This past semester was the first year where my department split the Latin 2 classes into Honors and College Prep levels. Previously in the past, although we usually had around eight Latin 2 classes, we kept all of our students together. Although I do understand the ramifications of "tracking" students/splitting them into "tracks," however post-hybrid, I also saw that the learning makeup of my classes was changing - the adage of "teaching to the middle" was no longer truly working, because the middle itself was disappearing. Instead, I saw that a much larger gap/chasm was developing between those who were understanding the material and ready to move on and those who were not and were falling further behind. Therefore, as a department head (and after consulting with teachers in my department), I made the decision to divide the Spanish 2 and Latin 2 courses into Honors and College Prep tracks to see what would happen.
I am teaching two Latin 2 Honors and two Latin 2 College Prep classes this year. I did not teach these students for Latin 1, so I will admit that in the two levels, it has been quite a challenge trying to differentiate and to deal with the differing levels of motivation and attitudes. Last semester, however, I decided to create two different curricula and readings for Honors vs College Prep, with each of the different levels receiving the level of instruction which was appropriate for the Latin 1 knowledge which they were bringing to the classroom. In each level, I still focused on sheltering vocabulary, not grammar. Specifically with the College Prep classes, even the grammar was sheltered to a degree. I intentionally did this, because I found that there were significant gaps in knowledge from Latin 1 which needed to be filled with these students, while the Honors classes seemed to have already demonstrated proficiency in those areas and were ready to move on.
For the College Prep classes, the curriculum was based on an adapted reading of Emma Vanderpool's novella Incitatus. What I like most about Emma's novella is that because each chapter is based on various characters' reflections on the same events, a lot of the sentences and vocabulary are repeated but from different perspectives, which allows for some great higher order thinking among students.
My goal for each level was that I wanted these students to feel successful with readings which met them where they were at and could progress at a knowlege-appropriate pace which allowed for acquisition. At the end of the semester, on their written Performance Exam, one of the questions which I asked was for students to reflect on how the semester compared to their experience in Latin 1. Let me share some of the comments specifically which some of my College Prep students wrote - a lot of them allude to "shelting vocabulary, not grammar" even if they do not "name" it:
"I see that I have gained alot [sic] more words in my Latin vocabulary since last year. Last year I felt lost because there were so many words thrown at us. I never knew what was important to know. I did not have time to learn them because then we switched to a new story."
"(My) Writings are more in detail then [sic] latin 1. I can remember my writings in Latin 1 were very brief and dry because there was too much vocabulary to remember."
"I think I’ve improved way more [in Latin 2] because the stories this year were easier for me to understand. Lots of the same words were used."
"I didn't want to take Latin 2 because Latin 1 was so hard. I actually feel like I understand Latin now because I know the words."
I am not writing this blog post in any way to place any blame on these students' Latin 1 teachers. However, the purpose is again to call attention to the need for sheltering vocabulary, not grammar. Even though my students have not called it by its name in the above comments, I can say that my students are in favor of it!
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