Weather Story - Embedded Reading

I was cleaning out my Google Drive files, and I came across a story which I had written about 5-6 years ago that was related to weather talk. It was from the first week of school, and since I was introducing weather words as part of calendar talk to my Latin 2 classes, I felt that we needed a reading so that the words had "somewhere to go" and were not randomly introduced - plus, it also served as an easy review reading from the year before but with the new weather words. I also introduced this reading as an embedded reading.

Below is the reading in both Latin and English.

Tier 1
Sol non lucet, et pluit. Rhonda umbrellam non habet. Rhonda dicit, “Ubi est mea Mickey Mouse umbrella? Quis meam Mickeyem Mousem umbrellam habet?” Rhonda est madida (soaking wet). Rhonda est irata, quod pluit, et umbrellam non habet.

The sun is not shining, and it is raining. Rhonda does not have an umbrella. Rhonda says, "Where is my MIckey Mouse umbrella? Who has my Mickey Mouse umbrella?" Rhonda is soaking wet. Rhonda is angry, because it is raining, and she does not have an umbrella

Tier 2

Rhonda est tristis. Sol non lucet, et pluit. Rhonda est in domo. Rhonda umbrellam non habet. Rhonda dicit, “Ubi est mea Mickey Mouse umbrella? Mea Mickey Mouse umbrella non est in meo sacculo! Quis meam Mickeyem Mousem umbrellam habet?”

Pluit, sed Rhonda umbrellam non habet. Rhonda est madida (soaking wet). Quod Rhonda est madida (soaking wet), est irata! 

Rhonda Carolem videt. Carol Mickeyem Mousem umbrellam habet! Rhonda est irata, et dicit, “Carol meam Mickeyem Mousem umbrellam habet! Sol non lucet, et pluit, et madida sum (I am soaking wet)!”

Rhonda Carolem pulsat, et umbrellam capit! Rhonda est laeta, quod habet Mickey Mousem umbrellam! Carol est tristis. Rhonda ridet.

Rhonda is sad. The sun is not shining, and it is raining. Rhonda is in her home. Rhonda does not have an umbrella. Rhonda says, "Where is my MIckey Mouse umbrella? My Mickey Mouse umbrella is not in my bookbag. Who has my Mickey Mouse umbrella?" 

It is raining, and Rhonda does not have an umbrella. Rhonda is soaking wet. Because Rhonda is soaking wet, she is angry.

Rhonda sees Carol. Carol has a Mickey Mouse umbrella! Rhonda is angry, and she says, "Carol has my Mickey Mouse umbrella. The sun is not shining, and it is raining, and I am soaking wet!"

Rhonda punches Carol, and takes the umbrella. Rhonda is happy, because she has her Mickey Mouse umbrella. Carol is sad. Rhonda laughs.

Tier 3

Hodie est primus dies scholae. Rhonda est tristis. Sol non lucet, et pluit. Rhonda est in domo. Rhonda non vult ire ad scholam (to go to school), quod sol non lucet, et pluit. Rhonda umbrellam non habet. Rhonda dicit, “Ubi est mea Mickey Mouse umbrella? Mea Mickey Mouse umbrella non est in meo sacculo! Mea Mickey Mouse umbrella semper est in meo sacculo! Quis meam Mickeyem Mousem umbrellam habet? Sol non lucet, et pluit!”

Rhonda ad scholam ambulat. Pluit, sed Rhonda umbrellam non habet. Rhonda est madida (soaking wet). Quod Rhonda est madida (soaking wet), est irata! Rhonda dicit, “Hodie est primus dies scholae, et madida sum (I am soaking wet!). Sol non lucet, et pluit. Quis meam Mickey Mousem umbrellam habet?!”

Rhonda Carolem videt. Carol Mickeyem Mousem umbrellam habet! Rhonda est irata, et dicit, “Carol meam Mickeyem Mousem umbrellam habet! Sol non lucet, et pluit, et madida sum (I am soaking wet)!”

Rhonda Carolem pulsat, et umbrellam capit! Rhonda est laeta, quod habet Mickey Mousem umbrellam! Carol est tristis, et quod pluit, Carol est madida (soaking wet). Rhonda ridet, quod pluit, et Carol est madida (soaking wet).

Subito, Bob Rhondam videt, et dicit, “O Rhonda, habeo tuam Mickeyem Mousem umbrellam! Quod sol non lucet et pluit, cepi tuam (I took your) umbrellam!” Rhonda est laeta, quod habet DUAS Mickey Mouse umbrellas, sed Carol est irata, quod Rhonda cepit Mickey Mousem umbrellam. Carol displodit (explodes).

Today is the first day of school. Rhonda is sad. The sun is not shining, and it is raining. Rhonda is in her home. Rhonda does not want to go to school, because the sun is not shining, and it is raining. Rhonda does not have an umbrella. Rhonda says, "Where is my MIckey Mouse umbrella? My Mickey Mouse umbrella is not in my bookbag. My Mickey Mouse umbrella is always in my bookbag. Who has my Mickey Mouse umbrella? The sun is not shining, and it is raining!" 

Rhonda walks to school. It is raining, but Rhonda does not have an umbrella. Rhonda is soaking wet. Because Rhonda is soaking wet, she is angry. Rhonda says, "Today is the first day of school, and I am soaking wet! The sun is not shining, and it is raining. Who has my Mickey Mouse umbrella?!"

Rhonda sees Carol. Carol has a Mickey Mouse umbrella! Rhonda is angry, and she says, "Carol has my Mickey Mouse umbrella. The sun is not shining, and it is raining, and I am soaking wet!"

Rhonda punches Carol, and takes the umbrella. Rhonda is happy, because she has her Mickey Mouse umbrella. Carol is sad, and because it is raining, Carol is soaking wet. Rhonda laughs, because it is raining, and Carol is soaking wet.

Suddenly, Bob sees Rhonda, and he says, "O Rhonda, I have your Mickey Mouse umbrella! Because the sun is not shining, and it is raining, I took your umbrella!" Rhonda is happy, because she has TWO Mickey Mouse umbrellas, but Carol is angry, because Rhonda took her Mickey Mouse umbrella. Carol explodes.

Embedded/Tiered Reading Example

I am finishing up the second week of school - yep, here in Georgia, we start early. In my Latin 2 classes, I wanted to ease them back into reading with a very easy passage in order to make them feel successful, so I felt like doing an embedded/tirered reading would achieve that. Also because I am now doing a daily ritual of a "weather report," I felt like that particular vocabulary needed to go somewhere, so I included some of that in the reading. 

Tier 1

Latin: Sol non lucet, et pluit. Rhonda umbrellam non habet. Rhonda dicit, “Ubi est mea Mickey Mouse umbrella? Quis meam Mickeyem Mousem umbrellam habet?” Rhonda est madida. Rhonda est irata, quod pluit, et umbrellam non habet.

English: The sun is not shining. Rhonda does not have an umbrella. Rhonda says, "Where is my Mickey Mouse umbrella? Who has my Mickey Mouse umbrella? Rhonda is soaking wet. Rhonda is angry, because she does not have an umbrella.

Tier 2

Latin: Rhonda est tristis. Sol non lucet, et pluit. Rhonda est in domo. Rhonda umbrellam non habet. Rhonda dicit, “Ubi est mea Mickey Mouse umbrella? Mea Mickey Mouse umbrella non est in meo sacculo! Quis meam Mickeyem Mousem umbrellam habet?”

Pluit, sed Rhonda umbrellam non habet. Rhonda est madida (soaking wet). Quod Rhonda est madida, est irata!

Rhonda Carolem videt. Carol Mickeyem Mousem umbrellam habet! Rhonda est irata, et dicit, “Carol meam Mickeyem Mousem umbrellam habet! Sol non lucet, et pluit, et madida sum.

Rhonda Carolem pulsat, et umbrellam capit! Rhonda est laeta, quod habet Mickey Mousem umbrellam! Carol est tristis. Rhonda ridet.

English: Rhonda is sad. The sun is not shining, and it is raining. Rhonda is in her home. Rhonda does not have an umbrella. Rhonda says, "Where is my Mickey Mouse umbrella? My Mickey Mouse umbrella in not in my bookbag! Who has my Mickey Mouse umbrella?"

It is raining, but Rhonda does not have an umbrella. Rhonda is soaking wet. Because Rhonda is soaking wet, she is angry.

Rhonda sees Carol. Carol has a Mickey Mouse umbrella! Rhonda is angry and says, "Carol has my Mickey Mouse umbrella! The sun is not shining, and it is raining, and I am soaking wet!"

Rhonda punches Carol and takes the umbrella. Rhonda is happy, because she has her Mickey Mouse umbrella. Carol is sad. Rhonda laughs.

Tier 3

Hodie est primus dies scholae. Rhonda est tristis, quod sol non lucet, et pluit. Rhonda est in domo. Rhonda non vult ire ad scholam, quod sol non lucet, et pluit. Rhonda umbrellam non habet. Rhonda dicit, “Ubi est mea Mickey Mouse umbrella? Mea Mickey Mouse umbrella non est in meo sacculo! Mea Mickey Mouse umbrella semper est in meo sacculo! Quis meam Mickeyem Mousem umbrellam habet? Sol non lucet, et pluit!”

Rhonda ad scholam ambulat. Pluit, sed Rhonda umbrellam non habet. Rhonda est madida. Quod Rhonda est madida, est irata! Rhonda dicit, “Hodie est primus dies scholae, et madida sum. Sol non lucet, et pluit. Quis meam Mickey Mousem umbrellam habet?!”

Rhonda Carolem videt. Carol meam Mickeyem Mousem umbrellam habet! Rhonda est irata, et dicit, “Carol meam Mickeyem Mousem umbrellam habet! Sol non lucet, et pluit, et madida sum!”

Rhonda Carolem pulsat, et umbrellam capit! Rhonda est laeta, quod habet Mickey Mousem umbrellam! Carol est tristis, et quod pluit, Carol est madida. Rhonda ridet, quod pluit, et Carol est madida.

Subito, Bob Rhondam videt, et dicit, “O Rhonda, habeo tuam Mickeyem Mousem umbrellam! Quod sol non lucet et pluit, cepi tuam umbrellam!” Rhonda est laeta, quod habet DUAS Mickeyes Mouses umbrellas, sed Carol est irata, quod Rhonda cepit eius Mickey Mousem umbrellam. Carol displodit.

English: Today is the first day of school. Rhonda is sad, because the sun is not shining, and it is raining. Rhonda is in her home. Rhonda does not want to go to school today, because the sun is not shining, and it is raining Rhonda does not have an umbrella. Rhonda says, "Where is my Mickey Mouse umbrella? My Mickey Mouse umbrella in not in my bookbag! My umbrella is always in my bookbag. Who has my Mickey Mouse umbrella? The sun is not shining, and it is raining."

Rhonda walks to school. It is raining, but Rhonda does not have an umbrella. Rhonda is soaking wet. Because Rhonda is soaking wet, she is angry. Rhonda says, "Today is the first day of school, and I am soaking wet. The sun is not shining, and it is raining. Who has my Micky Mouse umbrella?!" 

Rhonda sees Carol. Carol has a Mickey Mouse umbrella! Rhonda is angry and says, "Carol has my Mickey Mouse umbrella! The sun is not shining, and it is raining, and I am soaking wet!"

Rhonda punches Carol and takes the umbrella. Rhonda is happy, because she has her Mickey Mouse umbrella. Carol is sad, and because it is raining, Carol is soaking wet. Rhonda laughs, because it is raining, and Carol is soaking wet.

Suddenly, Bob sees Rhonda, and says, "O Rhonda, I have your Mickey Mouse umbrella. Because the sun is not shining and it is raining, I took your umbrella!" Rhonda is happy, because she has TWO Mickey Mouse umbrellas, but Carol is angry, because Rhonda took her Mickey Mouse umbrella. Carol explodes.

Observations

1. Yes, the reading passage may seem very basic for the second week of Latin 2, but as I stated earlier, I wanted to give them a passage where students would feel successful right away reading it. I also wanted to get in lots of repetitions, especially of the weather words.
2.  Reading the passage as embedded readings, where new facts and details are added for each tier, keeps the passage novel and compelling.
3. For more information about embedded readings, check out the official Embedded Reading website.

Extensive Reading

I have been reflecting much on my Fluency Fast experience from last summer with the absolutely incredible Linda Li. I am amazed at the amount of Mandarin which I acquired through numerous activities and readings during those four days. Something which stands out to me from that 4-day class is that although we did lots of reading, Linda did not have us do any embedded readings. Instead, we focused on lots of various extensive readings - different stories which had much of the same limited vocabulary. Extensive reading allowed us to "circle the plane a bit" in various readings to focus on vocabulary/structures which we already knew; hence, we received continued reinforcement and repetitions of vocabulary/structures. Because there were different stories, it allowed for the readings to be compelling. As a class, through these extensive readings, we were receiving continued understandable messages through repetitions of vocabulary without being repetitive.

This is NOT to say that embedded readings do not have their place, because I firmly believe that they do. I am NOT saying that one is better than the other, as both do indeed serve their purposes in the delivery of understandable messages. However, in doing these different extensive readings in Mandarin, it helped keep things from becoming stale, instead of focusing on different tiers of the same story. And I can tell you that it got in the necessary repetitions which I needed.To quote Carol Gaab, "The brain craves novelty."

Reading (not translating/decoding) plays such an important part in language acquisition. As Krashen writes:

“Our reading ability, our ability to write in an acceptable writing style, our spelling ability, vocabulary knowledge, and our ability to handle complex syntax is the result of reading.”

Allow me an excursus here to define terms and to distinguish between extensive readings and intensive readings:

• extensive readings - tend to focus on the use of limited known vocabulary but not necessarily the grammatical use of this limited vocabulary. These types of readings are not typically found in textbooks but tend to focus on pleasure reading.
• intensive readings - tend to focus on a limited use of grammatical structures but uses an overwhelming amount of vocabulary (usually with lots of glossed words). This is the type of readings commonly found in textbooks, since textbooks usually are grammar/structure-dictated. How many times have we asked students to read a passage or story in the textbook which is way overloaded with vocabulary, which in turn results in student frustration? That is the result of most intensive readings.

Even if you think that extensive readings would be too easy for your students, since they have already acquired the words, consider that when we read for pleasure, we tend to read material which is BELOW our reading level; rarely do we read material at or above our reading level for pleasure. Plus, one can NEVER get in too many repetitions of acquired vocabulary/structures if the reading is compelling.

In my Latin 2 classes, we are reading the Perseus myth (level-appropriate reading), so last week, I introduced the fourth part of the story (as a screencast video) as an extensive reading without any new vocabulary (there were a few "icing" words/structures which were glossed but not necessary for students to know yet). I was surprised at how quickly students were able to read it and to comprehend what they read. When I asked students why, they replied "It was not that hard - we knew all of the words." I felt like responding, "Then good...my master plan is working."

How to create extensive readings
Extensive readings are actually not that difficult to create, but they require having a set list of vocabulary from which to draw and a good eye from you as the teacher for lesson planning.

1. Determine a point in your curriculum where you want to "circle the plane a bit" and to focus on a set amount of acquired vocabulary/structures. Sometimes, it may be necessary to gloss vocabulary if needed for the reading, but do not go overboard with this.
2. Just start writing a story using words from the list. It is possible to be compelling with a set amount of sheltered vocabulary words. Dr. Seuss proved this with Green Eggs and Ham, which only has 50 unique words in the entire book. Yet, it is still incredibly compelling, and consider how many repetitions there are in the story!
3. Extensive readings do not have to be long, i.e., they do not have to be novellas! They just need to be comprehensible and compelling! I do not think that I could ever write a novella, because although I can write in a compelling manner, I cannot maintain it beyond a very short vignette. I truthfully tell my students that if the reading ends with someone exploding, it meant that either I became bored while writing it or I could not figure out where to go next.
4. Extensive reading can actually serve as great supplements for textbook readings, since textbooks have a set list of words for each chapter. Just do not feel the need for students to acquire every single word on that list - pick high frequency words, and implement Carrie Toth's Chuck-It Bucket process.
5. Latin teachers, if you are using a reading approach textbook with stories, extensive readings are GREAT for creating new stories involving those characters. When I was using Cambridge Latin Course, I would write up short extensive readings about various characters, such as what really happened to Grumio after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius; a short, "Hannah Montana-inspired" 3-part story called Stella Metella; and a story about why Quintus drinks so much in the triclinio and how the family eventually holds an intervention. Just be careful about putting these readings on the web, since that is a violation of textbook copyright...
6. To me, extensive readings would be great for Free Voluntary Reading (FVR)/Silent Student Reading (SSR) if you had a library of these types of readings from which for students to choose.

John Piazza, a fellow CI Latin teacher in CA, just recently had an article published in Teaching Classical Languages which addresses Beginner Latin Novels. In it, he also discusses extensive reading vs. intensive reading. Even if you are not a Latin teacher, it is a very good read!

Embedded Reading, part 2

This is part 2 of a series on Embedded Reading.


An earlier post ended with a dilemma regarding Embedded Reading. During the 6th week of 1st semester, in one of my Latin III classes, we had just finished reading version #1 of a story from the textbook and now I was ready for the class to read version #2 of that embedded reading, a slightly more difficult version but still readable and comprehensible. When I told the class this, one of my students yelled out, "Again? It really was not that interesting the first time we read it!'

And he was 100% correct. Though the reading was comprehensible and understandable, one incredibly necessary factor had been left out: the story itself was not compelling, i.e. the plot was not interesting enough to keep students' attention. Noted CI/TPRS writer and presenter Carol Gaab says, "COMPELLING input is just as important as COMPREHENSIBLE input." So I found myself in a dilemma: I wanted students to read in a scaffolded manner, but what to do since, even though the stories were now easier to read, students found the stories themselves boring? 

Meanwhile, at the same time, I found that students really liked the short stories which I had written as dictationes (I will admit, I have a weird sense of humor. And since in a dictatio, I am trying to force rather random vocabulary words in a story for the purpose of previewing those words in a context, the story itself seems rather random yet compelling). A number of students truly began to ask for the "back story" and wanted me to "fill in the gaps" about some of the characters and plot, and quite honestly, I had never thought of doing anything further with the plots in dictationes. Plus, with a dictatio, I was bound by keeoing the plot to 8-9 sentences - what if I were to expand the dictatio into a form of embedded reading?

So there began my own experiment with embedded readings - what if the dictatio itself served as version #1 of the story, and version #2 expanded upon the dictatio, with the actual sentences of the dictatio embedded in it, and the final version had version #2 embedded in it? if this were the case, then the compelling factor would have to be the new parts of the plot which students hopefully were anticipating?

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, what I was wanting to do was actually part of what Embedded Readings are! New details are added in subsequent versions, because 

1. students are ready to read longer versions after reading shorter versions and 
2. the new information is what keeps the various versions compelling. 

Even though I had come to this conclusion on my own, I felt so much better when I learned this and that I was not going "rogue" by doing this experiment. So Laurie Clarcq and Michelle Whaley (co-developers of this strategy), embedded readings have been verified by an outside independent source!

Essentially, there are two different types of Embedded Reading: 

From the Top Down - this is taking a longer, more complex reading and "whittling" it down to a base version, which is easier to read (grammatically, number of sentences, superfluous details are left out), and then building from that base version to a more complex version and so on until students are ready to read the original unadapted version.

From the Bottom Up - this is creating a base story of a few sentences or so and then building upon that version by adding more details and language structures and so on until students come to the final version of the story.

My first attempts at embedded readings were From the Top Down, and my students did not seem to enjoy those because of the lack of compelling plot. What I began to do instead were From the Bottom Up, which allowed for me to control the structures and to create a compelling plot.

Here is an excerpt of a From the Bottom Up embedded reading which I created:

Version #1

olim Abby pessimum morbum habebat, sed non remedium habebat. Abby nunc maximos oculos et maximas aures habebat. Merlena erat crudelis puella et semper Abbyem deridebat. 

Version #2

olim Abby pessimum morbum habebat sed non remedium habebat. Abby non pecuniam habebat. Abby nunc maximos oculos et maximas aures habebat. Abby temptavit celare suos maximos oculos et maximas aures. Merlena, quae erat crudelis puella, semper Abbyem deridebat. Merlena Abbyem derisit, dicens, “tuae aures sunt maximae, sicut aures elephanti! tui oculi sunt maximae."

Version #3

olim Abby pessimum habebat, sed non remedium habebat. Abby non multam pecuniam habebat, quod autoraedam emerat. propter pessimum morbum, Abby nunc maximos oculos et maximas aures habebat. propter maximas aures, Abby temptavit gerere petasum, sed aures erant maximi. propter maximos oculos, Abby temptavit gerere perspicilla, sed oculi erant maximi. propter maximas aures et oculos, Abby discedere domum noluit. Merlena, quae erat crudelis puella, semper Abbyem deridebat. Merlena Abbyem deridere solebat, dicens, “tuae aures sunt maximae, sicut aures elephanti, sicut Dumbo! tui oculi sunt maximi, sicut plena luna! nemo te amat!"

Observations

1. The addition of new bits of the plot and personalizing the story by making students the characters for each version definitely made it more compelling for students to read.
2. Because the original versions were embedded in the final version, the final version was much easier to read, and students read it at a much faster pace. Even though the story appeared to be longer, the length of the story due to its apparent "ease" did not deter students.
3. Even though my stories were embedded, I need to do a MUCH better job at limiting the amount of vocabulary in the stories. Although the reading is embedded, in many ways, it is still an intensive reading (too much vocabulary and language structures) instead of an extensive reading (limited vocabulary and language structures with much repetition)
4. The embedding allowed for more meaningful repetitions of the language

So how does one create a From the Bottom Up embedded reading? As Laurie Clarcq and Michelle Whaley presented last week in their workshop:

1. Pick 3 language structures/vocabulary words on which you want to focus.
2. Write a short story of 3-4 sentences involving them - that will serve as your base story
3. Now WITHIN your base story, add 3-4 more sentences with new details. Do not just add the new details to the very end, because then students will not read the beginning, and the purpose is for students to re-read the story in order to get in more repetitions of the language. Try to repeat those language structures. Also, change the wording some of your first sentence so that students think it is a new version/story.
4. Now with the new version, add 3-4 more sentences with new details. You can start combining sentences/varying up the already existing sentences with new structures, as students are already familiar with the vocabulary, but again try to repeat those 3 language structures in the new details.
5. Continue until you feel the version which you have is complete. In my opinion, four versions are enough.

So give embedded readings a try - they actually do work! So what are some ways to get students to read them? I'll save that for future posts.

Embedded Reading, Part 1

The following is the first of a two-part series

One of Krashen's main tenets is the importance of reading and how that is a major contributor in language acquisition. Now in modern language classes, reading is not addressed enough, but in Latin classes, it seems like that is ALL WE DO!

I use CLC, which is a textbook based on reading methodology. I love the stories in stages 1-9, as they are fun passages and something which students can read easily. Students like the characters, and these particular readings are quite comprehensible and compelling. Somewhere, however, around stage 10, the readings suddenly become long and actually quite complex grammatically and vocabulary-wise for students, and what ends up happening is that students go from reading the stories to now translating/decoding them. Definitely by the time students reach the Unit 2 and 3 books, the readings are quite long, and students immediately become overwhelmed by the sheer length of them.

About a year ago, I learned about something called embedded readings, which are simply scaffolded versions of the same story, beginning with a simplified version, with progressively more difficult versions in between and eventually ending with the original text; in other words, in each of the versions, the previous text has been "embedded" in it. At ACTFL last November, I had the opportunity to see Laurie Clarcq, who has a website dedicated to embedded readings, present on this topic. 

Now prior to having a class read a passage, the understanding is that you as the teacher have already previewed any new vocabulary or structures so that nothing "new" pops up in the reading, thereby allowing students to read and not translate/decode.

Creating embedded readings is actually quite easy: 

1. Take the original text, and create the most simplified version of it, grammatically, vocabulary, etc. Now it may be that you do not include every single point of the original version but what you want is a very comprehensible and understandable version of the original version. 
2. Now create a version which is between the simplified version and the original text in terms of difficulty. The simplified text is "embedded" in this version but maybe now appears in a more complex grammatical construction or as part of a subordinate clause in a longer sentence.
3. End with the original version of the story. It may be that another interim version is needed before having students read the original version depending on the complexity.

Here is an example of an embedded passage from stage 29 CLC (passive voice is the language structure being introduced):

Embedded Version #1

Erat nox. luna et stellae fulgebant (were shining) in caelo. homines quiescebant (were resting). sed erat non quies (quiet) in Roma; erat non silentium in Roma. dives (rich) homines habitabant in magnis domibus, et consumebant cenas splendidas. servi cibum sumptuosum offerebant. ancillae optimum vinum fundebant et cantabant carmina. sed in altis insulis (apartment buildings), homines non cenas splendidas consumebant. homines audiebant non carmina. 

Embedded Version #2

nox erat. luna et stellae fulgebant (were shining) in caelo. erat tempus quo (when) homines quiescere solent (are accustomed to rest). Romae (in Roma) tamen erat nulla (not any) quies, erat nulla silentium. in magnis domibus, dives (rich) homines habitabant: 

• homines consumebant cenas splendidas; cenae splendidae consumebantur a (by) hominibus; 
• servi offerebant cibum sumptuosum (sumptuous); cibus sumptuosus offerebatur a servis; 
• servi fundebant optimum vinum; optimum vinum a servis fundebatur. 
• homines cantabant carmina; carmina cantabantur ab hominibus

in altis insulis (apartment buildings): 

• homines non consumebant cenas splendidas; nullae cenae splendidae consumebantur; 
• nemo audiebat carmina; nulla carmina audiebantur. 

Original

nox erat. luna stellaeque in caelo fulgebant. tempus erat quo homines quiescere solent. Romae (in Roma) tamen nulla erat quies, nulla silentium. magnis in domibus, ubi dives homines habitabant, cenae splendidae consumebantur. cibus sumptuosus a servis offerebatur. optimum vinum ab ancillis fundebatur. carmina cantabantur. in altis insulis (apartment buildings), nullae cenae splendidae consumebantur. nulla carmina audiebantur.

Another form of embedded reading is an enodatio (an untying of a knot), where the Latin passage is put back into an English word order. This is a technique which I learned from Nancy Llewellyn.

Embedded Version #1 of Aeneid, Book 1, lines 419-429, 437 

Aeneas miratur molem in Karthagō - molēs erant quondam magalia, sed nunc sunt moles. Aeneas quoque miratur portās, strepitum urbis et strata viārum. Tyriī sunt ardentēs, et instant: pars Tyriī ducunt murōs, pars Tyriī aedificant arcem, et pars Tyriī subvolvunt saxa manibus; pars Tyriī quaerunt locum domō, et concludunt locum sulcō. Tyriī legunt iura, magistratūs et sanctum senatum. Hic, aliī effodiunt portus. hic, aliī locant alta fundamenta theatrīs. Tyriī excidunt immanēs columnās e rupibus. columnae sunt alta decora scaenīs futurīs. Aeneas dicit, “O fortunatī sunt homines quorum moenia iam surgunt!”

Embedded Version #2 of Aeneid, Book 1, lines 419-429, 437

I. Aeneas miratur

A. molem (quondam magalia) et
B. portas et

C. strepitum(que)

D. et strata viarum

II. ardentes Tyrii instant

III. pars (Tyrii)

A. ducere muros
B. et moliri arcem et

C. subvolvere saxa manibus

IV. pars optare locum tecto et concludere sulco.            

V. (Tyrii) legunt

A. iura et

B. magistratus et

C. sanctum senatum

VI. hic, alii (Tyrii) effodiunt portus

VII. hic, (alii Tyrii) locant alta fundamenta theatris

VIII. (alii Tyrii) excidunt immanis columnas (e) rupibus scaenis decora alta futuris

IX. Aeneas ait, “O fortunati (homines), quorum moenia iam surgunt!”

Original version of Aeneid, Book 1, lines 419-429, 437

miratur molem Aeneas, magalia quondam,
miratur portas strepitumque et strata viarum.
Instant ardentes Tyrii: pars ducere muros,
molirique arcem et manibus subvolvere saxa,
pars optare locum tecto et concludere sulco.               5

iura magistratusque legunt sanctumque senatum;        

hic portus alii effodiunt; hic alta theatris
fundamenta locant alii, immanisque columnas
rupibus excidunt, scaenis decora alta futuris.

'O fortunati, quorum iam moenia surgunt!'...               10
Aeneas ait, et fastigia suspicit urbis

Now some may argue that I have destroyed the original Latin word order by forcing an English word order on it and that students need to learn how to read Latin from left to right - I will grant you that. BUT my primary concern is establishing meaning FIRST. Above all, that is of utmost importance.

Observations

• Due to the scaffolding nature of the stories, it greatly lowers students' affective filters regarding the reading itself. Handing students the original text probably would overwhelm them if it were too difficult or too long.
• Because students are reading multiple scaffolded versions of the same story, they are already familiar with what they are reading, thereby, they can anticipate vocabulary and language structures
• Due to the re-reading, students are getting plenty of meaningful/contextual repetitions of the language

So this past year, I began doing embedded readings with my students. In one particular Latin III class, after they had read a simplified version of a story, I told them that they were now going to read the same story but the next version was just a bit more complex grammatically and longer in length. As soon as I said that, a student yelled out, "But the first version really wasn't that interesting the first time we read it!" As I thought about what he said, I realized that he was right...so I began to put my own twist on embedded readings

What did I do? This will be addressed in my next posting.