Leo Senex et Vulpes: A Fable fable tells the story of an old lion who pretends to be sick so that animals will come to him (so he doesn’t have to hunt). A fox, though, sees through the old king’s ruse. Teaching materials are available, including tiered readings and visuals, to support the reading of the fable.
-
-
Grief in Martial’s Epigram 1.101 and a Mother’s Funerary Inscription
Teaching Martial’s epigram 1.101 in conjunction with Salvidiena Hilara’s funerary inscription showcases Roman attitudes toward death, slavery, and women’s writing. This teacher’s guide provides tiered readings and various activities to allow students to explore the nuances of Martial’s epigram and the depth of feeling in Hilara’s monument to her daughter.
-
Mures et Cattus Horribilis: An Audabula
Mures et Cattus Horribilis is an audabula retelling a fable about a council of mice trying to solve the problem a cat that kept eating all of them. The moral of the fable is that it is far quicker and easier to come up with a solution than to implement, especially if it relies on individual sacrifice or risk. Here’s the link to Mures et Cattus: Pars Prima. If you enjoy this audabula, please consider supporting my website and writing endeavors by purchasing a teaching set of materials associated with this audabula here for three dollars. In the digital download, you will receive the first and second part of the…
-
Leana et Ursa: An Audabula
What exactly is an audabula? Well, it’s a short fabula that is an audio recording, thus, an audabula. My husband thought it was time to do more audio recordings, so he is again urging me to do something a little different and a little out of my comfort zone. He is also the one who is a big fan of the sound effects. Leana et Ursa is an adapted fable. I have occasionally been reading fables with an eye to eventually making tiered readings or simpler retellings. Fables can be delightful, engaging, moralistic, or silly, and his request seemed the perfect opportunity to take some of the fables I’ve enjoyed…
-
Parasiti, Poetae, et Cenae
Parasiti, Poetae, et Cenae is a collection of curated readings on the topic of Roman Dinner invitations and Roman parasites. It includes a short non-fiction reading in Latin introducing these cultural concepts and comprehension questions for that reading. The non-fiction reading connects to the Mostellaria as well as Catullus’ famous cenabis bene poem (Catullus 13) and several of Martial’s epigrams. These poems are included as tiered readings to help them be more comprehensible. This collection of teaching resources can be used in conjunction with teaching the Mostellaria or independently. It is most suitable for use in a Latin III or Latin IV classroom. The Martial Epigrams include: a description of…
-
Tiered Reading of Catullus 13
In Catullus 13, Catullus invites a friend to come to dinner–and bring the dinner. This tiered reading of Catullus 13 breaks the poem into successive tiers of difficulty to aid in reading comprehension before reading the unadapted poem. These tiered readings can be used in conjunction with this teaching activity about parasites, which can be used when teaching the Mostellaria. A translation of the poem can also be found here.
-
The Asynchronous Pictatio with Body Parts and Clothing
I wrote last year about the spin on the Dictatio: the Pictatio. This year, as I’m sure it is for all of you, school just looks different. Everything is different just about everywhere, and it’s not going to look normal anytime soon. So, a pictatio should look a little different too. And it ever so slightly does! Behold: The asynchronous pictatio! At my school, electives are taught asynchronously, so we are creating curricular materials that, well, are asynchronous. I had the idea last week that it was time to reuse the pictatio for our unit on clothing that is segueing into body parts and monsters. I found out this week…
-
The Pictatio, a Spin on a Dictatio
What exactly is a Pictatio? A Pictatio is similar to a Dictatio but instead of writing down sentence, students are drawing pictures on whiteboards. I have done dictatio exercises with my students many times, and they are great prereading exercises. Much like Keith Toda, I learned how to do a Dictatio at Pedagogy Rusticatio.
