TPRS Script: Kills and Eats

Here is a simple TPRS script I am trying out this week with a few classes. It lines up really well with a few of the questions of Ben Slavic's questionnaire.

In PQA you can talk about what kids like, then eventually what foods kids like. To circle "walking through _____," we looked at what were favorite stores and whether students were happy or sad "walking through American Eagle," for example. I wrote the script specifically with a student who likes hunting in mind, but at the very least you can transition to the story by talking about the difference between buying food in a favorite store and killing it yourself on a hunting trip.

Remember, of course, that the blanks (_____) are filled in with the personalized details of your particular class. You'll need somebody to go hunting, what s/he wants to eat, what s/he sees at the first location, etc. Decide all of those details with the class as they create the story with you.

The English version:

Kills and Eats

-wants to eat

-walking through the kitchen (or whatever)

-kills

_____ wants to eat _____. _____, walking through the kitchen, doesn't see _____. Now _____ wants to kill _____ and eat _____. _____ goes to _____.

            _____, walking through _____, sees _____. But _____ doesn't want to eat _____. _____ doesn't kill _____. _____ goes home sadly.

            _____, walking through the street, sees _____! _____ wants to eat _____. _____ kills _____ with _____. _____.

The Latin version:

necat et edit

-edere vult

-per culinam ambulans

-necat

_____ _____ edere vult. _____, per culinam ambulans, _____ non videt. nunc _____ _____ necare vult et _____ edere vult. _____ ad _____ procedit.

            _____, per _____ ambulans, _____ videt. sed _____ _____ edere non vult. _____ _____ non necat. _____ ad villam procedit tristis.

            _____, per viam ambulans, _____ videt! _____ _____ edere vult. _____ _____ _____ necat. _____.

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Latinizing Student Names

Most students don't care what the Latin form of their name is, and to be honest I have to jump through several online hoops to find out myself. If somebody called "Iacobus" in a grocery store, I wouldn't even think to turn. I have no connection to that word. Imagine how my students would feel!

To help the students engage the Latin (and, ultimately, to make the input more comprehensible and feel more personalized) I treat most names like third declension nouns.

I follow two rules when declining a name as a third declension noun:

1) If the name ends with a vowel or vowel sound, I add an -n- before the ending

• Archie, (gen, sg.) Archienis (note: when pronouncing in Latin, you'll notice naturally that a silent -e ending will make a sound before the -n-; thus Ar-chi-en-is has four syllables)

2) If a name ends with a consonant, I just add the ending

•  Jackson, (gen., sg.) Jacksonis

Now lots of random examples:

• Ryan, (gen., sg.) Ryanis
• Louis, Louisis
• Willie, Willienis (Wil-li-en-is)
• Joann, Joannis
• Ethel, Ethelis
• Miriam, Miriamis
• John, Johnis
• Arthur, Arthuris
• Ronald, Ronaldis
• Andrew, Andrewis
• Howard, Howardis
• Brandy, Brandynis
• Richard, Richardis
• Jack, Jackis
• Denise, Denisenis (De-nis-en-is)
• Lawrence, Lawrencenis (Law-ren-cen-is)
• Phyllis, Phyllisis
• Fred, Fredis
• Paul, Paulis
• Robert, Robertis
• Dennis, Dennisis
• George, Georgenis (Ge-or-gen-is)
• Misty, Mistynis

The only exceptions are those names which end with -a or -us and can therefore be treated like first or second declension nouns. For example:

• Ana, (gen., sg.) Anae
• Maximus, Maximi

Often times the students will laugh at how their names sound in different cases. Of course this is great because they are noticing the endings.

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Sample Latin 3 PQA (January 15, 2013)

Inspired by the efforts of Rachel Ash, I offer this video.

Below you'll find a video of my Latin 3 class and I running through some PQA (Personalized Question and Answer). The target structures were:

• donum miserat, had sent a gift
• aperire non vult, does not want to open
• timet, fears, is afraid of

These structures ultimately lead to the story "Afraid of the Package" in Anne Matava's first volume of story scripts.

This is my first year of using TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling), but these Latin 3 students have been with me for the past two years. Therefore they have only had one semester of TPRS and CI (Comprehensible Input). Nevertheless we are comfortable exploring the new method and they have taken to it like fish to water. You might notice that the structures and conversation are very basic for a third year class, but that's just where we are at. At least everyone understands everything.

One sad thing before you watch: I wish I had read this review before class because I learned only after-the-fact that the camera I used records for a mere 25-30 minutes at a time. It cuts off right in the middle of things--right before we begin on aperire non vult, I think--but hopefully it gives you something useful anyway. And hopefully it gives you something to critique as well!



Note: On the wall you might be able to see I have taped up various question words and their translations. I point to these with a laser pointer during the PQA. Also, On the board before class I wrote the target structures with their translations, and throughout the PQA I write various phrases with translations on the board. Oh, and a GoogleDoc of the daily agenda (accessible for parents, admins, and absent students whenever via the class website) goes over the projector at the beginning of every class, to help up walk through quickly what we'll do and how each activity lines up with our various standards. I'm sorry that the quality of the video might inhibit your view of everything that's going on.

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