Classics as a Cross-Curricular Core in the Middle School
Austin Preparatory School

Objectives

1. To introduce and reinforce English grammar simultaneously with Latin grammar. Example: introduction of recognizing a direct object in both languages.
2. To introduce and practice the skill of determining the meaning of English words based on their Latin roots.
3. To provide an opportunity for the integration of various subjects around a common theme.
4. To demonstrate how to go about studying a foreign language.

Textbooks
Latin: Ecce Romani (Longman).
Language Arts: Exercises in English (Loyola University Press).
Mythology: D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths.
Software: Roots of English: an Etymological Dictionary

Suggestions for others wanting to use Latin as a core

1. Set aside time to discuss and plan integration of subjects with your colleagues. This takes a lot of time.
2. Choose a story-based textbook with characters students will care about. This will help them want to learn the grammar needed to unlock the meaning of the stories.
3. Before you teach a grammatical concept, present it in English. For example, students can practice locating direct objects in English sentences and then a day or two later, they will be ready to locate them in Latin. I have found that students pay closer attention to the English grammar lessons, because they know that in a couple of days, they will be meeting and dealing with the Latin counterpart.
4. Work frequently with derivation study. Parents love it when their children can tell them what a word means because they know its Latin root.
5. Show students how Latin is the root of the Romance languages studied in your school. If they elect to take these languages, they may remember the Latin roots of some of the words and see the value of Latin to the learning of a modern language.