O rly?

Wrath of the Titans?  Did they not clash enough last time?

Why I prefer hard-copy

A Latin 3 student has been trying to email the same set of documents to me for THREE WEEKS now.  He finally got it sent to me, at the right email address, the right file type, et al...  And do you know what?  I quote:"Attachment Removed - An attachment was removed from this e-mail message because the attachment was determined to pose a possible security risk."

That is why I prefer hard-copy.

13 December, 2011

Latin 1

Ager, agri-m--Field

Agricola, agricolae-m--Farmer

Ambulo, ambulare--To walk

Amo, amare--To like or love

Latin 2

Dolor, doloris-m--Pain

Donum, doni-n--Gift

Ardeo, ardēre--To burn

Capio, capere--To grab

Latin 3

Read 9.2 and brace yourself for the above...

Progress reports

I handed out progress reports today. 
1.  Make sure that your progress report is signed by a parent and returned OR an email from a parent by 9 December for a homework grade.
2.  If there are missing assignments on your progress report...  Get them to me.  Now.
3.  If you did not get the grade that you wanted on the first two quizzes...  Correct them and get them to me.  Now. 

Homework, week of 14-18 Nov.

Latin 1--Easy.  Vocab.  Vocabulary for Monday evening, vocabulary for Tuesday evening, vocabulary...  Well, you get the point.

Latin 2--Cicero questions for chapters 7 and 8 are due Friday.  

Latin 3---Read.  

•Monday—6.1 and 6.2

•Tuesday—6.3 and 6.4

•Wednesday—6.5

•Thursday—6.6

AND!  There's the Hercules reading too. 

Threekend!

Enjoy your three-day weekend and thank a vet. 

If you want to get ahead a little bit, there is something each class can do:
Latin 1--We began the illustrated vocab sheets, did you finish?  Probably not. 
Latin 2--Cicero, chapter 7 and 8 questions are due a week from Friday (18th Nov)
Latin 3--Cannae, chapter 6 and the Hercules handout for next week

Remember, an hour (or even half) this Friday can save you some time and stress next week.

Homework for 9 November

Latin 1--Vocab, vocab and did I mention vocab?
Latin 2--Cicero, Cicero and did I mention Cicero?  As promised, the questions:

•      Where did Cicero spend his exile, why there and what did he do while in exile?

•      Why did Clodius oppose Cicero and what actions did he take to try and prevent Cicero’s return?

•      How do Cicero and Quintus ingratiate themselves to Caesar?

•      How does Everitt describe the gladiatorial games and what was Cicero’s reaction?

•      What happened to Clodius and how was Milo involved?

•      Why was Tiro important to Cicero?

•      Based on the summaries of De re publica and De legibus, what can we extrapolate about Cicero’s core beliefs?  

Latin 3--Hannibalbalbalbal.  Aka, Ghosts of Cannae.

Homework for 7 November

Latin 1 and 3--You got your quizzes back today, notice what you did wrong?  Quiz corrections need to be back to me as soon as possible. 

Latin 3--Canne readings for this week are as follows:
Monday--5.1 and 5.2
Tuesday--5.3
Wednesday--5.4
Thursday--5.5

Latin 2--Cicero!  Begin chapter 7

Homework for the week of 31 October to 4 November

Yes, that's right...  The WEEK of. 

Latin 1, 2 and 3--On Monday we covered the Lemuria and your task was to design your own Roman-style tomb.
Latin 2--Cicero, chapter 6
Latin 3--Cannae, chapter 4

Latin 1 had to make sure that their exercises from today were done for tomorrow. 

Quizzes Friday!  >:)

Homework for 5 October and a gripe

I'm lonely.  It's a quarter past three and there's no one in my room for tutoring.  Seriously, am I conflicting with too many other teachers?  Do I need to assign lunch tutoring?!  Teeeelllll meeee!

Latin 1--Study your noun and verb forms.  Keep them separate. 
Latin 2--You're almost done with chapter 3, right?
Latin 3--Read 2.4 and review Roman military/political structures

Homework for 26 September

Latin 1--All seven forms for "Bramare."
Latin 2--Begin chapter 2 in Cicero
Latin 3--Chapter 1.4 in Cannaes

Out again... Tomorrow too

You will all get a copy of the following tomorrow:

As a general rule, I try not to give a student the weekly quiz if he or she has been out more than a couple days in the week.  This is especially true if said student has been out towards the end of the week and cannot make up all the information and practice with tutoring.  So, what happens when the teacher is out for three days with pink eye and comes back on the day of the quiz and no one has had a chance to go over the exercises he assigned and OH MY GOSH, I DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO THIS!

Solution: Scrub the quiz for this week and have a 20 point quiz next week.  This is true for all sections of Latin as well as Geography/World Religions.

For Thursday…

Latin 1—In preparation for the seminar on Friday, read the attached news stories.  Think about the relationships between money, identity, science and any other symbioses you might brainstorm.  Please review your vocabulary.

Latin 2—Read the handouts for the Latin 1s, why not?  You might find something interesting in there (but I won’t require it…  Unless I’m really mean and make up some extra credit questions.  Just sayin’).  If you have not finished reading chapter 1 of Cicero, do so.  We will discuss the preface, introduction and first chapter Friday.

Latin 3—Read through 1.4 and be prepared to discuss O’Connell’s theses (note the plural ladies and gentlemen).  Also, begin thinking about what the Romans valued and idealized.  Remember back to that scene in Gladiator when Commodus talks about virtue to his father, Marcus Aurelius? 

Geography—I will take a look at your timelines (you finished those, right?) and I would like you to read the attached news articles.  What impact do you think geography has on money?

If any of you would like a head start on these articles (and the pretty pretty pictures in full color), the first one is here and the second one is here.  

Out sick, homework for 20 September (and maybe 21st too...)

Ok, whoever poked me in the eye with the pink stick has a lot to answer for.  I am stuck at home, feel fine (except for my eye) and I'm annoyed.  I can teach!  I can doooo it!  Put me in Coach, I'm just hurting! 

Doc says no.  At least, not today.

Anyway, Latin 1 should just be looking over their vocabulary tonight...  As you did last night I assume.  Latin 2 has some reading; you've read the preface and intro, now we need to move on to chapter 1.  It's mostly background information, but still very necessary (especially the parts about Roman government).  Latin 3 is also reading.  Yay Cannes. 

Homework for 12 September

Latin 1
Take the noun "montana, ae" and give all of its singular forms.

Latin 2
STUDY VERB FORMS

Latin 3
Study the imperfect of "esse"

Homework for 7 September

Latin 1 just needs to study vocab and notes, Latin 2 and 3 however...  Need to make sure that they read this article about surprise attacks in history and think about the meaning of surprise attacks from the Trojan Horse to 9/11.

Extra credit and homework for 30 August

First, homework:
Latin 1--Review your timeline and notes; put them into an order that makes sense to you.
Latin 2--What do you think Catullus should do?
Latin 3--Finish reading the chapter and prepare to discuss tomorrow.

And now for extra credit examples.  Here's what I DO NOT WANT.  Please don't print out a Wikipedia (or like) entry; sure, this is about some cool Latin poetry...  But it's not what I want.  Instead, dig a little bit deeper and find recent articles related to recent events, such as this one about preserving ancient cities in Libya from looting during the rebellion that's going on.  Here's another example, Italian cops impersonating gladiators. 

First post of the year!

Welcome back!  I know the first day isn't the most thrilling but things will get better.  Tomorrow, we write the rules!  Remember to have your proposed rules with you tomorrow so that we can get them onto the board and written in stone. 

Some books

Ah, summer.  Booksbooksbooks. 

Just finished Throne of Fire by Rick 'I write books' Riordan.  Yea, ok, it's not technicaly in my perview, but when you've got a middle-school-teacher-wife who tells you that there is a Roman ghost in it named 'Claudius Iratus' (aka Mad Claude), one must.  Better than Red Pyramid, that is for sure, but still not Lightning Thief or Last Olympian.  Still, an enjoyable diversion.

Come to think of it, all three books on the coffee table are Egyptian.  Ah!  The audiobook on my iPod is too!  Cleopatra by Schiff is so far pretty darn good.  It will fit in well to the Latin 3 curriculum next year (what? you honestly think any of us stop working?).

The end approaches...

Ok, so as an indicator of how far off the rails the end of the year sends your teachers...  I offer the following exchange between myself and Mr. Kass:

McC: Gratis.
Kass: De nada.
McC: Minme!  Dixi "Gratis," non "Gracias!"  Non sum barbarus Hispania.
Kass: No hablo Latin.  Mi Espanol es asi asi, que Ingles es perfecto!
McC: Duellum.  Cannae aurora et ero "hablo" te...  (A duel.  Cannons at dawn and I will "hablo" you...)
Kass: I have no idea what that means.

How to make a toga

Couple of students found this website on how to make a toga.  Simple and straightforward. 

Must read!

So, after listening to this interview, I need to read this book.  The trade in ancient art does raise a lot of very tough questions though...  Do art and artifacts need to stay in situ?  Or are they better spread around the world, the better to share the greater cultural heritage?  More to the point, who owns them?  Who can own them?

Anyway, I liked the excerpt on the interview's website and I'm a sucker for a good heist story...  Still, I just got a massive stack of book from the library.  So, I guess when I'm done with The Poison King: the life and legend of Mithradate, Spartacus War, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World and Last Call: the rise and fall of Prohibition, I'll have the time. 

What?  The Romans drank.  ;)

Aeneas

Arms, and the man I sing, who, forc'd by fate,
And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate,
Expell'd and exil'd, left the Trojan shore.
Long labors, both by sea and land, he bore,
And in the doubtful war, before he won
The Latian realm, and built the destin'd town;
His banish'd gods restor'd to rites divine,
And settled sure succession in his line,
From whence the race of Alban fathers come,
And the long glories of majestic Rome.
O Muse! the causes and the crimes relate;
What goddess was provok'd, and whence her hate;
For what offense the Queen of Heav'n began
To persecute so brave, so just a man;
Involv'd his anxious life in endless cares,
Expos'd to wants, and hurried into wars!
Can heav'nly minds such high resentment show,
Or exercise their spite in human woe?
Against the Tiber's mouth, but far away,
An ancient town was seated on the sea;
A Tyrian colony; the people made
Stout for the war, and studious of their trade:
Carthage the name; belov'd by Juno more
Than her own Argos, or the Samian shore.
Here stood her chariot; here, if Heav'n were kind,
The seat of awful empire she design'd.
Yet she had heard an ancient rumor fly,
(Long cited by the people of the sky,)
That times to come should see the Trojan race
Her Carthage ruin, and her tow'rs deface;
Nor thus confin'd, the yoke of sov'reign sway
Should on the necks of all the nations lay.
She ponder'd this, and fear'd it was in fate;
Nor could forget the war she wag'd of late
For conqu'ring Greece against the Trojan state.
Besides, long causes working in her mind,
And secret seeds of envy, lay behind;
Deep graven in her heart the doom remain'd
Of partial Paris, and her form disdain'd;
The grace bestow'd on ravish'd Ganymed,
Electra's glories, and her injur'd bed.
Each was a cause alone; and all combin'd
To kindle vengeance in her haughty mind.
For this, far distant from the Latian coast
She drove the remnants of the Trojan host;
And sev'n long years th' unhappy wand'ring train
Were toss'd by storms, and scatter'd thro' the main.
Such time, such toil, requir'd the Roman name,
Such length of labor for so vast a frame.

·        The Aeneid begins in media res (in the middle of things) with Aeneas and his men adrift

·        Aeneas has been instructed by the penates that he will found a new Troy from which a race will spring “known to all nations”

o   But while all the other gods/goddesses want him to succeed…  Juno does not

§  He is the son of Venus

·        Back to the apple

·        Jupiter’s indescressions

§  He is destined to bring strife to her chosen city of Carthage

§  He is Trojan

·        Ganymede

·        Juno bribes Aeolus (the god of the winds) with a sea nymph to cause a storm

o   While Aeneas’ ships are being reduced from twenty to seven, Neptune gets annoyed and sends the winds home

§  Aeneas and the Trojans limp to land

·        Two scenes transpire simultaneously

o   Aeneas is out hunting and comes across a young woman who is dressed for battle/hunting (Venus in disguise)

§  She tells him that he is in Libya and the nearest city is Carthage

·        Also tells him the tragic story of Dido, the queen of Carthage who is recently widowed

o   Dido and her husband were exiled from Tyre by her brother who tracked them down and killed her husband

o   Dido continued on with her followers to north Africa where they land and ask the locals for some space to rest

§  The locals say they can have as much land as an ox hide

·        Isoperimetric inequality problem, or “Dido’s problem”

o   “The isoperimetric inequality is a geometric inequality involving the square of the circumference of a closed curve in the plane and the area of a plane region it encloses, as well as its various generalizations. Isoperimetric literally means "having the same perimeter". The isoperimetric inequality problem is to determine a plane figure of the largest possible area whose boundary has a specified length”

§  What she does is slice the hide into thin strips and lays them out

o   In building the city, they find two animal heads

§  A bull—The city will prosper but be subject to others

§  A horse—The city will be potent in war

o   Meanwhile…  Dido gets a vision from Mercury

§  “Be kind to the Trojans”

·        Then, twelve of the thirteen ships Aeneas lost show up

o   Send out scouting parties for Aeneas

·        Just as Venus finishes telling Aeneas about Dido, the scouting party shows up and (poof) Aeneas is made man-pretty

·        Big feast where Aeneas relates their travels to date:

o   On Crete, a harpy named Celaeno curses them that they will not find rest until they “eat their tables”

o   At Buthorum (up the coast from Ithaca), they meet the last surviving son of Priam and Hector’s widow, Andromache

§  They’ve built a new life and mini-Troy

§  Also find out about the fate of Agamemnon, Orestes, etc.

§  Told to seek the Sybil of Cumae

o   Polyphemus?!

·        Dido and Aeneas feast and picnic and hunt and get caught in the rain…  Yea.

·        Eventually, Jupiter sends Mercury to remind Aeneas that he has a city to found

o   Big scene—Aeneas leaves his sword (which Dido gave him)

·        Dido plots, schemes and rages and prays

o   If he must found a city, no rest for him

§  Lie unburied in the sand

o   All Carthaginians to hate his descendants

§  A special avenger to rise from Carthage

o   Climbs onto her own funeral pyre and stabs herself with Aeneas’ sword

·        Aeneas and his men land at Cumae

o   Sibyl leads Aeneas down into underworld

§  Sees the scores of souls on the banks of the Lethe waiting to be reborn as Aeneas’ descendants         

·        Make their way to the mouth of the Tiber

o   King Latinius sends down flatbreads with meat and veggies on it—Pizza!

§  They realized that they’d “eaten their tables” and arrived

·        Vie with Turnus for the hand of Lavinia (daughter of Latinius)

o   Finally comes down to single combat and he has Turnus at his mercy

§  Aeneas wants to grant mercy but then sees that Turnus has taken a war trophy something from Pallas (Aeneas’ son’s best friend)

·        Settles down with Lavinia and have a son named “Silvanus” who is the ancestor of Romulus

o   Son goes off to found a nearby city, Alba Longa, which Silvanus inherits

·        Aeneas drowns in a river three years later—Unburied in the sand

Latin Fest Handout

Since the faculty still has not OK’d our date, assume that we will be having Latin Fest the week before Memorial Day (23-27 May).  You need to be ready to go that Monday!  If we get a couple more days to prepare, great.

Remember, you have two things to prep for Latin Fest:

1.     Your attire—This is a Latin festival, you must dress appropriately!

a.     Seniors=Senators-White toga w/ broad red border

b.     Juniors=Equites-White Toga w/ narrow purple border

c.      Sophomores=Plebeians-White Toga

d.     Freshmen=Freedmen-Tunica

2.     Your group project—Below is a list of groups by class period, I have gotten a lot of questions about this…  Know your group and know who you are working with!

First period

Food--Essence, Bennett, E.J.

Decorations--Jaylin, Breyanna

Rewards--Tommie, Andrew, Jamie

Gladiators--Theo, Will

Info--Connor, Chad

Third

Chariots--Dylan, Abigail, Josh

Drinks--Eden, Jenea,

Oratory (debate, poetry)--Cesare, Emilio, Drake

Plays--Corrine, J.T., Stephanie, Ashlei

Konstantine, Brittany, Nick--Info

Fourth period groups:

Caymon, Thomas—Gambling

 Joanna, Lynnette, Alyssa--Singing

Katie, Michael--Info

Braden, Ashleigh, Sumia--Field games (Javelin, discus, archery)

Kevin--Running (relay, long jump, etc)

Fifth period groups:

Chariots--Ian, Devi, Service

Wrestling--Cassie, Tim, Patrick

Divination--Chloe, Dante, Funderburk

Sculpture--Steph, Tanner

Board games/Info--Nickie

Gladiators--Elijah, Xavier

Fifth period groups:

Chariots--Ian, Devi, Service

Wrestling--Cassie, Tim, Patrick

Divination--Chloe, Dante, Funderburk

Sculpture--Steph, Tanner

Board games/Info--Nickie

Gladiators--Elijah, Xavier

Toga criteria

1.      Does the toga or tunica show evidence of work (i.e. not store bought or simply a bed sheet)?

2.     Does the toga or tunica show evidence of research?

3.     Is the toga or tunica appropriate for the class of the student?

4.     Are you in the toga or tunica the whole time?