I hope everyone is having a good Columbus/Indigenous Peoples’ Day vacation. Recently Deborah Steiner, teaching her Augustan Poetry class, spoke about Aeneas as an immigrant to Italy. What was the message Vergil sent by his language of Aeneas as externus interacting with the indigeni? What is the significance in the diverse and soon-to-be imperial capital of Rome in the first century BCE? This comes to mind as I think of Columbus landing in America.
What also comes to mind is a text that Shelly McCormick-Lane elevated in importance in my eyes when she said (and I paraphrase), “this may be the only Latin text that our students can directly relate to. They think it’s so cool to see part of their own history and recent history at that in Latin!” Epistola de insulis nuper repertis A highly recommended read for your kiddies – I’ve used it as an unseen passage before, the kids are motivated to actually understand it and thus their translations are improved!
Previously I posted about ACTFL standards for all foreign languages. Latin + Understanding by Design While these guidelines are invaluable, there exist a set tailored for the Latin and ancient Greek classroom:
Standards for Classical Language Learning
| Goal | Standard | ACTFL Standards (not in the original chart and organized by similar theme by me, see earlier citation) | ||
| 1. | Communication | 1.1 | Students read, understand, and interpret Latin or Greek | 1.2 Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics. |
| Communicate in a classical language | 1.2 | Students use orally, listen to, and write Latin or Greek as a part of the language learning process | 1.1 Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions [in the target language]. 1.3 Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics. | |
| 2. | Culture | 2.1 | Students demonstrate an understanding of the perspectives of Greek or Roman culture as revealed in the practices of the Greeks or Romans | 2.1 Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the culture studied. |
| Gain knowledge and understanding of Greco-Roman culture | 2.2 | Students demonstrate an understanding of the perspectives of Greek or Roman culture as revealed in the products of the Greeks or Romans | 2.2 Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and perspectives of the culture studied. | |
| 3. | Connections | 3.1 | Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through their student of classical languages | 3.1 Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language. |
| Connect with other disciplines and expand knowledge | 3.2 | Students expand their knowledge through the reading of Latin or Greek and the study of ancient culture | 3.2 Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures. | |
| 4. | Comparisons | 4.1 | Students recognize and use elements of the Latin or Greek language to increase knowledge of their own language | 4.1 Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studies and their own. |
| Develop insight into own language and culture | 4.2 | Students compare and contrast their own culture with that of the Greco-Roman world | 4.2 Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studies and their own. | |
| 5. | Communities | 5.1 | Students use their knowledge of Greek or Latin in a multilingual world | 5.2 Students show evidence of becoming life-long learners by using the language for personal enjoyment and enrichment. |
| Participate in wider communities of language and culture | 5.2 | Students use their knowledge of Greco-Roman culture in a world of diverse cultures | 5.1 Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting. |
I found this chart on page xiii of When Dead Tongues Speak: Teaching Beginning Greek and Latin edited by John Gruber-Miller and published by the APA in 2006. I highly recommend this book to any teacher as it was recommended to me by Meghan Zepsa. It will definitely get your brain juices flowing! I won’t go into my thoughts on the standards here but will save them for future posts. Feel free, though, to share your thoughts and reactions in the comments below!
The purpose of this post is to share a planning sheet for Understanding by Design specifically for the Latin classroom:
Here are the links to download the files. They are all based on the worksheet created by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe in Understanding by Design 2nd ed. The .pdf documents are not editable, but you can easily print them out. The .doc files are editable on your computer, if you have Microsoft Word.
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