est studēre. (5) Merīdiē tempus est prandium sūmere. (6) Postmerīdiē tempus est lūdere. Ask the students to
review their cards before the next lesson.
Lesson Forty-Three
Quid Novī?
In this lesson we add vocabulary relating to evening and nighttime activities. The vocabulary is as follows:
vesperī – in the eveningcēnāre – eat dinner, dinenox (f.) – nightnocte – at nightlūna (f.) – moonstellae (f. pl.) – starslūcent – shine, are shiningdentēs purgāre – to brush one's teethfābulam legere – to read a storydormītum īre – to go to bed, go to sleep
Lesson Plan
Begin by reviewing the vocabulary from the previous lesson. Draw a sun on the board, then display the clock set for 7:00.
Say... Do...Sōl lūcet! Tempus est...The sun is shining. It's time...
Mime waking up, stretching, and getting out of bed.
Tempus est...discipulī?It's time...students?
Invite the students to supply the correct word: surgere. Then change the clock to 8:00 and mime eating.
Tempus est...It's time...
Students: ientāculum sūmere. Change the clock and mime studying.
Tempus est...It's time...
Students: studēre. Change the clock to noon.
Merīdiē tempus est...At noon it's time...
Students: prandium sūmere. Change the clock to 3:00.
Postmerīdiē tempus est...In the afternoon it's time...
Students: lūdere!
Bene.Good.
Change the clock to 6:00.
Vesperī tempus est...[WESS-pay-ree]In the evening it's time...
Mime spreading out a tablecloth, setting the table, and then eating. (You can use the actual items as props if you have them available.)
Cēnāre.[kay-NAH-ray]To eat dinner (dine).
Write the word on the board, and have the students repeat it. Then change the clock to 8:00 and draw a moon on the board.
Nox est. Lūna lūcet.[nox]It's night. The moon is shining.
Point to the moon (lūna) and draw rays coming out of it (lūcet). Next draw stars by the moon.
Ecce stellae. Stellae lūcent.[LOO-kent]Here are stars. The stars are shining.
Draw rays coming out of the stars and write the words on the board.
Nocte lūna et stellae lūcent.[NOK-tay]At night the moon and stars shine.
Point to the moon and stars as you have students repeat.
Nocte tempus est dentēs purgāre.[NOK-tay...DEN-tayss poor-GAH-ray]At night it's time to brush your teeth.
Mime brushing your teeth, then write the words on the board and have students repeat. Change the clock to 8:30.
Nocte tempus est fābulam legere.[FAH-boo-lahm LAY-gay-ray]At night it's time to read a story.
If possible, have a picture book handy – Goodnight, Moon is perfect – or mime reading a story aloud. Write the words on the board and have students repeat. Then turn the clock to 9:00.
Nocte tempus est dormītum īre.[door-MEE-toom EE-ray]At night it's time to go to sleep.
Mime settling your head on a pillow and going to sleep. (Snoring a little usually gets a laugh!) Then write the words on the board and have students repeat them.
As in the previous lesson, have students make vocabulary cards with complete sentences: (1) Vesperī tempus est cēnāre. (2) Nocte lūna et stellae lūcent. (3) Nocte tempus est dentēs purgāre. (4) Nocte tempus est fābulam legere. (5) Nocte tempus est dormītum īre.
Lesson Forty-Four
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, students learn the days of the week and how to express simple past and future tense with the Latin “to be” verb.
Hodiē est... – Today is...Herī erat... – Yesterday was...Crās erit... – Tomorrow will be...
Diēs Sōlis – Sunday Diēs Lūnae – MondayDiēs Mārtis – TuesdayDiēs Mercuriī – WednesdayDiēs Iovis – ThursdayDiēs Veneris – FridayDiēs Sāturnī – Saturday
Lesson Plan
Begin by drawing a large calendar page on the board, with the days numbered from 1-31. Draw a large box around one week. Label the seven boxes inside with the names of the days of the week in Latin, as above.
Warm up by singing the Latin Alphabet Song and counting 1-20. Then point to the calendar on the board.
Say... Do...Ecce calendarium. [kah-len-DAH-ree-oom]Here is a calendar.
Now point to each of the seven boxes in turn as you read the names of the days, having the students repeat each one after you.
Diēs Sōlis...Diēs Lūnae...Diēs Mārtis...Diēs Mercuriī ...Diēs Iovis...Diēs Veneris...Diēs Sāturnī.[DEE-ayss SOH-lees, LOO-neye, MAHR-tess, mehr-KOO-ree-ee, YOH-weess, WAY-nay-reess, sah-TOOR-nee]Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
Repeat the names two or three times with the students. Then point to today (Monday).
Hodiē est Diēs Lūnae.[HOH-dee-ay esst DEE-ayss LOO-neye.]Today is Monday.
Write Hodiē est... on the board, then have the students repeat this entire sentence. Now point to the Sunday box.
Herī erat Diēs Sōlis.[HAIR-ee AIR-aht DEE-ayss SOH-leess.]Yesterday was Sunday.
Write Herī erat... on the board, then have the students repeat this entire sentence. Now point to the Tuesday box.
Crās erit Diēs Mārtis. Write Crās erit... on the board, then have the students repeat the entire
[KRAHSS AIR-eet DEE-ayss MAHR-teess.]Tomorrow will be Tuesday.
sentence. Now, have them repeat all three sentences in turn, after you.
Hodiē est Diēs Lūnae. Herī erat Diēs Sōlis. Crās erit Diēs Mārtis.Today is Monday. Yesterday was Sunday. Tomorrow will be Tuesday.
Now point to the Thursday box.
Hodiē est Diēs Iovis. Herī erat...Today is Thursday. Yesterday was...
Student: Diēs Mercuriī.
Et crās erit...And tomorrow will be...
Student: Diēs Veneris. Continue to drill the days by designating one day as hodiē (today) and asking Herī erat...? and Crās erit...?
To make cards for the new vocabulary, have students draw seven boxes on each of seven cards. Number the boxes 1-7 and then draw an arrow over the appropriate number for each day of the week (Diēs Sōlis=1, Diēs Lūnae=2, etc.).
Explain that the ancient Romans did not observe a seven-day week, but rather oriented each month around three special days, the Kalends, Nones, and Ides. The Kalends, or first day of the month, gives us our word calendar. Students may recognize the Ides from the famous line from the story of Julius Caesar, “Beware the Ides of March!” The Ides fell on either the 13th or 15th day of the month. The Nones fell between the Kalends and the Ides, on the 5th or 7th day of the month.
See if the students can identify the names of the Roman gods that appear in the day names. Some of our English day names derive from the Anglo-Saxon names of figures from Norse mythology: Tuesday is Tiw's Day, Wednesday is Woden's Day, Thursday is Thor's Day, Friday is Frigg's Day. If your students are familiar with the two mythological traditions, it is interesting to note the correspondences between, say, Mercury and Woden (Odin), or Tiw (Tyr) and Mars.
You may wish to assign reports on the Roman calendar or on Roman and/or Norse mythology to build on the information in this lesson.
Lesson Forty-Five
Quid Novī?
In this lesson students will continue to practice the past and future tense forms with words relating to time. We will also be introducing the months of the year in Latin. Most students will find this lesson easy, as our English month names come directly from the Latin.
Hic mēnsis est... – This month is...Mēnsis prior erat... – Last month was...Mēnsis proximus erit... – Next month will be...
Iānuārius [yah-noo-AH-ree-oos]Februārius [fay-broo-AH-ree-oos]Mārtius [MAR-tee-oos]Aprīlis [ah-PREE-leess]Māius [MY-oos]Iūnius [YOO-nee-oos]Iūlius [YOO-lee-oos]Augustus [ow-GOOS-toos]September [sep-TEM-bair]Octōber [ok-TOH-bair]November [noh-WEM-bair]December [day-KEM-bair]
Lesson Plan
Draw twelve boxes on the board to represent the twelve months. Label each with the Latin month names above. As in the previous lesson, you will indicate the current month and then work back and forward to drill the other month names. Begin by indicating the calendar as a whole.
Say... Do...Ecce calendarium.[kal-en-DAH-ree-oom]Here is a calendar.
Now point to one of the months.
Et ecce ūnus mēnsis.[MEN-seess]And here is one month.
Point to two months at the same time.
Ūnus mēnsis, duo mēnsēs.[MEN-seess...MEN-sayss]One month, two months.
Have the students repeat. Now point to the current month. (For our purposes, we will assume it is February.)
Hic mēnsis est Februārius.This month is February.
Write Hic mēnsis est... on the board, and have the students repeat the complete sentence. Now point to January.
Mēnsis prior erat Iānuārius.[PREE-or]Last month was January.
Write Mēnsis prior erat... on the board and have the students repeat the complete sentence. Now point to March.
Mēnsis proximus erit Mārtius.[PRAHKS-ee-moos]
Write Mēnsis proximus erit... on the board and have the students repeat the complete sentence. Now repeat all three sentences again, with the
Next month will be March. students.Hic mēnsis est Februārius. Mēnsis prior erat Iānuārius. Mēnsis proximus erit Mārtius.This month is February. Last month was January. Next month will be March.
Now point to another month, e.g., Iūlius.
Hic mēnsis est Iūlius. Mēnsis prior erat...?This month is July. Last month was...?
Student: Iūnius.
Et mēnsis proximus erit...?And next month will be...?
Student: Augustus. Continue to drill the month names in this way.
To make cards, have the students draw 12 small boxes to represent the calendar, and then number the appropriate one for each month name (Iānuārius=1, Februārius=2, etc.).
Just as the days of the week have names that refer to various Roman gods, so do some of the months. Iānuārius, for example, is named for the god Janus who was the god of doorways and new beginnings. Mārtius is named for Mars, who was in charge of agriculture as well as war, making him a natural choice for this spring month. March was originally the first month of the Roman year, which explains why the last four months contain the Latin words for seven, eight, nine, and ten, although they are now months nine through twelve. Iūlius and Augustus are named for Julius Caesar and the Emperor Augustus, respectively.
Lesson Forty-Six
Quid Novī?
In this lesson we will introduce a number of new verbs as well as the words using to express seasons.
The season words are as follows:
vēre* – in the spring (vēr=spring)aestāte – in the summer (aestās=summer)autumnō – in the autumn (autumnus=autumn)hieme – in the winter (hiems=winter)
These words are in the ablative case, expressing “time when.”
To prepare, draw four boxes on the board with the outline of a tree in each. On the first tree, draw blossoms; one the second, green leaves; on the third, leaves in autumn colors; on the fourth, snow. You can add other details (kite, hammock, pumpkin, snowman) as desired. Write the corresponding season words beneath each picture.
You will be introducing verbs in the infinitive form to complete the phrase Tempus est.... You can draw or mime the actions, or show photos from magazines or books to convey the meanings.
hortum serere [HOHR-toom SAY-ray-ray] – to plant a garden (literally, to sow the garden)basipilā lūdere [bah-SEE-pee-lah LOO-day-ray] – to play baseballavēs spectāre [AH-wayss spek-TAH-ray] – to bird-watch
ad actam īre [ahd AK-tahm EE-ray] – to go to the seashorenatāre [nah-TAH-ray] – to swimnavigāre [nah-wee-GAH-ray] – to sail
pedifolle lūdere [ped-ee-FOHL-lay LOO-day-ray] – to play soccerad lūdum īre [ahd LOO-doom EE-ray] – to go to schoolfolia spectāre [FOH-lee-ah spek-TAH-ray] – to leaf-peep, look at the fall foliage
nartāre [nar-TAH-ray] – to skipatināre [pah-tee-NAH-ray] – to skatestellās spectāre [STEL-lahss spek-TAH-ray] – to star-gaze
Lesson Plan
Warm up by singing the Latin Alphabet Song and counting 1-20.
Say... Do...Vēr est. Sōl lūcet.[wehr]It is spring. The sun is shining.
Point to the Spring picture.
* This word is a good example of the importance of macrons (long marks), not just to indicate grammar forms, but to clarify meaning. Without a macron on the final E, this word means “in the spring”; with a macron, it means “truly.”
Vēre tempus est hortum serere.[WEH-ray]In the spring, it is time to plant the garden.
Show gardening picture and write words on the board. Have students repeat the entire sentence. Now show the baseball picture.
Vēre tempus est basipilā lūdere.In the spring, it is time to play baseball.
Write, repeat. Then show the bird-watching picture.
Vēre tempus est avēs spectāre.In the spring, it is time to watch birds.
Write, repeat. Now point to the summer picture.
Aestās est. Aestāte tempus est...[EYES-tahss...eye-STAH-tay]It is summer. In the summer it is time...
Show to seashore picture.
Ad actam īre....to go to the seashore.
Write, repeat. Show the swimming picture.
Aestāte tempus est natāre.In the summer it's time to swim.
Write, repeat. Show the sailing picture.
Aestāte tempus est navigāre.In the summer it's time to sail.
Write repeat. Now point to the autumn picture.
Autumnus est. Autumnō tempus est...[ow-TOOM-noos...ow-TOOM-noh]It is autumn. In the autumn it's time...
Show the soccer picture.
Pedifolle lūdere....to play soccer.
Write, repeat. Next, show the “back to school” picture.
Autumnō tempus est ad lūdum īre.In the autumn it's time to go to school.
Write, repeat. Now show the fall foliage picture.
Autumnō tempus est folia spectāre.In the autumn it's time to leaf-peep.
Write, repeat. Now point to the winter picture.
Hiems est. Hieme tempus est...[HEE-ems...he-AY-may]It's winter. In winter it's time...
Show the skiing picture.
Nartāre.To ski.
Write, repeat. Next, show the skating picture.
Hieme tempus est patināre.In winter it's time to skate.
Write, repeat. Finally, show the star-gazing picture.
Hieme tempus est stellās spectāre.In winter it's time to star-gaze.
Students may have difficulties in drawing pictures for some of these activities, so you may want to provide magazine photos to cut out and stick on the cards. If you do want to draw, here are suggested images:
hortum serere – a sprout with roots
basipilā lūdere – a baseball and bat, or a baseball diamond and a baseballavēs spectāre – a bird with eyes next to itad actam īre – flat area (beach), waves, stick figure under large umbrellanatāre – waves with stick figure head and bent armnavigāre – sailboat pedifolle lūdere – a soccer ball with foot kickingad lūdum īre – school building, or blackboard with “ABC, 123” written on itfolia spectāre – leaf outlines with eyes next to themnartāre – stick figure on skis going downhillpatināre – stick figure on skatesstellās spectāre – star shapes with eyes next to them
Lesson Forty-Seven
Quid Novī?
In this lesson we will introduce words to talk about the weather. We will also review some previous vocabulary and verb forms.
Typically, the adjectives we use to talk about the weather appear in the neuter singular, since they are modifying the implied neuter noun caelum, sky or heaven.
Quāle est caelum hodiē? – How is the weather today? (lit. What sort of sky is it today?)Quāle erat caelum herī? – How was the weather yesterday?Quāle erit caelum crās? – How will the weather be tomorrow?
Serēnum est. – It is fair.Nūbilōsum est. – It is cloudy.Calidum est. – It is hot.Frīgidum est. – It is cold.Ventōsum est. – It is windy.Pluvium est. – It is rainy.Nivāle est. – It is snowy.
Prepare by gathering pictures that show the weather conditions above. You can also draw them, if you prefer.
Lesson Plan
Begin by writing the following question on the board: Quāle est caelum? Draw or show a picture of a fine, sunny day.
Say... Do...Quāle est caelum? [KWAH-lay esst KY-loom?]How is the weather?
Point to the sun.
Sōl lūcet. Serēnum est.[say-RAY-noom]The sun is shining. It is fair.
Write the words on the board and have the students repeat. Now draw a thermometer with the mercury spurting out the top.
Quāle est caelum? How is the weather?
Fan yourself and pretend to mop your brow.
Calidum est![KAHL-ee-doom]It's hot!
Write the phrase on the board and have the students repeat it. Now draw a thermometer with a very low temperature, perhaps with icicles hanging off of it. Show a picture of a cold day.
Quāle est caelum? How is the weather?
Shiver and hug yourself as if very cold. Say “Brrrr.”
Frīgidum est![FREE-gee-doom]It's cold.
Now add snow to the picture, or show a picture of snow.
Nivāle est.[Nee-WAH-lay]It's snowing.
Mime snow falling with your fingers, then shiver again. Write the word on the board and have students repeat. Now show a picture of an overcast day.
Quāle est caelum? How is the weather?
Point to the clouds, or draw clouds covering the sun.
Nūbilōsum est.[noo-bee-LOH-soom]It's cloudy.
Write the words and have students repeat. Now add rain to the picture or show a rainy scene.
Quāle est caelum? How is the weather?
Mime rain falling from the sky, and pretend to open an umbrella over your head. (You can use a real umbrella as well.)
Pluvium est![PLOO-ee-oom]It's rainy!
Write the word on the board and have the students repeat. Now show a picture of a windy day.
Quāle est caelum? How is the weather?
Pretend to be walking against strong winds. (For a memorable effect, turn on a fan!)
Ventōsum est![wen-TOH-soom]It's windy.
Write the word on the board and have the students repeat. Now walk to the window, look out, and ask:
Quāle est caelum hodiē?How is the weather today.
Student: (Answers will vary depending on current conditions.) When you have an accurate answer, repeat it, e.g.,
Bene. Serēnum est hodiē. Et herī? Quāle erat caelum herī?Good. It's fair today. And yesterday? How was the weather yesterday?
If students do not immediately recall the phrase herī erat (yesterday [it] was), draw seven boxes on the board and point to the one representing the current day: Hodiē est...diēs Lūnae. Point to the previous day. Et herī erat...diēs Sōlis. Now repeat your question:
Quāle erat caelum herī?How was the weather yesterday?
Student: (Answers will vary.) Repeat the correct answer.
Bene. Ventōsum erat herī. Et crās? Quāle erit caelum crās?Good. It was windy yesterday. And tomorrow? How will the weather be tomorrow?
If students are confused by erit...crās (will be...tomorrow), point to the box representing the following day as you say: Hodiē est diēs Lūnae. Crās erit diēs Mārtis. Then repeat your question.
Quāle erit caelum crās?How will the weather be tomorrow?
Student: (Answers will vary.)
Have students make vocabulary cards for the new words and phrases. Ask them to look at the weather forecast between today and your next lesson, and be ready to answer questions about the weather.
Lesson Forty-Eight
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, we will introduce the accusative case as used with direct objects in Latin.
In English, direct objects are indicated by word order. “The dog bites the man” and “The man bites the dog” use exactly the same words; only the order of the words tells us who is doing the biting and who is bitten.
In Latin, the form of the direct object indicates its function in the sentence. In the sentence Canis mordet virum (The dog bites the man), the -um ending on virum tells us that he is the direct object. We can change the order of the words to Virum mordet canis without changing the meaning of the sentence. If we wanted to say “The man bites the dog,” however, we would change the word canis (dog) to the accusative form canem to indicate that it is now the direct object: Vir mordet canem.
Most of the nouns we have learned so far form their accusative singular forms with a final -m.
Masculine nouns: discipulus → discipulum; puer → puerumFeminine nouns: fēmina → fēminam; puella → puellamNeuter nouns are the same in the nominative (subject) and accusative (direct object) cases: triangulum → triangulum
In the accusative plural, most of the masculine and feminine nouns we've learned end in -s, while the neuter nouns end in -a. (Again, neuter nouns have the same form in the nominative and the accusative.)
We will be asking students what clothing they wear in different types of weather. E.g.,
Q. Nivāle est. Quid geris? (It's snowy. What do you wear?)A. Amicatorium (n.) et pilleum (m.) gerō. (I wear a scarf and hat.)
Q. Calidum est. Quid geris? (It's hot. What do you wear?)A. Breviōrēs brācas (f. pl.) et tunīculam (f.) gerō. (I wear shorts and a T-shirt.)
To teach this lesson, you will need pictures of the various weather conditions from the previous lesson, as well as samples of the clothing items introduced in Lessons Thirty-Eight through Forty. If you don't have these pieces of clothing, draw a figure on the board to represent yourself, and then draw the items on the figure as per the lesson plan. You can also use a paper doll.
Lesson Plan
Warm up by asking students questions about the weather: Quāle est caelum hodiē? Quāle erat caelum herī? Quāle erit caelum crās?
Next, review the season words by asking: Quāle est caelum hieme? (Nivāle est. Frīgidum est.) Quāle est caelum vēre? (Pluvium est. Ventōsum est. Serēnum est.) Quāle est caelum aestāte? (Calidum est. Serēnum est.) Quāle est caelum autumnō? (Pluvium est. Ventōsum est. Frīgidum est. Nūbilōsum est.)
To begin teaching the new material, display the Nivāle est (it's snowy) card. Point to the card and ask:
Say... Do...Quāle est caelum?How is the weather?
Student: Nivāle est.
Bene. Good.
Now display one of the clothing items, e.g., the hat (pilleus).
Et quid est?And what is this?
Student: Pilleus est.
Bene. Pilleus est.Good. It's a hat.
Write the words Pilleus est on the board and emphasize the -us ending as you say it. Now put on the hat.
Pilleum gerō.I'm wearing the hat.
After the words Pilleus est, draw an arrow and the words pilleum gerō. Underline the -us and -um endings. Now pick up a sweater.
Quid est?What is it?
Student: Tunica lānea est. Put on the sweater.
Bene. Tunica lānea est. Tunicam lāneam gerō.Good. It's a sweater. I'm wearing the sweater.
Write the two forms on the board: tunica lānea → tunicam lāneam. Now pick up a scarf.
Quid est?What is it?
Student: Amictorium.
Bene. Amictorium est, et amictorium gerō.Good. It's a scarf, and I'm wearing the scarf.
Write the words on the board in the same way: amictorium → amictorium. (Both forms are the same.) Now pick up a pair of boots.
Sunt...?They are...?
Student: Caligae. Put on the boots.
Bene. Caligae sunt. Caligās gerō.Good. They are boots. I'm wearing the boots.
Write the words on the board: caligae → caligās. Then pick up the gloves.
Sunt...?They are...?
Student: Digitālia. Now put on the gloves.
Bene. Digitālia sunt, et digitālia gerō.Good. They are gloves, and I'm wearing gloves.
Write the words on the board (both are the same): digitālia → digitālia.
Stop to explain the grammar concept to the students (in English). Use the explanation in the Quid Novī? section, then give examples of how nouns change from the nominative to the accusative forms:
masculine singular: pilleus → pilleummasculine plural: calceī → calceōs
feminine singular: tunīcula → tunīculamfeminine plural: brācae → brācās
neuter singular: amictorium → amictorium (no change)
neuter plural: digitālia → digitālia (no change)
Students should write these forms down as models.
Then give the following assignment to be done in class or for homework. (Possible answers appear in parentheses.)
Complete the following sentences using the accusative:
1. Calidum est. _________________________________ gerō. (Breviōrēs brācas, tunīculam, sandalia)
2. Ventōsum est. ________________________________ gerō. (Tunicam lāneam, iaccam)3. Frīgidum est. ______________________gerō. (Pilleum, digitālia, tunicam lāneam, paenulam, etc.)4. Pluvium est. __________________ gerō. (Iaccam, pilleum...)5. Serēnum est. _________________ gerō. (Indūsium, brācas...)6. Hieme ___________________ gerō. (Same answers as #3)7. Aestāte ________________ gerō. (Same answers as #1)
Lesson Forty-Nine
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, we will learn how to use the key family vocabulary (māter, pater, frāter, soror) in the accusative case. These words belong to a different declension (noun class) than the other words we've learned so far. Happily for us, their accusative forms are quite simple:
singular:
pater → patremmāter → mātremfrāter → frātremsoror → sororem
The plural forms are even easier; there is no change from the nominative to the accusative in the plural.
patrēs → patrēsmātrēs → mātrēsfrātrēs → frātrēssorōrēs → sorōrēs
Students will be using these words with the verb habeō (I have), which regularly takes a direct object. Students will also learn the accusative form of the numbers ūnus and duo. (There is no change from nominative to accusative with trēs/tria or other numbers up through 19.)
Singular:
(m.) ūnus → ūnum(f.) ūna → ūnam(n.) ūnum → ūnum (no change)
Plural:
(m.) duo → duōs(f.) duae → duās(n.) duo → duo (no change)
E.g., Ūnam mātrem, ūnum patrem, et duās sorōrēs habeō: I have one mother, one father, and two sisters.
Prepare by reviewing Lesson Fifteen, which provides the basis for this lesson.
Lesson Plan
Invite a student to draw a picture of his or her family on the board.
Say... Do...Ecce familia.Here is a family.
Point to each member of the family in turn.
Ecce māter...et pater...et frāter...et soror. Et ecce frāterculus...et sorōrcula.Here is a mother...and a father...and a brother...and a sister. And here is a little brother...and a little sister.
These words should be very familiar by now, but if the students need a refresher, write the words on the board under the each picture. Point to the mother.
Est māter tibi?Do you have a mother?
Student: Māter est mihi. Write this response on the board.
Bene. Māter est tibi. Mātrem habēs.Good. You have a mother. You have a mother.
Write an equals sign (=) on the board after Māter est mihi and add the sentence: Mātrem habeō. Have the class repeat: Mātrem habeō.
Quot mātrēs habēs? Ūnam? Duās?[OO-nam? DOO-ahss?]How many mothers do you have?
Student: Ūnam.* Expect errors here: the most common answer is ūna. Correct this verbally by repeating:
Ah, ūnam mātrem habēs.Ah, you have one mother.
Write the words ūnam mātrem habeō on the board, underlining the -m endings. Then point to the father in the picture.
Est pater tibi? Patrem habēs?Do you have a father? Do you have a father?
Student: Patrem habeō. Again, expect errors here. Write the correct response on the board, repeat it, and have the class repeat the sentence: Patrem habeō.
Quot patrēs? Ūnum? Duōs?How many fathers? One? Two?
Student: Ūnum. Add the word Ūnum in front of patrem habeō. Now point to the siblings.
Est soror tibi? Sororem habēs?Do you have a sister? Do you have a sister?
Student: Sororem habeō. Verbally correct the forms as necessary, and write this response on the board.
Quot sorōrēs? Ūnam? Duās? Trēs? …How many sisters? One? Two? Three? ...
Student: Duās sorōrēs habeō. Point to a brother.
Et frātrēs? Habēsne frātrēs?And brothers? Do you have brothers?
Point to a brother. Student: Frātrēs habeō.
Quot frātrēs habēs? Ūnum? Duōs? Trēs? ...How many brothers do you have? One? Two? Three? ...
Student: Duōs frātrēs habeō.
Continue by asking the other students about their families. In each case, make sure that the answers include the correct form of the verb “to have” – habeō (I have) – with direct objects in the accusative case:
Ūnam mātrem (duās mātrēs) habeō. Mātrem nōn habeō.Ūnum patrem (duōs patrēs) habeō. Patrem nōn habeō.Ūnum frāter (duōs frātrēs) habeō. Frātrem nōn habeō.Ūnam soror (duās sorōrēs) habeō. Sororem nōn habeō.
To say “I am an only child” use fīlius ūnicus sum (male) or fīlia ūnica sum (female).
* See below for alternative answers.
Finish by using the grammar explanation in the Quid Novī? section of this lesson to summarize and clarify the grammar. Remind the students that, just as they learned to use the accusative with gerō, they are now using it with habeō. Both of these verbs routinely appear with a direct object, so when students encounter them, they should look for an accusative form nearby.
There are no new vocabulary cards to be made for this lesson, but students should write down the accusative forms – singular and plural – of māter, pater, frāter, and soror on their existing cards.
Lesson Fifty
Quid Novī?
In this lesson students will continue practicing the accusative with the verb habeō, this time will the names of common pets. We will also be introducing a new form of habeō: habet (he/she/it has). The teacher's question pattern is the same as in the last lesson:
Habēsne + [acc. noun]?[Acc. Noun] + habēs?Quot [pl. acc. noun] habēs?Quis habet [acc. noun]? (Who has a...)
For example, if you want to ask whether a student has a pet rabbit, say:
Habēsne cunīculum? or Cunīculum habēs?
The student will answer Cunīculum habeō or Cunīculum nōn habeō.
To ask how many rabbits:
Quot cunīculī habēs?
The student will answer: ūnum cunīculum, duōs cunīculōs, trēs cunīculōs...
To see if anyone in the class has a rabbit, ask:
Quis habet cunīculum?
The new vocabulary for this chapter includes a number of nouns from the same declension (noun class) as māter, pater, frāter, and soror. Note the forms carefully:
Nominative Singular Accusative Singular Nominative Plural Accusative Pluralfēlis* – cat (f.) fēlem fēlēs fēlēscanis – dog (m.) canem canēs canēsavis – bird (f.) avem avēs avēspiscis – fish (m.) piscem piscēs piscēscunīculus – rabbit (m.) cunīculum cunīculī cunīculōs
Prepare for the lesson by collecting or drawing pictures of the animals above.
Lesson Plan
Warm up by playing Simon Dīcit (Simon Says), using both singular and plural commands. Then begin
* This word sometimes also appears as fēlēs in the singular. There is another word for a tom cat (male animal) – cattus – but for our purposes, fēlis will be used for cats of both sexes. Likewise canis can refer to either a male or female dog, but we will treat all dogs as males for now.
teaching the new material by showing a picture of a cat.
Say... Do...Ecce fēlis. Quis habet fēlem?[EK-kay FAY-leess. Kweess HAH-bet FAY-lem?]Here is a cat. Who has a cat?
If the students don't immediately understand the question, call on one student and ask, while pointing at the picture:
Habēsne fēlem?Do you have a cat?
Student: Fēlem habeō. Write the words fēlis → fēlem on the board.
Quot fēlēs habēs? Ūnam? Duās?[FAY-layss]How many cats do you have? One? Two?
Student: Duās fēlēs habeō. Write the words fēlēs → fēlēs on the board. Now show a picture of a dog.
Ecce canis. Quis habet canem?[KAH-neess...KAH-nem]Here is a dog. Who has a dog?
Student: Canem habeō. Write the words canis → canem on the board.
Quot canēs habēs? Ūnum? Duōs?[KAH-nayss]How many dogs do you have? One? Two?
Student: Ūnum canem habeō. Write the words canēs → canēs on the board. Now show a picture of a bird.
Ecce avis. Quis habet avem?[AH-weess...AH-wem]Here is a bird. Who has a bird?
Student: Avem habeō. Write the words avis → avem on the board.
Quot avēs habēs? Ūnam? Duās?[AH-wayss]How many birds do you have? One? Two?
Student: Duās avēs habeō. Write the words avēs → avēs on the board. Now show a picture of a fish.
Ecce piscis. Quis habet piscem?[PIS-kees...PIS-kem]Here is a fish. Who has a fish?
Student: Piscem habeō. Write the words piscis → piscem on the board.
Quot piscēs habēs? Ūnum? Duōs?[PIS-kayss]How many fish do you have? One? Two?
Student: Decem piscēs habeō! You might reply: Multōs piscēs habēs! You have many fish! Write the words piscēs → piscēs on the board. Then show a picture of a rabbit.
Ecce cunīculus. Quis habet cunīculum?[koo-NEE-koo-loos...koo-NEE-koo-loom]Here is a rabbit. Who has a rabbit?
Student: Cunīculum habeō. Write the words cunīculus → cunīculum on the board.
Quot cunīculōs habēs? Ūnum? Duōs?[koo-NEE-koo-lohss]How many rabbits do you have? One? Two?
Student: Duōs cunīculōs habeō.
If you are teaching at home, or if your students do not have many pets, you can hand out index cards with
pictures of various types and numbers of pets to the students. These become the basis for their answers.
Now underline the accusative forms that you have written on the board (the second form in each pair) and remind the students that they must use these forms with the verb habeō.
Finish the lesson by having students make vocabulary cards for each of the new words. Have them write all of the forms of the noun on the back, and ask them to underline the nominative singular, since this is the most important form to know.
Lesson Fifty-One
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, we will play a game to review the use of the accusative with habeō.
Lesson Plan
This game is called Plūs Plūsque: More and More. It is the Latin version of the American memory game “I'm Going on a Picnic.”
For the first round, use pets. Begin by saying, for example, Fēlem habeō. The next person adds the word of their choice to the list: Fēlem et canem habeō. The next continues Fēlem, canem, et avem habeō. The game continues as long as the players can recite the whole list correctly and add another word.
For the second round, use family words, and for the third, clothing. To make the game more challenging, add number and/or color adjectives: Ūnum avem rubrum habeō... I have one red bird.
If you have a large class, you may want to have the students break into groups to keep the game manageable.
Lesson Fifty-Two
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, we will review the commands that the students have already learned and will then introduce the first person singular (I) forms of the same verbs. Students have already begin to use this form: gerō and habeō are first person singular forms. This lesson will allow them to expand their ability to describe their own activities.
The key question you will be asking is Quid facis? What are you doing? The student will respond with a first person singular form (“I'm...”) and you will confirm the answer using the second person singular form (“You're...”).
Here are the verbs you will be using in this lesson:
Singular Command (“Do!)
First Person Singular (“I do, I am doing”)
Second Person Singular (“You do, you are doing”)
English
surge surgō surgis rise, stand upcōnsīde cōnsīdō cōnsīdis sit downī eō īs govenī veniō venīs comeambulā ambulō ambulās walkcurre currō curris runsalī saliō salīs jumpsaltā saltō saltās dance
To prepare for the lesson, put the verb forms above on index cards for your own reference.
Lesson Plan
Begin by playing Simon Dīcit in the usual way, using only singular commands. Be sure that the students can accurately respond to each command before proceeding. Begin by calling on one student and giving a command:
Say... Do...Discipula, saltā!Student, dance!
Student dances.
Bene! Quid facis?[FAH-keess]Good! What are you doing?
Student: ??
Quid facis? Saltās?What are you doing? Are you dancing?
Student: ?? Use a stage whisper:
Dīc: Saltō! Student: Saltō.
Say: I'm dancing!
Bene: Saltās.Good: You're dancing.
Write the forms on the board: Saltā! Saltō. Saltās. Now call on another student.
Discipule, curre!Student, run!
Student runs.
Bene. Quid facis? Curris?[KOOR-reess]Good. What are you doing? Are you running?
Student: ?? In a stage whisper:
Dīc: Currō![KOOR-roh]Say: I'm running!
Student: Currō.
Bene. Curris.Good. You're running.
Write the three forms on the board, then call on another student.
Discipula, salī!Student, jump!
Student jumps.
Quid facis? Salīs?[SAH-leess]What are you doing? Are you jumping?
Student: ?? Stage whisper:
Dīc: Salīo.Say: I'm jumping.
Student: Salīo.
Bene.Good.
Continue in this manner until you have gone through all of the verbs at least three times with different students. (If working with one student, continue until the student shows comprehension of the pattern.)
Now explain, in English, the forms you have been using. Make sure that students understand the difference between first and second person (I vs. you) and between the command form (Do!) and the second person (You do, you are doing).
There are no new cards to make for this lesson, but students should copy down the verb forms you have written on the board for reference.
Lesson Fifty-Three
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, students will learn the first and second person plural forms of the verbs from the last lesson. The procedure is the same, except that students work in pairs. If you are working with only one student, have the student hold a doll, puppet, or stuffed animal when performing the actions.
As you will see in the chart below, the first person plural (we) forms end in -mus, and the second person plural (you, “y'all,” “you guys”) forms end in -tis. The vowel that comes before the ending is determined by the conjugation, or verb class, the verb belongs to, just as noun endings are determined by the declension, or noun class, of a given noun. As they continue on with the formal study of Latin grammar, students will learn that there are four conjugations, plus a number of irregular verbs (e.g., sum, I am, and eō, I go).
Plural Command (“Do!)
First Person Plural (“we do, we are doing”)
Second Person Plural (“You do, you are doing”)
English
surgite surgimus surgitis rise, stand upcōnsīdite cōnsīdimus cōnsīditis sit downīte īmus ītis govenīte venīmus venītis comeambulāte ambulāmus ambulātis walkcurrite currimus curritis runsalīte salīmus salītis jumpsaltāte saltāmus saltātis dance
Prepare by putting the forms above on index cards for your own reference.
Lesson Plan
Warm up by playing Simon Dīcit, using only plural commands. Be sure that the students can respond correctly to each form before proceeding. Students should work in pairs throughout the lesson.
Begin by calling on one pair and giving a command:
Say... Do...Discipulī, saltāte!Students, dance!
Students dance.
Bene! Quid facitis?[FAH-kee-teess]Good! What are you doing?
Students: ??
Quid facitis? Saltātis?[sahl-TAH-teess]
Students: ?? Use a stage whisper:
What are you doing? Are you dancing?
Dīcite: Saltāmus![DEEK-ee-tay: sahl-TAH-mooss]Say: We are dancing!
Students: Saltāmus.
Bene: Saltātis.Good: You're dancing.
Write the forms on the board: Saltāte! Saltāmus. Saltātis. Now call on another pair.
Discipulī, currite![KOOR-ee-tay]Students, run!
Students run.
Bene. Quid facitis? Curritis?[KOOR-ee-teess]Good. What are you doing? Are you running?
Student: ?? In a stage whisper:
Dīcite: Currimus![KOOR-ee-mooss]Say: We're running!
Student: Currimus.
Bene. Curritis.Good. You're running.
Write the three forms on the board, then call on another pair.
Discipulī, salīte![sah-LEE-tay]Students, jump!
Students jump.
Quid facitis? Salītis?[sah-LEE-teess]What are you roing? Are you jumping?
Student: ?? Stage whisper:
Dīcite: Salīmus.[sah-LEE-mooss]Say: We're jumping.
Student: Salīmus. Write the forms on the board.
Bene.Good.
Continue in this manner until you have gone through all of the verbs at least three times with different pairs. (If working with one student, continue until the student shows comprehension of the pattern.)
Now explain, in English, the forms you have been using. Make sure that students understand the difference between first person singular and plural (I vs. we) and between the second person singular and plural forms. In standard written English we do not distinguish between the singular and plural “you,” but in colloquial usage, we may employ forms like “y'all” or “you guys” to indicate the plural.
If the students have a hard time distinguishing between the singular and plural forms, you can use the following hand gestures as cues:
• For singular you, point to one person and then put your index finger up to indicate “one.”• For the plural point first to one person, then to the other(s) in turn, then put up two fingers to
indicate “two or more.”
There are no new cards to make for this lesson, but students should copy down the new verb forms from the board.
Lesson Fifty-Four
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, we will introduce the third person verb forms, corresponding to “he/she/it does” (singular) and “they do” (plural) in English. The third person singular forms end in -t, and the plural forms end in -nt. The vowel that precedes the ending is detemined by which conjugation (verb class) the verb belongs to.
Singular Command (“Do!”)
Third Person Singular (“He/She/It does, is doing”)
Plural Command (“[You all] do!”)
Third Person Plural (“They do, are doing”)
English
surge surgit surgite surgunt rise, stand upcōnsīde cōnsīdit cōnsīdite cōnsīdunt sit downī it īte eunt govenī venit venīte veniunt comeambulā ambulat ambulāte ambulant walkcurre currit currite currunt runsalī salit salīte saliunt jumpsaltā saltat saltāte saltant dance
The lesson plan assumes that you have at least two students. If you are working with only one student, you will display or draw pictures of the various activities, performed first by one and then my more than one person. The questions you will ask remain the same: Quid facit? (What is he/she doing?) and Quid faciunt? (What are they doing?).
Prepare for the lesson by putting the forms above on an index card for your reference.
Lesson Plan
Warm up by playing Simon Dīcit, using both singular and plural commands. Be sure that the students can respond correctly to each form before proceeding.
Begin by calling on one student and giving a command:
Say... Do...Discipula, saltā!Student, dance!
Student dances. Point to the student and address the others:
Bene! Quid facit?[FAH-keet]Good. What is she doing?
Students: ??
Quid facit? Saltat?[SAHL-taht]What is she doing? Is she dancing?
Students: ?? Use a stage whisper:
Dīcite: Saltat!Say: She's dancing!
Students: Saltat.
Bene: Discipula saltat.Good: The student is dancing.
Write the question Quid facit? on the board, followed by the new verb form: saltat. Now call on a pair of students.
Discipulī, saltāte!Students, dance!
Students dance. Address the others, while pointing at the dancing pair.
Bene. Quid faciunt? Saltant?[FAH-kee-oont...SAHL-tahnt]Good. What are they doing? Are they dancing?
Students: ?? In a stage whisper:
Dīcite: Saltant.Say: They are dancing.
Student: Saltant.
Bene. Discipulī saltant.Good. The students are dancing.
Write the question Quid faciunt? on the board, followed by the plural form: saltant. Call on an individual student.
Discipule, salī!Student, jump!
Student jumps. Point to the jumping student and ask the others:
Quid facit? Salit?[SAH-leet]What is he doing? Is he jumping?
Students: Salit. Nod, then write the word on the board under Quid facit? Now call on a pair of students.
Discipulī, salīte!Students, jump!
Students jump.
Quid faciunt? Saliunt?[SAH-lee-oont]What are they doing? Are they jumping?
Students: Saliunt.
Bene. Discipulī saliunt.Good. The students are jumping.
Continue in this way, first presenting the singular form and then the plural, until you have gone through all of the forms at least three times. (With one student, look for comprehension and correct responses before ending this part of the lesson.)
Explain, in English, that these forms allow us to speak about what others are doing. Point out the singular forms (“he/she/it”) and plurals (“they”).
Note that, in English, we would need to express the subject of such verbs, either with a noun or with a pronoun. In Latin, however, the ending indicates the person, so it is not always necessary to express the subject. For example, saltat can be translated as “he dances” or “she dances”; the gender is determined by the context. We can also add a noun to make the sentence more specific: Puella saltat (The girl dances).
The same is true for third person plural forms. Unless a subject is specified, we will translate third person plural verbs as “they [do/are doing].” So, Puellae saltant translates as “The girls dance,” but Saltant alone means “they dance” or “they are dancing.”
Conclude the lesson by making a chart showing how all the verb forms work together:
saltāre (Infinitive: To dance)saltā (Imperative [Command] Singular: Dance!)saltāte (Imperative Plural: Dance!)
singular plural1st person saltō saltāmus2nd person saltās saltātis3rd person saltat saltant
At this stage it is not necessary for the students to write out such charts or try to memorize them. This example is provided to help students synthesize their knowledge. Also, grammar charts are a regular feature of most traditional Latin programs, so it is helpful for students to see them and learn what they represent.
There are no new vocabulary cards to make for this lesson, but the students should copy down the new verb forms.
Lesson Fifty-Five
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, we will introduce some of the parts of the body (corpus, in Latin).
caput (n.) – headumerus (m., pl. umerī) – shoulderpectus (n.) – chestbracchium (n., pl. bracchia) – armmanus (f., pl. manūs) – handcrūs (n., pl. crūra) – legpēs (m., pl. pedēs) – foot
To prepare for the lesson, draw a large outline of a body on the board. If you are teaching at home and have enough room, you can use butcher paper and trace one of the students' bodies as a life-size model.
Begin by having all the students stand up (Discipulī, surgite!). Point to the head of your model.
Say... Do...Ecce caput. Caput.[KAH-poot]Here is the head. Head.
As you repeat the word, touch your own head. Be sure to touch the back or sides of the head, rather than the face. Now call on a student.
Discipule, ubi est caput tuum?Student, where is your head?
Student points to his head.
Bene.Good.
Repeat with all of the students. Draw a line out from the head of the model and write the word next to it. Now point to the shoulders.
Ecce umerī.[OO-may-ree]Here are the shoulders.
Point to one shoulder.
Ūnus umerus...[OO-may-rooss]One shoulder...
Then to both shoulders
Duo umerī.Two shoulders.
Now call on a student.
Discipula, ubi sunt umerī tuī?Student, where are your shoulders?
Student points to her shoulders. Repeat with all of the students. Draw a line our from the shoulders of the model and write umerus, umerī next to it. Now point to the chest.
Ecce pectus.[PEK-tooss]Here is the chest.
Call on a student.
Discipule, ubi est pectus tuum*?Student, where is your chest?
Student points to his chest. Write the word on the model as before, then point to the arm.
Ecce bracchium. Point first to one arm...
* Notice that, despite its -us ending, pectus is neuter.
[BRAH-kee-oom]Here is an arm.
Ūnum bracchium...One arm...
Then to both arms...
Duo bracchia.[BRAH-kee-ah]Two arms.
Call on a student.
Discipula, ubi sunt bracchia tua?Student, where are your arms?
Student indicates her arms. Repeat with others. Write the words (singular and plural) on the model as before, then point to the hand.
Ecce manus.[MAH-nooss]Here is a hand.
Hold up one hand...
Ūna manus...One hand...
Then two hands.
Duae manūs.Two hands.
Call on a student.
Discipule, ubi sunt manūs tuae?Student, where are your hands?
Student shows hands. Repeat as before, then write the words on the board. Next point to the leg.
Ecce crūs. [krooss]Here is a leg.
Point to one leg...
Ūnum crūs...One leg...
Then to both legs.
Duo crūra.[KROO-rah]Two legs.
Call on a student.
Discipula, ubi sunt crūra tua?Student, where are your legs?
Student indicates her legs. Repeat as before, then write the words on the board. Finally, point to the foot.
Ecce pēs.[payss]Here is a foot.
Point to one foot...
Ūnus pēs...One foot...
Then to both feet.
Duo pedēs.[PAY-dayss]Two feet.
Call on a student.
Discipule, ubi sunt pedēs tuī?Student, where are your feet?
Student indicates his feet. Repeat as before, then write the words on the board.
Complete the lesson by having students make vocabulary cards for the new words. Be sure they include both the singular and plural forms where applicable.
Lesson Fifty-Six
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, we will introduce the parts of the face (facies, f.).
capillus (m.) – hairfrōns (f.) – foreheadoculus (m., pl. oculī) – eyeauris (f., pl. aurēs ) – earsnāsus (m.) – nosegena (f., pl. genae) – cheekōs (n.) – mouth
Prepare by drawing a large picture of a face on the board, the sillier, the better! As before, you will be labeling the picture as you go. For the warm up, you will need index cards for yourself with the parts of the body taught in the last lesson.
Lesson Plan
Warm up by reviewing the vocabulary taught in the previous lesson. Have the students stand up, then call on them in quick succession, asking Ubi est... or Ubi sunt... filling in parts of the body. (Refer to the script from the last lesson, if necessary.) When you are finished, have the students sit down (Considite). Begin by pointing to the picture on the board.
Say... Do...Ecce caput.Here is the head.
Now point to the hair.
Ecce capillus.[kah-PEE-looss]Here is the hair.
Point to your own hair as you repeat.
Capillus.Hair.
Call on a student.
Ubi est capillus tuus?Where is your hair?
Student points to hair. Repeat with others, then write the word on the board. Next, point to the forehead.
Ecce frōns.[frahnss]Here is the forehead.
Call on a student.
Ubi est frōns tua?Where is your forehead?
Student points to forehead. Repeat as before, then write the word on the board. Next, point to the eyes.
Ecce oculī.[OH-koo-lee]Here are the eyes.
Point to one eye...
Ūnus oculus...[OH-koo-looss]One eye...
Then to both eyes.
Duo oculī. Call on a student.
Two eyes.
Ubi sunt oculī tuī?Where are your eyes?
Student points to eyes. Repeat as before, then write the words on the board. Now point to the ears.
Ecce aurēs.[OW-rayss]Here are the ears.
Point to one ear...
Ūna auris...[OW-reess]One ear...
Then to both ears.
Duae aurēs.Two ears.
Call on a student.
Ubi sunt aurēs tuae?Where are your ears?
Student points to ears. Repeat as before, then write the words on the board. Now point to the nose.
Ecce nāsus.[NAH-sooss]Here is the nose.
Call on a student.
Ubi est nāsus tuus?Where is your nose?
Student points to nose. Repeat as before, then write the word on the board. Now point to the cheeks.
Ecce genae.[GAY-neye]Here are the cheeks.
Point to one cheek...
Ūna gena...[GAY-nah]One cheek...
Then both cheeks.
Duae genae.Two cheeks.
Call on a student.
Ubi sunt genae tuae?Where are your cheeks?
Student points to cheeks. Repeat as before, then write the words on the board. Now point to the mouth.
Ecce ōs.[ohss]Here is the mouth.
Call on a student.
Ubi est ōs tuum?Where is your mouth?
Student points to mouth. Repeat as before, then write the word on the board. Have the students stand.
Surgite!Stand up!
You will now teach the class a song to help them remember some of the parts of the body they have learned. It is sung to the tune of “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.”
Caput, um'rī, crūs et pēs, crūs et pēsCaput, um'rī, crūs et pēs, crūs et pēsOculī, frōns, aurēs et ōsCaput, um'rī, crūs et pēs, crūs et pēs
Head, shoulders, leg and foot, leg and footHead, shoulders, leg and foot, leg and foot
Eyes, forehead, ears and mouthHead, shoulders, leg and foot, leg and foot
Finish the lesson by having students make vocabulary cards for the new words, including both the singular and plural forms where appropriate.
Lesson Fifty-Seven
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, students learn some action verbs along with nouns that we use to perform the action, e.g., I write with a pen. We will be using the ablative case, sometimes called the “by, with, from” case.
We have already seen the ablative when talking about living situations: we used it after the preposition in, e.g., habitō in casā. We saw that the noun after in acquired a macron (long mark) to indicate the ablative. This same noun form will be used in this lesson, both with and without a preposition.
In this lesson, we will use the ablative with in to mean on (e.g., in chartā, on the paper). We will use it without a preposition to indicate the means by which an action is accomplished. For example, if we want to say “I write with a pen,” in Latin, we say calamō scrībō: literally, I write (scrībō) by means of a pen (calamō, the ablative singular of calamus, pen).
In short, we will use in+ablative to describe where something happens and the ablative alone to name the object we use to perform an action. This latter use of the ablative is called the ablative of means.
scrībō – I write; scrībis – you (sing.) writedēlineō – I draw; dēlineās – you (sing.) draw
calamus (m.) – pen; calamō – with a pengraphium (n.) – pencil; graphiō – with a pencilcērula (f.) – crayon; cērulā – with a crayoncrēta (f.) – chalk; crētā – with chalk
charta (f.) – paper; in chartā – on paper
Lesson Plan
Warm up by singing “Caput, Um'rī, Crūs et Pēs.”
Gather examples of the classroom items above, or, if necessary, pictures of them. Begin by holding up a pen.
Say... Do...Ecce calamus.[KAH-lah-mooss]Here is pen.
Write the word on the board and have the students repeat it. Now write with the pen on a piece of paper.
Quid faciō? Scrībō. Scrībō.[FAH-kee-oh...SKREE-boh]What am I doing? I'm writing.
As you repeat the word, mime writing in the air. Then write the word on the board.
Et ubi scrībō? In chartā scrībō.[KAR-tah]And where am I writing? I'm writing on paper.
Hold up the piece of paper.
Ecce charta.Here is paper.
Write the word on the board. Then write on the paper again.
In chartā scrībō.I'm writing on the paper.
Now hold up the pen.
In chartā calamō scrībō.[KAH-lah-moh]I'm writing on the paper with a pen.
Draw an arrow (→) after the word calamus and add the form calamō. Then write the whole sentence on the board: In chartā calamō scrībō. The students probably will not yet understand; don't worry! Now pick up a pencil.
Ecce graphium. [GRAH-fee-oom]Here is a pencil.
Write the word on the board. Then write on the paper with the pencil.
Quid faciō? Scrībō.What am I doing? I'm writing.
Point to the word scrībō on the board.
In chartā...On the paper...
Pick up the paper...
Scrībō.I'm writing.
Mime writing.
In chartā graphiō scrībō.[GRAH-fee-oh]I'm writing on the paper with a pencil.
Write this sentence directly under In chartā calamō scrībō. Now pick up the crayon.
Ecce cērula.[KAY-roo-lah]Here is a crayon.
Write the word on the board. Then use the crayon to write on the paper.
Quid faciō?What am I doing?
Student: Scrībō. The correct answer is Scrībis (you are writing), but accept this form for now.
Scrībō. In chartā scrībō. In chartā cērulā scrībō.I'm writing. I'm writing on the paper. I'm writing on the paper with a crayon.
Write the last sentence on the board underneath the previous two. Then pick up the chalk.
Ecce crēta.[KRAY-tah]Here is chalk.
Write the word on the board. Then write on the paper with the chalk.
Quid faciō?What am I doing?
Student: Scrībō. (Accept this.)
Scrībō. In chartā scrībō. In chartā crētā scrībō.I'm writing. I'm writing on the paper. I'm writing on the paper with chalk.
Write the last sentence on the board underneath the previous three. Now using the chalk, draw a picture on the board. It can be anything: a house with a tree and sun, for example.
Quid faciō? Dēlineō.[day-LEE-nee-oh]What am I doing? I'm drawing.
Write the word dēlineō on the board.
Crētā dēlineō.I'm drawing with chalk.
Now switch to paper and pen.
Calamō dēlineō...I'm drawing with a pen...
Now switch to paper and pencil.
Graphiō dēlineō...I'm drawing with a pencil...
And finally to the crayon.
Cērulā dēlineō. Now call a student to the board.
I'm drawing with a crayon.
Discipula, dēlineā![day-LEE-nay-ah]Student, draw!
Gesture to indicate that the student should draw. While she is drawing, ask:
Quid facis?What are you doing?
Student: Dēlineō.
Bene. Dēlineās.Good. What are you doing?
Write this form on the board. Then point to the chalk.
Et quid est?And what is it?
Student: Crēta est.
Bene. Crētā dēlineās.Good. You're drawing with chalk.
Now call on another student.
Discipule, quid facit?Student, what is she doing?
Point to the student who is drawing.
Quid facit?What is she doing?
Student: ??
Discipula dēlineat.[day-LEE-nah-aht]The student is drawing.
Have the students repeat this sentence: Discipula dēlineat. Now point to the chalk.
Discipula crētā dēlineat.The student is drawing with chalk.
Have the students repeat. Let the first student take a seat, and call another up. Give this student a piece of paper and a pencil.
Discipule, scrībe![SKREE-bay]Student, write!
Gesture to the student to write.
Bene. Quid facis?Good. What are you doing?
Student:??
Dēlineās? Nōn dēlineās. Scrībis. Dīc: Scrībō.Are you drawing? You're not drawing. You're writing. Say: I'm writing.
Student: Scrībō.
Crētā scrībis?Are you writing with chalk?
Point to the chalk and then to the pencil, then repeat:
Crētā scrībis? Nōn crētā scrībis. Graphiō scrībis.Are you writing with chalk? You're not writing with chalk. You're writing with a pencil.
Call on another student.
Quid facit discipulus?What is the student doing?
Student: Scrībit. The student may use another form, such as scrībō or scrībis. Simply correct the error verbally by repeating: Scrībit.
Crētā scrībit?Is he writing with chalk?
Student: Graphiō scrībit.
Switch to English at this point to see what the students have understood. It is all right to allow them to translate some of the sentences on the board. Explain that the new forms are ablative, the same form they used previously after habitō in.... Point out that the ablative can be used with a preposition or without, and
that without a preposition, it can mean the same as the English phrase “with a...” or “by means of a....”
Finish the lesson by having the students make vocabulary cards for the new verbs and nouns.
Lesson Fifty-Eight
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, we will expand on the ablative of means and review the parts of the body. You will be using the question Quōmodo...? (How...? By what means...?) to elicit answers in the ablative.
Quōmodo ambulās? Ambulō pedibus. – How do you walk? I walk with my feet.Quōmodo spectās? Spectō oculīs. – How do you watch? I watch with my eyes.Quōmodo auscultās? Auscultō auribus. – How do you listen? I listen with my ears.Quōmodo plaudis? Plaudō manibus. – How do you clap? I clap with my hands.Quōmodo olfacis? Olfaciō nasō. – How do you smell? I smell with my nose.Quōmodo cantās? Cantō ōre. – How do you sing? I sing with my mouth.
Lesson Plan
Warm up by reviewing the parts of the body (see Lessons Fifty-Five and Fifty-Six) using the questions Ubi est... and Ubi sunt... (Where is...?, Where are...?). Begin by writing on the board with chalk.
Say... Do...Quid faciō? Scrībō.What am I doing? I'm writing.
Hold up the chalk.
Quōmodo scrībō? Crētā scrībō.How am I writing? I'm writing with chalk.
Write these two sentences on the board. Call on a student.
Discipule, ambulā!Student, walk!
The student walks. Point to the student's feet as he walks.
Quōmodo discipulus ambulat?How is the student walking?
Point to your foot.
Pēs...Foot...
Point to the walking student's feet.
Pedibus ambulat.[PED-ee-boos]He's walking with (by means of) his feet.
Write this sentence on the board. Then repeat.
Crēta scrībō. Pedibus ambulat.I'm writing with (by means of) chalk. He's walking with (by means of ) his feet.
Student sits down. Have all of the students repeat these sentences. Now shade your eyes as if looking for something in the distance.
Quid faciō? Spectō.[SPEK-toh]What am I doing? I'm watching.
Call on a student.
Discipula, spectā![SPEK-tah]Student, watch!
Invite the student to “watch” using the same gesture.
Discipula spectat. Quōmodo spectat? Oculīs. [SPEK-taht...OH-koo-leess]The student is watching. How is she
Point to your eyes.
watching? With (by means of) her eyes.
Oculīs spectat.She is watching with her eyes.
Write the sentence on the board, and have the students repeat it. (Student sits down.) Now cup your ears.
Quid faciō? Auscultō.[ow-SKOOL-toh]What am I doing? I'm listening.
Call on a student.
Discipule, auscultā!Student, listen!
Invite the student to “listen” using the same gesture.
Discipulus auscultat. Quōmodo?[ow-SKOOL-taht]The student is listening. How (By what means)?
Pull on your ears.
Auribus auscultat.[OW-ree-boos]He's listening with (by means of) his ears.
Have the student sit down as you write this sentence on the board. Have the students repeat the sentence. Now clap your hands.
Quid faciō? Plaudō.[PLOW-doh]What am I doing? I'm clapping.
Call on a student.
Discipula, plaude![PLOW-deh]Student, clap!
Student claps.
Discipula plaudit. Quōmodo? Manibus.[MAH-nee-booss]The student is clapping. How (by what means)? With her hands.
Hold your hands up and shake them (“jazz hands”).
Manibus plaudit.She's clapping (with) her hands.
Have the student sit down. Write this sentence on the board and then have the students repeat it. Now walk around the room sniffing loudly.
Quid faciō? Olfaciō.[ohl-FAH-kee-oh]What am I doing? I'm smelling.
Pretend to smell something unpleasant, and pinch your nose.
Quōmodo? Nāsō.[NAH-soh]How? With my nose.
You can say this with your nose pinched for a funny effect!
Nāsō olfaciō.I'm smelling with my nose.
Write this on the board, and have the students repeat it. Now sing the Latin Alphabet song. Then ask:
Quid faciō? Cantō.[KAHN-toh]What am I doing? I'm singing.
Call on a student (preferably a ham!).
Discipule, cantā![KAHN-tah]Student, sing!
Student sings.
Quid facit? Cantat. Quōmodo? Point to your mouth.
Ore.[ORH-reh]What's he doing? He's singing. How (by what means)? With his mouth.
Ore cantat.He's singing with his mouth.
Have student sit down. Write the sentence on the board and have the students repeat.
Review the lesson in English, explaining that the new sentences are just like the ones from the last lesson: they express the means by which something is done. The “means” is put into the ablative case.
At the end of the lesson, you will teach a new song, “Si laetaris atque gaudes.” This is sung to the tune “If you're happy and you know it.”
Si laetaris atque gaudes, [see leye-TAH-reess aht-kway GOW-dayss]salī sic!Si laetaris atque gaudes,salī sic!Si laetaris atque gaudeset hic cantus est hilaris [eht hik KAHN-toos esst hee-LAH-rees]Si laetaris atque gaudes,salī sic!
If you're happy and rejoicingjump like this.If you're happy and rejoicingjump like this.If you're happy and rejoicingand this song is cheerfulIf you're happy and rejoicingjump like this.
Substitute the following phrases for salī sic:
plaude sic (clap hands)saltā sic (dance around)curre sic (run like this)cantā sic: “la-la-la” (sing like this: “la-la-la”)auscultā: sh-sh (listen: sh-sh)spectā sic (look around)ambulā (walk around)clamā sic: Euge! (shout like this: Hooray!)
Lesson Fifty-Nine
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, we will introduce the names of some foods and teach students how to say that they want or do not want them. In the list below, the first word is the nominative form, and the second is the accusative form. Only one form is listed for neuter nouns, as the neuter uses the same form for both the nominative and the accusative.
būbula, būbulam – beefgallīnācea, gallīnāceam – chicken, fowlporcīna, porcīnam – porkpiscatus, piscatum – fish, seafood*
panis, panem – breadcollyrae, collyrās – noodles, pastaoryza, oryzam – ricepōma (sing., pōmum) terrestre – potatoes
carōta, carōtam – carrotmaīzium – sweet cornpīsa (sing.,. pisum) – peasbrassica, brassicam – cabbage
mālum – appleariena, arienam – bananamālum aurantium – orange (lit. orange apple)persicum – peach
The following sentence may come in handy in reference to meat:
Holerarius (m.) sum. Holeraria (f.) sum. – I am a vegetarian.
The question you will be asking is Vīsne...? Do you want...? followed by the accusative case. The student response will be either volō... (I want...) or nōlō... (I don't want...), again followed by the accusative.
Prepare for the lesson by creating a tabella cibōrum – a menu. Make a handout with pictures (photos or drawings) of the food items listed above and their Latin names, including the accusative forms, where applicable.
On the board, write the question Vīsne...? and the two responses. Next to volō put a check mark and next to nōlō, an X.
You will be playing a forgetful waiter. Wear an apron over your clothes, or dress in a white top and black pants. Carry a pad of paper and a pencil with you, as well as a copy of the menu for your own reference. Seat the students at a large table, or arrange their desks into groups, as if they were at individual restaurant tables. Place a menu handout at each seat. You can even put out paper plates and plastic utensils, although
* Note that, as does English, Latin has different words for living animals and for the meat derived from them. A pig is porcus, but pork is porcīna.
experience shows that, if you do, you will also need to provide a snack at the end of class!
Lesson Plan
Begin by walking up to one table or group of students.
Say... Do...Salvēte!Hello!
Students: Salvē! Turn to one student.
Quid vīs?[weess]What do you want?
Point to the menu.
Vīsne būbulam? Piscatum?[BOO-boo-lahm...pis-KAH-toom]Do you want beef? Fish?
Point to the board and in a stage whisper, prompt the student.
Dīc: Volō...[WOH-loh...]Say: I want...
Student: Volō...būbulam.
Bene. Gallīnāceam vīs.[gah-lee-NAH-kee-ahm]Good. You want chicken.
Student: ?? May protest in English.
Quid? Gallīnāceam nōn vīs? Quid vīs?What? You don't want chicken? What do you want?
Student: Būbulam volō.
Ah. Būbulam. Ah. Beef.
Pretend to write. Turn to the next student.
Et tu? Quid vīs? Pīsa? Carōtam?[PEE-sah...kah-ROH-tahm]And you? What do you want? Peas? A carrot?
Student: ?? Point to the student's menu to show the vegetable section.
Vīsne brassicam?Do you want cabbage?
Student: Brassicam nōlō!
Ah. Brassicam.Ah. Cabbage.
Continue in this manner, “misunderstanding” each student's order so that the students must correct you using nōlō. Remember that the accusative must appear in both your questions (Vīsne... + acc.) and the students' responses (Būbulam volō).
If you have a large class, you can do this activity with only one group, and then pick students to act as waiters for small groups. Circulate around the class to make sure that students are staying on task and using the vocabulary.
Have the students use the menu handout to make vocabulary cards for themselves, either in class or as homework.
Lesson Sixty
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, we will continue to teach food vocabulary. In addition, we will introduce the verb mālō, which means “I prefer.” The question used to elicit this response is Quid māvīs, X aut Y? (What do you prefer, X or Y?). In this instance, X and Y will be food items in the accusative case.
caffea, caffeam – coffee thea, theam – tea
placenta, placentam – cake crūstulum – cookie
Two other important vocabulary items for this lesson are quaesō (please, literally: I beg) and gratiās tibi agō (I thank you).
For this lesson, you will play the part of a barista in a neighborhood café. The café has a very limited menu: two drinks and two desserts. To prepare, create a menu board by drawing or posting pictures of the available food choices with their Latin names (including the accusative forms, where necessary). Also write the question Māvīs X aut Y? and the response mālō... as prompts for the students.
Stand behind a desk or table and have the students line up to place their orders. You can use props such as paper cups, or cards with drawings of the food items on them. Begin by waiting on the first student in line.
Say... Do...Salvē, quid vīs, quaesō?[KWEYE-soh]Hello, what do you want, please?
Point to the menu board.
Māvīs caffeam aut theam?[MAH-weess KAF-fay-ahm owt TAY-ahm?]Do you prefer coffee or tea?
Hold both hands out to the sides, as if offering the two choices. If necessary, repeat the question and prompt the student in a stage whisper:
Dīc: Mālō...[MAH-loh]Say: I prefer...
Student: Mālō theam.
Māvīs placentam aut crūstulum?[plah-KEN-tahm owt KROOS-too-loom]Do you prefer cake or a cookie?
Student: Mālō placentam.
Bene. Gratiās tibi agō![GRAH-tee-ahss TEE-bee AH-goh]Good. Thank you!
Hand the props, cards, or “invisible” food to the student. Now greet the next student and repeat the dialog above.
When all of the students have had a chance to place an order, take a moment to explain the use of mālō in English. Then have the students pair off and practice giving and taking food orders. Finally, ask the students to make vocabulary cards for today's new words.
Lesson Sixty-One
Quid Novī?
In this lesson, students will learn to talk about their preferred leisure activities. Many answers to this question will include the verb lūdere, to play, plus an activity in the ablative.
Amō... lūdere – I like to play...
basipilā [bah-SEE-pee-lah] – baseballcorbifolle [kor-bee-FOH-leh] – basketballpedifolle [ped-ee-FOH-leh] – soccerpedifolle mōre Americānō [ped-ee-FOH-leh MOH-reh ah-may-ree-KAH-noh] – American footballhocceiō [hok-KAY-oh] – hockeycartulīs [KAR-too-leess] – cardsscacīs [SKAH-keess] – chesslatrunculīs [lah-TRUN-koo-leess] – checkers
Similarly, the verb vehī, to ride, also takes the ablative.*
Amō...vehī [AH-moh WAY-hee] – I like to ride...
birotā [bee-ROH-tah] – a bikeequō [EH-kwoh] - horse
To prepare for this lesson, write the model sentences Amō...lūdere and Amō...vehī on the board, and draw or display pictures of the activities above with their Latin names. The class will be playing Mīmus (literally, “Mime”) – Latin charades.
Lesson Plan
Explain the rules in English: Each student gets a chance to act out one of the phrases on the board. When guessing, the other students must use a complete sentence: Amō basipilā lūdere. The student who guesses correctly becomes the “mime” for the next round. If you are teaching one student, take turns being the “mime.”
You can expand the game by allowing students to respond with other activities they have previously learned: Amō natāre (I like to swim), for example, or dēlineāre (to draw), or saltāre (to dance).
Remember to have students make vocabulary cards for the new words and phrases.
* The verb vehī is a present passive infinitive, meaning “to be borne along,” or “to be transported.” Because it is passive, its form is different from the other infinitives we've seen.
Lesson Sixty-Two
Quid Novī?
In this lesson we will introduce an impersonal verb, licet, which means “it is permissible/allowed [to do something].” Licet is related to our English words licit and illicit. This phrase allows students to ask permission to do something: Mihi licet...? (“May I...?”).
Licet is like tempus est: it requires an infinitive to complete its meaning. The answers will take the form of licet + infinitive (it is permitted to...) or nōn licet + infinitive (it is not permitted to...).
Lesson Plan
Warm up by singing “Si laetaris atque gaudes” (see Lesson Fifty-Eight).
Today the class will be playing the game Mihi licet?, better known in English as “Mother, May I?”
Explain the rules of the game in English. To begin, the teacher is māter (Mother) and stands on one side of the room. The students are the children, and stand at the other end in a line facing Mother. Mother calls out a student's name and then gives a command (use any of the commands from Simon Dīcit, plus the leisure time activities from the last lesson). The student must ask Mihi licet? and Mother answers either Tibi licet (Yes, you may) or Tibi nōn licet (No, you may not). Then the student may perform the action while Mother counts to three (ūnus, duo, trēs). If the student does not ask permission, or performs the wrong action, he or she must go back to the starting line. The first person to reach Mother becomes the new Mother and the game starts over.
Lessons Sixty-Three and Sixty-Four
Quid Novī?
You will now have reached the end of your school year or semester, and for the last two lessons, you will be playing a variety of games to review what the class has learned. Choose two or three of the following games for each class period. If possible, have students lead the games themselves while you supervise.
Simon Dīcit – Simon Says
Mihi Licet? – Mother, May I?
Carnifex – Hangman
Plūs Plūsque – I'm Going on a Picnic
Mimus - Charades
Quid deest? – What's Missing?
Lay out two or three cards that make a set (e.g., mother, father, brother) and ask what is missing (sister). Students should not only name the missing item, but give the Latin words for all the items in the set. For a greater challenge, play this game verbally, without reference to cards.
Videō aliquid... – I Spy
Choose one person to be “it.” It finds something in the room of a particular color and says Videō aliquid [WEE-day-oh AH-lee-kwid] plus the color (in the neuter). The other players take turns guessing what the item is. Be sure to remind the students to stick to items they know the words for. Clothing and food words are best for this game.
Quōmodo scribitur? – Latin Spelling Bee
All players begin standing up. The teacher or game leader gives Latin words to each player to spell. If the player spells the word correctly, he remains standing; if not, he sits down. The last player standing wins.
Latin Math Rally
Students solve math problems written in Roman numerals.
Flash Card War
Begin with a deck of vocabulary cards, picture side up. The student who calls out the correct Latin word or phrase first wins the card. The person with the most cards at the end of the game wins.
Descriptiō
This is a quiet game. Give students pictures of people and ask them to write a description in Latin. Is the person a man, woman, boy, or girl? What is the person wearing? Does the person have other items (pet,
food...)? What is the person doing?
Weather Forecast
One or more students write and deliver a weather forecast. If possible, video the performance!
Bingo
Create bingo cards with pictures. Call out words; students place a token on the corresponding picture. The first student to get five in a row and call out “bingo!” wins.
Percontator (Percontatrix) – Interviewer
Students interview each other about their families, pets, favorite activities, foods, etc., then report on what they have learned.
Saccus Musicus – The Musical Bag
Place picture cards in bag. Students sit or stand in a circle. Play music as the students pass the bag around the circle. Whoever is holding the bag when the music stops must pull out a card and give the correct Latin word. If the person succeeds, play continues. If the person fails, he leaves the circle and play continues until only one player is left.
Pictionary
Divide students into teams. One player draws a Latin word from a hat. She must draw a picture while her team mates try to guess the word within 60 seconds. If they succeed, the team gets a point. If they fail, the other team gets one chance to guess correctly and gain the point for themselves. Teams alternate until everyone has had a chance to draw. The team with the most points wins.
Jeopardy
Divide the students into teams. Make labels for various categories - family, food, pets, clothing, colors, etc. - and place five picture cards (no words) face down under each category. Give each row a value: I, II, III, IV, V. Teams take turns requesting cards (“Pets for IV”). In order to win the points, the team must give the correct Latin word in question form: Quis est māter? Quid est canis? The team with the most points wins.
Latin-English Glossary
acta: seashoread: to, towardaestās: summeraestāte: in summertimeage: come on!albus, alba, album: whiteambulā, ambulāte: walk!amīca: friend (f.), girlfriendamicatorium: scarf, wrapamīcus: friend (m.), boyfriendamita: paternal auntamō: I love, I like Aprīlis: Aprilarcisellium: armchairariena: bananaarmārium: dresser, bureauāter, ātra, ātrum: blackAugustus: Augustaurantius, aurantia, aurantium: orangeauris: earauscultāre: to listenaut: orautumnō: in autumnautumnus: autumnavia: grandmotheravis: birdavunculus: maternal uncleavus: grandfatherbalneōlum: bathroombasipila: baseball (game)bene: good (lit. well)birotā: on a bicyclebrācae: pants, trousersbracchium: armbrassica: cabbagebreviōrēs brācae: shortsbūbula: beefcaelum: sky, heaven, weathercaeruleus, caerulea, caeruleum: bluecaffea: coffeecalamus: pencalceī gymnicī: athletic shoes, sneakerscalceī: shoescalendarium: calendar calidum: hot (weather)caligae: bootscanis: dogcantāre: to sing
capillus: haircaput: headcarōta: carrotcartulīs lūdere: to play cardscasa: cottagecenaculum: dining roomcēnāre: to dine, to eat dinnercentum: one hundredcērula: crayoncharta: papercirculus: circlecito: quicklycollyrae: noodles, pastacolor: colorcōnsīdō (cōnsīde, cōnsīdite, etc.): I sit downcōnsōbrīna: maternal cousin (f.)cōnsōbrīnus: maternal cousin (m.)corbifolle: basketballcrās: tomorrowcrēta: chalkcrūs: legcrūstulum: cookiecubiculum: room, bedroomculīna: kitchencunīculus: rabbitcurre, currite: run!decem: tenDecember: Decemberdēlineō: I drawdentēs: teethdīc, dīcite: say! dīcit: saysdiēs Iovis: Thursdaydiēs Lūnae: Mondaydiēs Mārtis: Tuesdaydiēs Mercuriī: Wednesdaydiēs Sāturnī: Saturdaydiēs Sōlis: Sundaydiēs Veneris: Fridaydigitālia: glovesdiscipula: student, pupil (f.)discipulus: student, pupil (m.)domus (f.): homedormītum īre: to go to sleepduo, duae: twoduodecim: twelveduodēvīgintī: eighteenecce: behold, here is...
ego: Ieī: his/her (lit. to him/her)eius: his/her (lit. of him/her)elephantus: elephanteō (ī, ite, etc.): I goequō: on a horseerat: (he/she/it) waserit: (he/she/it) will bees: you are (sing.)est: (he/she/it) iset: andfābula: storyfamilia: familyFebruārius: Februaryfēlis: cat fēmina: womanfīlia frātris: neice (lit. brother's daughter)fīlia sorōris: neice (lit. sister's daughter)fīlia ūnica: only child (f.)fīlius frātris: nephew (lit. brother's son)fīlius sorōris: nephew (lit. sister's son)fīlius ūnicus: only child (m.)flāvus, flāva, flāvum: yellowfoculum: stovefolia: leavesfōrma: shapefrāter: brotherfrāterculus: little brotherfrīgidārium: refrigeratorfrīgidum: cold (weather)frōns: foreheadfurnus: ovenfusōrium: kitchen sinkgallīnācea: chicken (as food)gena: cheekgerō: I weargraphium: pencilgunna: skirthabeō: I havehabēs: you have (sing.)habet: he/she/it hashabitō: I liveherī: yesterdayhic: this (m.)hieme: in wintertimehiems: winterhocceio: hockeyhodiē: todayholeraria: vegetarian (f.)holerarius: vegetarian (m.)
hortus: gardenī: see eōiacca: jacketIānuārius: Januaryientāculum: breakfastimpīlia: socksin: in, on, intoindūsium: shirtīnsula: island, apartment buildingIūlius: JulyIūnius: Junelabellum: bathroom sinklātrīna: toiletlatrunculīs lūdere: to play checkerslectulus: sofa, couchlectus: bedlegere: to readlentē: slowlylicet: is permitted, is allowedlūcent: (they) shinelucerna: light, lamplūcet: (it) shineslūdere: to playlūdus: school (elementary)lūna: moonmagister: teacher (m.)magistra: teacher (f.)magnus, magna, magnum: big, largeMāius: Maymaīzium: sweet cornmale: poorlymālō: I prefermālum aurantium: orange (fruit)mālum: applemāne: morning, in the morningmanus (f.): handMārtius: Marchmāter: mothermātertera: maternal auntmē: memediānum: living roommēnsa: tablemēnsis: monthmerīdiē: at noonmeus, mea, meum: mymihi: my (lit. to me)mille: one thousandmus: mousenartāre: to skināsus: nose
natāre: to swimnavigāre: to sail-ne: question particlenivalis: snowy (weather)nocte: at nightnōlō: I don't wantnōmen: namenōn: notnovem: nineNovember: Novembernoverca: stepmothernox: nightnūbilōsum: cloudy, overcast (weather)nunc: nowoctō: eightOctōber: Octoberoculus: eye olfaciō: to smelloptimē: great, very welloryza: riceōs: mouthōtium: leisure, free timepaenula: coatpanis: breadparvus, parva, parvum: little, smallpater: fatherpatināre: to skatepatruēlis: paternal cousin (m./f.)patruus: paternal unclespectus: chestpedifolle mōre Americānō: American footballpedifolle: soccerpēlūsia: blousepersicum: peachpēs: footpessimē: terribly, very poorlypilleus: hat, cappīsa: peaspiscatus: fish (as food), seafoodpiscis: fishplacenta: cakeplaudere: to clappluvium: rainy (weather)pōma terrestre: potatoesporcīna: porkpostmerīdiē: in the afternoonprandium: lunchprasinus, prasina, prasinum: greenprior: last, before, priorproximus: next, after, following
puella: girlpuer: boypurgāre: to cleanpurpureus, purpurea, purpureum: purplequaesō: please (lit. I beg)quāle: what kind of? (n.)quattuor: fourquattuordecim: fourteenquid: what?quīndecim: fifteenquīnque: fivequis: who?quōmodo: how? by what means? in what way?quoque: alsoquot: how many?roseus, rosea, roseum: pinkruber, rubra, rubrum: redsalī, salīte: jump!saltā, saltāte: dance!salvē, salvēte: hellosandalia: sandalssatis bene: OK, all right, good enoughscacīs lūdere: to play chessscrībō: I writesēdecim: sixteensella: chairseptem: sevenSeptember: Septemberseptendecim: seventeenserēnum: fair, fine (weather)serere: to sow, to plant (a garden)sex: sixsōl: sunsolium: bathtubsoror: sistersorōrcula: little sisterstella: starstereophōnium: stereostudēre: to studysubūcula: underwearsum: I amsūmere: to take, to eat (a meal)sunt: they are, there aresurge, surgite: rise! stand up!surgere: to get up, to risetapētum: carpet, rugtē: you (acc. sing.)tēlevīsiōrium: television setthea: teatibi: your (lit. to you)
trēdecim: thirteentrēs, tria: threetriangulum: triangletunica lānea: sweatertunīcula: T-shirttuus, tua, tuum: your (sing.)ubi: where?umerus: shoulderūndecim: elevenūndēvīgintī: nineteenūnus, ūna, ūnum: onevalē, valēte: goodbyevehī: to ride
venī, venīte: come!ventōsum: windy (weather)vēr: spring (season)vēre: in springtimevesperī: in the eveningvestiārium: closet, wardrobevestīmenta: clothingvīgintī: twentyvīlla: villa, country estatevir: manvītricus: stepfathervolō: I want
