LEAD - First Form Latin update - week 13

Today we learned how to decline 2nd declension nouns.

The students need to be sure that their notecards reflect the correct information.  On the Latin side, there should be the nominative singular, genitive singular, and the gender:

equus, equi, m 

Then on the English side - the meaning and derivatives:

horse

equine, equestrian

The students worked on declining in the 2nd declension and quickly memorized the endings.  

Homework:

• Read the text book pages 42-43
• Workbook for lesson 15: 80-83 (you may skip questions, 4, 5, and 7 on page 80 as this follows a different pronunciation guide than what we are using.)
• Make notecards for your new vocabulary words.  Find an additional derivative for the words in the vocabulary list that already list a derivative.
• Tuition for December is due next week - please also send in your $10 for the National Latin exam as these will need to be ordered before the end of December.

Eastside - First Form Latin week 11 class update

In today's class we learned how to conjugate the irregular verb sum in the perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect tenses.  It's interesting to find that the irregular verb is actually perfectly regular in the perfect system!

Homework:

• Reread the text book lesson - page 32-22
•  Practice your vocabulary by recitation - be sure you know words and sayings from each lesson.
• Add the third and fourth principal part to your "sum" note card.  You may also want to add the conjugations of each tense on separate note cards.
• Do the workbook pages for lesson 11 (page 60-63)
• Tuition for December due next week- please send in your $10 for the National Latin exam as well!

World Lit/Comp class update - week 11

Today the students presented their "Oedipus the Musical" projects.  They did a great job - very creative in their casting and musical selections!

We learned a lot of the background to The Iliad - about Helen's parents, courtship, and details leading up to the Trojan war. Then we read about the actual beginning of the Iliad - with Achilles refusing to fight due to an argument with Agamemnon. The students need to be sure to review their notes each week.

Homework:

• Continue to work on your OMG project.
• Choose a topic for your Iliad essay - it's due by noon on December 16.
• Presentation topics due next week (Ajax, Sparta, Homer, and Heinrich Schlieman)
• Grace and Ronnie - be prepared to chat about your summer reading projects

Eastside - Second and Third Form Latin update - week 11

In today's class we learned about prepositions that take the ablative case.  The students need to be sure to memorize not only the meaning of the preposition but the governing case.

In Third form Latin we learned irregular adjectives - affectionately called "The Naughty Nine" - these are irregular in the genitive and dative singular forms.

Homework:

• Re-read the text book pages 30-31; Third Form pages 34-35
• Workbook pages 50-55; Third Form - 73-77
• Notecards + derivatives
• Second Form: Write five English sentences with ablative phrases and then translate them into Latin.  (try to include personal pronouns, newer vocabulary, and have them be complex sentences that might also include genitive and dative forms)
• upcoming projects: Dec 5: Grace - Marc Anthony; Dec 5 - Caleb - Livy; Dec 12: Grant - Octavian
• Review, review, review!

LEAD First Form Latin update - week 12

Today we began a new unit and had our first taste of Latin nouns.  There are four parts to memorize (and to have a proper dictionary entry): nominative singular, genitive singular, gender, and meaning.  We spent a lot of time in class declining nouns to get used to the system and the students quickly were able to decline nouns without having to consult their books to see the endings!  We even declined nouns that they haven't learned yet because they are all done the same way.  They had fun trying to guess what the words might mean.

Homework:

• Read the text book pages 38 and 40-41
• Workbook pages for lesson 14: pages 77-79 (you may skip question 17 on page 77)
• Make note cards for your new vocabulary words + derivatives
• Upcoming presentation: Edith - Nov 30 - Roman toys, games, and entertainment
• No class next week - Happy Thanksgiving!

Eastside - First Form Latin class update - week 10

In today's lesson we learned about the future perfect tense. This is a tense that describes a future action that will happen before another future action.

"By the end of the day, I will have eaten my weight in snickers bars."

The key to future perfect tense is the helping verb pair "will have."

Homework:

1. Read the text book pages 30-31
2. Workbook for lesson 10: 55-59
3. Add the vocabulary words to your note cards + derivatives
4. Presentation - Esther - Nov 28 - Roman Baths

World Lit Class update - week 10

Today we talked about one of my biggest grammar pet peeves - using adjectives instead of adverbs to describe a verb - like "look at things different."  The SAT words of the day that we examined all had to do with speaking: rhetorical, bombastic, colloquial, digressive, and loquacious.  After the first of the year, we will have a very short weekly quiz on vocabulary.

We began by reviewing a bit about Greek theatre and "Oedipus Rex" and talked about why the Greeks enjoyed such tragic tales. 

We then began our unit on "The Iliad and the Odyssey" reading about the apple the started it all in the "The Judgement of Paris."

Homework:
1. Be sure to have finished reading the text book pages about "The Iliad."
2. Finish working on the Oedipus project - it's due in class on November 28.
3. Keep working on your OMG project - bring one completed card to class with you on November 28.
4. We will have a quiz on what we've covered so far on December 5.

Second and Third Form Latin - week 10 update

In today's Second Form Lesson lesson we continued our work with pronouns - this week focusing on possessive adjectives. These pronouns are possessive by definition rather than by case.

In Third form, we continued our review of vocabulary focusing on adjectives.  We also discussed the common occurrence in Latin of using adjectives as nouns. 

Homework:

1. Re-read the text book pages 30-31; Third Form pages 32-33
2. Workbook pages 50-55; Third Form - pages 60-66
3. Notecards + derivatives
4. Review, review, review!
5. Upcoming projects: Nov 28 - Caleb - Livy; Nov 28 - Carson - Pliny; Dec 5 - Grace - Marc Anthony; Dec 12 - Grant - Octavian

LEAD - First Form Latin update - week 11

In today's class we reviewed unit II - working on vocabulary plus the perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect tenses.  The students worked on writing a synopsis for each verb.

Homework:

• Practice your vocabulary by recitation (be sure you know ALL the vocabulary - not just the words from this unit - don't forget about the adverbs!).
• Do the workbook pages for lessons 12 and 13 (pages 64-74)
• Complete the take home test that you received in class after you have studied.  It should be completed without assistance/books/notes. 
• Presentations: Nov 30 - Edith - Roman games, toys, and entertainment

World Lit class update - week 9

After reviewing a bit about Greek theatre, we read "Oedipus Rex" and talked about why the Greeks enjoyed such tragic tales.  The students have been assigned a short project - they are to cast "Oedipus! the Musical" as well as come up with a score and create a publicity poster.  This is due on November 28.

Next week will began our unit on "The Iliad and the Odyssey" reading about the apple the started it all in the "The Judgement of Paris."

Homework:
1. Hero essays are due Wednesday, November 9 at noon. 
2. Start working on the Oedipus project.
3. Keep working on your OMG project.
4. Read the Iliad in your text book - pages 31-75 

Eastside - First Form Latin update - week 9

Note: Tuition is due the first Thursday of every month.

Our grammar lesson today focused on the pluperfect tense.  This tense refers to actions in the past that happened before another action in the past.  For example: I had eaten my snack before my friend arrived.  The key marker of pluperfect in English is the helping verb "had."

Homework:
1. Re-read the text book lessons - pages 28-29
2. Practice your vocabulary by recitation.  Make sure you not only know this week's vocabulary - but all previous weeks!
3. Create notecards for each new vocabulary word + derivatives
4.  Do the workbook pages for Lesson 9 (pages 50-54)
5. Project presentations: Benjamin and Sam - Roman architecture - due November 14; Esther - Roman baths - November 28

Second and Third Form Latin update - week 9

In today's class we reviewed the eight different types of pronouns - and then learned how decline the second person personal pronoun.  We also discussed how pronouns refer to or take the place of the antecedent and the need to be careful when using pronouns in writing so that the meaning is clear.

In Third form Latin we continued our review of nouns - focusing on 3rd, 4th, and 5th declension.  Again, mastery is key!  If there is any hesitation in the review of meanings, do make note cards to study those words a little more.  We also discussed indeclinable nouns and appositives.

Homework:
1. Re read the text book pages: 28-29; Third Form- pages 30-31
2. Workbook pages 46-49; Third Form - pages 60-66
3. Notecards + derivatives
4. Review, review, review!
5. Third Form - write a sentence in English and translate into Latin using an appositive. 
6. upcoming presentations: Nov 14 - Maya - Nero; Nov 28 - Carson - Pliny; Nov 28 - Caleb - Livy; Dec 5 - Grace - Marc Anthony; Dec 12 - Grant - Octavian

LEAD - First Form Latin update - week 10

In today's class we learned how to conjugate the irregular verb sum in the perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect tenses.  It's interesting to find that the irregular verb is actually perfectly regular in the perfect system!

Homework:

• Reread the text book lesson - page 32-33
•  Practice your vocabulary by recitation - be sure you know words and sayings from each lesson.
• Add the third and fourth principal part to your "sum" note card.  You may also want to add the conjugations of each tense on separate note cards.
• Do the workbook pages for lesson 11 (page 60-63)
• Presentations: Nov 9 - Harriet - Roman Architecture; Nov 30 - Edith - Roman games, toys, and entertainment.