Combining Wheelock’s & LLPSI: Weeks 4-6
Overview of Content Covered:
In these past three (oops, tempus fugit) weeks, we followed LLPSI Cap. IV through VI: vocative, imperative, ablative, prepositions, locative, and present passive, 3rd person. I added the other persons of the present passive and the imperfect in all persons (mostly active, with a short introduction to the passive). I gave them the option to look at the grammar in Wheelock’s for these topics. These chapters also include an introduction to Roman villas and roads, which I used along with some of my own graphics and an activity with ORBIS to show students these aspects of Roman culture.
Parts of Class/Activities in the Past Three Weeks:
These are in rough order of how they might appear in a class, although we did not do each of these activities every day. For activities already explained in my previous post, I will only write updates about my observations or use of the activity in the past three weeks.
Homework Review: I’ve found that some of the exercises in the Nova Exercitia book unnecessarily confuse students, so I’ve been selective about which exercises I choose. I have also started assigning short videos/podcasts to listen to, which we discuss for a few minutes at the beginning of class. I usually pick something that allows them to give a response (e.g. I asked them to listen to the LAC colloquium facile on Pokémon, and while discussing in class I asked each of them their favorite Pokémon).
Locutiones/similar spoken activity: I have continued to ask students ut vales/valetis, and they are able to answer without looking at the vocab. Often they just say bene valeo, or fessus/a sum, with the occasional esurio or iratus/a sum. I may cue them by asking a question using a different term or asking cur? in response to iratus sum or a similar phrase. This is a nice way to set the tone for the rest of the class.
OWAT (one word at a time): I have continued to use this activity about once a week and have noticed that a. students haven’t gotten bored yet, and b. they move through the activity more quickly and are able to produce more complex stories.
Reading out loud: while reading, I have noticed that pronunciation has improved, even though I have done close to zero correction unless asked.
Circling: I have found that slides are more effective for this activity, as it allows all of us to focus our attention in the same place instead of looking down at our individual books. Because of this, it is easier for me to make eye contact with students to gauge engagement, comprehension, etc.
Translation: I have added in a bit more translation into our class sessions, as it is one of the requirements for my university’s program. I have made it clear to them that I will correct them because of this requirement, but have tried to create a low-stress environment by a. doing pre-reading activities beforehand, b. always reading the Latin out loud before translating, and answering any questions, c. while translating, letting them finish their sentence before adding corrections (not interrupting immediately if they translate a word incorrectly), and d. re-inforcing understanding with a post-reading activity.
Grammar explanation: I have spent longer on this in the past few weeks as we have begun to add in more forms. I have continued, however, to introduce new forms in the context of a story before explaining grammar explicitly. I have tried grammar explanation in both Latin and English, and have noticed that some students respond a bit better to one or the other, but that in general, there is little difference in understanding. What has helped the most, in either Latin or English explanation, is putting the forms into context, i.e. creating sentences which use the forms.
Vocab practice game: I’m sure this game has a more formal name I’m not aware of (thanks to SALVI for introducing it to me). In this game, I split the class into two groups. One student from each group comes to the front of the room and faces toward the class. I show the remaining students a vocab word, which each student draws on a small whiteboard. After about 15 seconds I count down and ask them to show their boards. The two students in front then guess based on all the drawings, and the first to guess correctly gets a point. The students get really into the competitive aspect of the game and have requested the activity multiple times.
Quizzes: Quizzes have gone well so far; students usually score in the 90s-100 range. I have kept reading and comprehension questions on all quizzes, but added translation (usually two sentences from the reading I’ve given them). There has been a small dip in translation accuracy as we’ve progressed, especially with passive forms. I suspect this is due to a their limited exposure to the forms in context, and will improve as we see passives more often.
What worked:
Incorporating imperfects at this stage. I was worried about adding another tense, but the reality is that it has allowed me to include activities using the imperfect more naturally. We’ve read a few stories in the imperfect, and did one activity where I asked students about their childhood hobbies, interests, where they lived as a kid, etc. Through activities like these, we’ve all learned more about each other—while using the imperfect in a fun, un-forced way.
Continuing to use PQA (personal question & answer) during circling and PQA-based activities has increased class comraderie. They enjoy learning about each other and sharing about themselves in Latin. Students have become even more comfortable, often chatting before class begins and refering to class inside jokes during activities.
What didn’t:
I still struggle with how to include translation. When we translate, students tend to lose energy and interest. They are still willing to participate, but I can tell it is less engaging than the other parts of the class, where they are often smiling, laughing, and eager to answer questions.
While most students are following the grammar progression well, a few are struggling to translate and/or produce forms accurately as we’ve added more. Translation and production will come with time. But since we are so short on time, I am concerned that adding more grammar in subsequent weeks will create a snowball effect and students will become overwhelmed. I’m not sure there’s an easy solution to this in a college classroom where the basics of Latin grammar must be taught in 2 semesters.
Prep Time:
Because I have added all persons and the imperfect tense (which do not appear at this point in LLPSI), I have spent more time creating materials than I did in the first three weeks. For the most part, I have adapted LLPSI stories to cut down on prep time, and to make sure I am giving students reading with familiar vocab and context, but occasionally I do create a completely new story using the forms I am trying to introduce/practice.
General Observations:
I am still quite impressed by the students’ level of comprehension and the speed at which they are learning. As stories have become more complicated and as I have added new idioms into my speech, students have kept up and comprehension levels have remained high. I can tell this by the way they respond to instructions, gasp or laugh at a joke, and answer questions I ask.
I can also tell by the way they read. They are not decoding—they are reading sentences at sight and understanding their basic meaning. Does this mean that sometimes students get the basics of a sentence, but skip over one word? Absoltutely. Does this mean that sometimes they translate a passive as an active, or mistake a singular for a plural? Yep. Am I okay with that? Also yep. My goal is for them to enjoy reading, and actually be reading, while understanding what they’re reading. And sometimes while reading, you skip over the details. That doesn’t mean I don’t value accuracy, or that my students don’t know what a genitive is. But simply that when we shift the model for performance from 100% accuracy in translation to 85-90% accuracy in translation and 10x the reading enjoyment, students have a more intuitive feel for the language, enjoy class more, and become less anxious about receiving correction. This is a trade-off I’m personally willing to make because I think it creates, in the long term, a. more proficient Latin readers, and b. happier humans.
