Lesson Plan Modification
Willard Stevenback
May 2, 2012
The original lesson plan is in black and represents a standard format for Latin 1-3 daily class
work. Suggestions and modifications have been done in red.
GENERIC TWO (THREE)-DAY LESSON PLAN FOR WHEELOCK’S LATIN
[This is simply a generic plan, suggesting in the barest outline the sorts of activities that might be employed in
teaching from Wheelock’s Latin and Scribblers, Scvlptors, and Scribes; rev. 4/17/11]
Day 1 Plan
[Put assignment on board the day before, and E-mail the class the night before, with a reminder
of the assignment and a request for volunteers for OPUS IN TABULA, “boardwork,” e.g., to
have volunteers decline/conjugate etc. new forms using new Vocab., and write the assigned
English-to-Latin sentences, on board; ARRIVE EARLY to make sure volunteers are doing this.]
Instead of using E-mail use an online class website to post assignments and/or online class
forum. Students would type the information into the front computer in the room on charts
prepared for declining/conjugating. This information would be displayed on the overhead
projector.
SALVETE etc.: brief conversational activities; quotation or other tidbit of the day (I call this
LATINA IN VERO MUNDO); call roll IN LATIN (students respond with HIC, ADSUM, etc.);
Remind them of what’s on TODAY’S agenda and quiz
Calling roll may not be necessary although getting students started off using Latin is useful.
Perhaps this activity may be replaced by a bell work assignment to translate a sentence on the
board, etc.
NEXT ASSIGNMENT/QUIZ: briefly preview next assignment (including comments on
content/context of reading passage and things to look for/think about while reading) & content of
next quiz (following what syllabus says about Day 2 quizzes: new forms, syntax, declining,
conjugating + questions on the assigned passage); reminder to use online audio
Additionally, remind students to check the online forum for posts and to post questions if they
need any help with the new chapter or for test preparation.
NEW GRAMMAR: explain and ask questions about any new concepts, forms, syntax
(referencing OPUS IN TABULA items)
Use PowerPoint, prezi or other software and computer tools to help create graphic displays to aid
students in learning new grammar; these may include: charts, tables, graphs, concept maps, etc.
DRILL: have students find/identify examples of new forms/usages in assigned readings
(“Practice and Review” sentences and Sententiae Antiquae) and translate just those words; drill
new declensions/conjugations etc. aloud, chorally/then serially; practice with a few pre-selected
Self-Tutorial Exercises (from the back of Wheelock); go over items that student volunteers have
written on board: ask students who wrote them to pronounce, then ask class to identify any
errors, and comment (with LOTS of positive reinforcement)
Here students are broken into groups. Students prepare a list in their groups of new forms/usages.
Going around the room the teacher asks each group to share 3 new forms which haven’t been
shared and give an explanation describing its specific usage, what is new about it, and one
English word which is derived from the Latin form. Work done by student volunteers is
discussed in the SALVETE portion of class.
VOCABULARY: go through entire list, calling on individual students to pronounce the full
Latin entry, then commenting on peculiarities, derivatives, etc., asking questions (what is the
base? what is the stem? what does this derivative literally mean? etc.), etc., and practicing a few
declensions/conjugations, especially for new forms
Use prepared online flash cards to test student knowledge on the vocabulary briefly. Students
who answer correctly are award 1 bonus point ~5-10% on the vocabulary quiz. Each student
answer at least one flash card with 1 total bonus points maximum.
QUIZ: administer quiz (Vocabulary + questions on one or two of the assigned Practice and
Review sentences[P&R] and Sententiae Antiquae[SA])
This quiz focuses only on the vocabulary instead. Students will not be tested directly on the
P&R and SA. This is because students have not had sufficient time to analyze their mistakes and
the corrections to these sections of study yet on day 1. This quiz can be administered using
clickers, or the online class forum (if laptops are available) for efficiency.
TRANSLATION: call on individual students to read aloud and translate assigned P&R/SA and
readings from Scribblers, Scvlptors, and Scribes; comment on context/significance of SA and
Scribblers readings, and for all sentences make sure you end up with an sensible, fluid, idiomatic
rendering (consult online Teachers Guide) and not just a syntactically “correct” but stilted,
Latinate translation; ask students to paraphrase and explain the meaning of any sentence which
may seem unclear; have volunteers do one or two of the easier English-to-Latin P&R on board
(preferably before class begins: I E-mail my students the evening before, asking for volunteers),
then have the rest of the class check for errors, contribute alternative possibilities, and try some
“transformation” exercises, like changing the number (singular vs. plural) of all verbs, nouns,
and adjectives. Students should not have their written translations open.
This is one of the core activities of the Latin 1 classroom. The format suggested above seems
suitable for nearly any chapter in Wheelock. Additionally, a teacher may add a translation of
Wheelock’s Latin 38 Stories. These translations are longer and more story-like instead of being
segmented. This tool helps teachers foster an understanding of the use of context clues and the
formation of Latin works.
BRIEF REMINDER OF NEXT ASSIGNMENT/QUIZ AND VALETE
Students are again reminded to use the online forum as needed.
Day 2 Plan
[E-mail the class the night before, with a reminder of the assignment and a request for volunteers
for OPUS IN TABULA, “boardwork,” e.g., to have volunteers decline/conjugate etc. new forms
using new Vocab., and write a couple of the assigned English-to-Latin sentences, on board;
ARRIVE EARLY to make sure volunteers are doing this.]
Instead of using E-mail use an online class website to post assignments and/or online class
forum. Students would type the information into the front computer in the room on charts
prepared for declining/conjugating. This information would be displayed on the overhead
projector.
SALVETE etc.: brief conversational activities; quotation or other tidbit of the day (I call this
LATINA IN VERO MUNDO); call roll IN LATIN (students respond with HIC, ADSUM, etc.);
remind them of what’s on TODAY’S agenda and quiz
Calling roll may not be necessary although getting students started off using Latin is useful.
Perhaps this activity may be replaced by a bell work assignment to translate a sentence on the
board, etc.
NEXT ASSIGNMENT/QUIZ: briefly preview next assignment (including comments on
content/context of reading passage and things to look for/think about while reading) & content of
next quiz (following what syllabus says about Day 2 quizzes: new forms, syntax, declining,
conjugating + questions on the assigned passage); reminder to use online audio
Remind students to use online class forum.
REVIEW NEW GRAMMAR: review, not by “re-teaching,” but by asking specific, targeted
questions, based on yesterday’s presentation, about any new concepts, forms, syntax: “ask, don’t
tell!”
Use of PowerPoint, Prezi, or other forms generated using technology on the overhead projector
should be applied here. This helps students recall the forms vocally and visually.
DRILL NEW FORMS: find examples in assigned reading passage(s), i.e. Scribblers and/or
Wheelock; drill new declensions/conjugations etc. aloud, chorally/then serially; go over items
that student volunteers have written on board: ask students who wrote them to pronounce, then
ask class to identify any errors, and comment (with LOTS of positive reinforcement)
Students compete in a jeopardy-like game. Each row of desks makes up a group. Starting with
the first person in each row the student chooses a point value and corresponding difficulty of
question on the new grammar, or possibly translation (1-5). The teacher as quiz master asks
questions either prepared or impromptu. If the student misses the questions any other row can
raise their hand to guess but if they miss lose points. This game is repeated until all students
have had a chance to pick once and each row has an equal number of questions. The winning
row gets 2 bonus points on their next quiz or material prize i.e. small candy items, pencils,
erasers, etc.
QUIZ: administer quiz (new forms/syntax/declining/conjugating + comprehension and/or
translation questions on the assigned reading passage)
This quiz should have students decline/conjugate new grammar forms, use the new grammar
forms in an English sentence and translate 1-2 Latin-English sentences.
TRANSLATION: introduce passage, provide context, read aloud, ask comprehension questions,
and only then translate; make sure you end up with a fluid, idiomatic rendering; show slides if
available, comment on illustrations in book, and/or bring in Power-Point or other audio-visuals;
close with final comments on content/context; ask grammar questions, especially on new
material, ONLY after concluding this thorough examination/discussion of content. See “The
Story’s the Thing . . . ” lesson plan suggestions. Students should not have their written
translations open.
Again, this section is nearly flawless for what a translation section should entail. Perhaps using
WL38LS would provide an additional resource for appropriate level translation materials.
REMINDER OF NEXT ASSIGNMENT/QUIZ AND VALETE: briefly repeat above
Day 3 Plan: essentially repeats Day 2, with different reading passage(s)/quiz; assignment for the
next Day 1 should carefully PREVIEW the new grammar, drawing attention to important points
to look for and think about.
For this day students can complete any number of activities. These may include small group
translation assignments, tests, Roman history days (normally 1 every 2 weeks, with 1 special day
each semester). Students are reminded of the next chapter and studying vocabulary and the P&R
assignment for the next day. This is posted online in the class website and forum.