A Prelude to Latin: Quarti Gradus – Fourth Steps Instructor’s Manual

Course Description:

The Prelude to Latin series is used to guide teachers and students through basic Latin concepts. It should equip the student with the necessary knowledge in order to achieve competence and even excel in junior high and high school Latin programs. Prelude to Latin is unique in that it requires students to engage not only in basic cognitive skills (memorization) but also in the application of the language. Just as students learn English through reading and writing, so too will they learn Latin through reading and writing. Whereas many Latin Primī ers focus on acontextual memorization, Prelude to Latin forces students not only to develop a large vocabulary but also to use the language through meaningful application. To that end teachers and students will find themselves translating and writing in Latin almost immediately.

Course Prerequisites:

Tertiī Gradūs, Third Steps

Course Objectives:

• Acquiring new Latin vocabulary words and reviewing the earlier words.
• Pronunciation
• Parsing Latin sentences.
• Translating Latin sentences.
• Understand the usage of 1^st & 2^nd Declensions.
• Understand the usage of case, gender, and number in the new Latin vocabulary.
• Understand how to conjugate Latin verb/Pronouns.

Student Materials:

Latin Quarti Gradus, Fourth Steps 2^nd Ed. (provided by school)

Index cards

Teacher Materials:

Latin Quarti Gradus, Fourth Steps 2^nd Ed. Instructor’s Manual

Classroom Resources:

Index cards

Primary Teaching Methods:

(Latin concept Introduction and Demonstration, Individual White board Student Work, Latin workbook exercises check-up, Questions and Answer, General Latin Discussion,  Latin Jingle Recitation (small group oral quizzing),Classroom Discussion, Group translating & parsing on white board, Games.

Assessment and Evaluative Methods:

Demonstration, Translation tests, Playing Latin vocabulary Games, Matching, & Multiple Choice.

Grading Criteria:

50% Tests

50% In work and participation

Approximate time per week

Two classes a week, 45 minutes a class and approximately 30 minutes of homework per classroom hour or 2 hours/week.

Course Sequence:

Quarter 1

Ls 1 (Review)

Ls 2 New Vocabulary

Parsing, Translation

Quarter 2

Ls 3 New Vocabulary

Parsing, Translation

Ls 4 New Vocabulary

Parsing, Translation

Quarter 3

Ls 5 New Vocabulary

Parsing, Translation

Ls 6 New Vocabulary

Parsing, Translation

Quarter 4

Ls 7 New Vocabulary

Parsing, Translation

Ls 8 New Vocabulary

Parsing, Translation

Product Review

Composing textbooks for young students takes special care. For what we know is that good textbooks further spark the natural curiosity of young minds by nourishing them with a steady diet of coveted knowledge. What Daniel R. Fredrick and Deborah M. Loe have managed to achieve in their Prelude to Latin series is quite remarkable: within a four-volume set, they have rescued elements of a classical language education from the sole provinces of the university, for most universities have lost their initial interest in the classical world by squandering their opportunity to teach one of the foundational tenets of the humanities—Latin.

These introductory texts—designed for young students—recapture that initial classical spirit by achieving two important goals. First, the authors have made the initial learning of a complex foreign language interesting and fun for young minds. Second, this learning is presented relationally, proceeding from vocabulary through grammar to translation. This special combination makes learning Latin more accessible, congenial, and enlightening. This better prepares students for further linguistic study.
With Prelude to Latin, the authors make ample use of rhetorical hooks—starting with familiar words, using repetition to foster recursive learning, introducing contrary notions to illustrate comparisons—all of which allows students to build connections between Latin and English. This relational approach, as most educators understand, is valuable because students are best suited to grasp and retain related ideas.

These connections, I think, also broaden students’ horizons when they focus not only on the proper use of language (grammar), but also on the effective use of language (rhetoric). For what we hope is that the larger goal of gaining competence in language use will foster a competence in understanding abstract ideas. As teachers of language, we know that a grammatical and rhetorical understanding of language promotes a better comprehension of and a deeper sensitivity to the different states of the human mind and soul because human values are often given grammatical and rhetorical expressions in the form of statements, questions, commands, wishes, and prayers.

David Christopher Ryan
University of San Francisco
San Francisco, 2003