Love Among the Romans

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  2. Overview of Project
  3. Interpretive Phase
  4. Interpersonal Phase
  5. Presentational Phase
  6. Ovid's Text: Orpheus and Eurydice
  7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-figure-pottery
Home > Overview of Project

Overview of Project

Overview, Performance Objectives, and Resources

General Introduction

The unit described here will be used to begin my 2007-2008 Latin III/IV course. My Latin III/IV students are mixed together in classes of approximately 20 students. They range from sophomores to seniors. My thematic focus for the coming year will be: Love Among the Romans.

My course theme will be: What do the writings of the Romans reveal about their attitudes toward love and friendship?

At the end of the year students will be able to answer these essential questions that comprise the Cultural Strand of our Course of Study:

1. How are Roman attitudes toward love and friendship like or unlike our own?

2. Do the Romans express love and affection as we do, or do such expressions seem to vary by culture?

3. Do the Roman gods model ideal relationships or poor relationships?

4. How do the gods help or hinder the friendships or romantic relationships of the Romans?

5. Does the interference of the gods in the personal relationships of the Romans in turn affect the Romans’ attitudes toward their gods?

In their discussions of these questions, students will be required to cite textural evidence to support their responses.

To explore the theme of love and friendship in all its vast variety students will use authentic texts including graffiti, tombstone inscriptions, letters, journals, essays, biographies, poems and myths.

The Grammatical Strand of our Course of Study will incorporate:

1. Review of All Cases

2. Review of Indicative Verb Tenses

3. Review of Complementary Infinitive Usage

4. Review of Prepositional Phrases

5. Review of Noun/Adjective Agreement

6. Review of Pronouns

7. Review of Demonstratives

8. Review of Relative Clauses

9. Review of Imperatives

10. Review of Expressions of Place

11. Introduction of the Subjunctive Mood, Sequence of Tense, and Formation of Present and Imperfect Subjunctives

12. Purpose Clauses

13. Result Clauses

14. Causal Clauses

15. Expressions of Time

16. Indirect Statement

17. Indirect Question

18. Participle Usage

19. Ablative Absolute

20. Gerund and Gerundive Usage.

At the end of the year students will be able to read and understand a passage of Latin incorporating any or all of the above structures. A targeted vocabulary list will be generated from the selected readings as the course progresses.

As a general introduction I will ask my class to brainstorm to generate a list of types of love. I will create a graphic organizer on the chalkboard to display their thoughts. The word “love” will hold the center circle with the types of love mentioned by students written in other circles fanning from the center like spokes. I will help the class generate a list that minimally incorporates the following: Love . . .

Of pets

Of self

Of friends

Of God/gods

Of family

Of country

Of luxury

Of sports

Infatuation

Flirtation

Obsession

Enduring love/marriage.

By generating this list, I will help my class see that although our topic is “Love,” our subject matter will interest both the males and females in the room. We will not spend the year lost in romance.

The first text I will use, and the focus of this unit plan, is Ovid’s Metamorphoses (X.1-63): Orpheus and Eurydice.

My objectives for this unit are as follows:

1. Students will be able to read Orpheus’ text in Latin with correct pronunciation and deliberate phrasing that indicates that they understand what they are reading. Students will use intonation of voice and gestures and actions to help listeners understand their spoken Latin.

2. Students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of Ovid’s text by answering questions on its content and reordering a scrambled version of the text.

3. Students will be able to recognize and use the target vocabulary for the text correctly.

4. Students will be able to relate English derivatives to their Latin parent words and accurately define both the English and Latin terms.

5. Students will be able to respond to Latin questions regarding the text content in full Latin sentences, using correct Latin syntax.

6. Students will be able to match Latin nouns and adjectives by case, number and gender.

7. Students will be able to briefly describe black-figured Attic pottery.

8. Students will be able to recognize the shape of an amphora and a kylix.

9. Students will be able to retell of myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in verse or song, meeting the requirements of the Presentational Project.

10. Students will complete the artistic aspect of the Attic Vase Presentational Project per the established criteria.
USA- Standards for Classical Language
Goal: Communication: Communicate in a Classical Language
Standard: Standard 1.1- Students read, understand, and interpret Latin or Greek.
Level: Intermediate
Sample Progress Indicator: Students read and understand short unadapted passages of Latin or Greek when provided with appropriate assistance.
Sample Progress Indicator: Students demonstrate reading comprehension by interpreting the meaning of passages they read.
Standard: Standard 1.2- Students use orally, listen to, and write Latin or Greek as part of the language learning process.
Level: Intermediate
Sample Progress Indicator: Students read Latin or Greek aloud with accurate pronunciation, meaningful phrase grouping, and appropriate voice inflection, by imitating the models they have heard.
Sample Progress Indicator: Students respond appropriately to questions, statements, commands, or other stimuli.
Goal: Culture: Gain Knowledge and Understanding of Greco-Roman Culture
Standard: Standard 2.1- Students demonstrate an understanding of the perspectives of Greek or Roman culture as revealed in the practices of the Greeks or Romans.
Level: Intermediate
Sample Progress Indicator: Students demonstrate a knowledge of the daily life and thought of the ancient Greeks or Romans, gained in part from the Latin or Greek texts they read, and apply that knowledge to an understanding of Greek or Roman culture.
Standard: Standard 2.2- Students demonstrate an understanding of the perspectives of Greek or Roman culture as revealed in the products of the Greeks or Romans.
Level: Intermediate
Sample Progress Indicator: Students relate their reading of selected texts, literary and non-literary, adapted and unadapted, to an understanding of Greek or Roman culture.
Sample Progress Indicator: Students demonstrate a knowledge of architectural styles, art forms, and artifacts of the Greeks or Romans and use them in analyzing Greek or Roman culture.
Goal: Connections- Connect with Other Disciplines and Expand Knowledge
Standard: Standard 3.2- Students expand their knowledge through the reading of Latin or Greek and the study of ancient culture.
Level: Intermediate
Sample Progress Indicator: Students acquire information about the Greco-Roman world by reading adapted or selected Latin or Greek sources.
Sample Progress Indicator: Students connect their knowledge of ancient history and social and political systems to events and systems in the modern world.
Goal: Comparisons- Develop Insight into Own Language and Culture
Standard: Standard 4.1 Students recognize and use elements of the Latin or Greek language to increase knowledge of their own language.
Level: Intermediate
Sample Progress Indicator: Students demonstrate the relationship of Latin or Greek words to their derivatives and cognates in English.
Sample Progress Indicator: Students demonstrate an increased use of English words from or related to Latin or Greek.
Sample Progress Indicator: Students compare and contrast the language patterns and grammar of Latin or Greek to the structure and grammar of English.
Goal: Communities- Participate in Wider Communities of Language and Culture
Standard: Standard 5.1 Students use their knowledge of Latin or Greek in a multilingual world.
Level: Intermediate
Sample Progress Indicator: Students interact with community members who are involved in a variety of careers to understand how they have used their study of classical languages.
Standard: Standard 5.2 Students use their knowledge of Greco- Roman culture in a world of diverse cultures.
Level: Intermediate
Sample Progress Indicator: Students compare the issues that reveal cultural differences in the ancient world with similar issues in modern cultures.
Author: Marylee Houston
Last modified: 8/20/2007 6:45 AM (EST)