ginlindzey (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ginlindzey) wrote2008-08-16 04:55 pm
ginlindzey) wrote2008-08-16 04:55 pm
Entry tags:
Thinking Out Loudabout Oral Recitations for Vergil
I'm in the process of working out some kinks in what I want to do for oral recitation in my AP Vergil class. I thought I'd do some thinking out loud, so to speak. Writing out what I want to do helps me, and perhaps following my train of thought will help some of you--or you can suggest where you think my thinking is faulty.
At the moment I have written into the syllabus that students will be doing oral recitations two times each 9 week period (4 a semester, 8 a year). I personally believe that learning how read whole PASSAGES well out loud is important. The Romans never read silently. This literature was meant to be heard. And I also think it aides in developing a more natural sense and appreciation of the Latin language. And...well...I just feel it's the right thing to do. Whatever.
Soooo....
I have the first passage I want to use picked out from 1.36-49
cum Iūnō, aeternum servāns sub pectore vulnus,
haec sēcum: “Mēne inceptō dēsistere victam
nec posse Ītaliā Teucrōrum āvertere rēgem—
quippe vetor fātīs! Pallasne exūrere classem
Argīvum atque ipsōs potuit summergere pontō
ūnius ob noxam et furiās Aiācis Oīleī?
Ipsa, Iovis rapidum iaculāta ē nūbibus ignem,
disiēcitque ratēs ēvertitque aequora ventīs,
illum expīrantem trānsfīxō pectore flammās
turbine corripuit scopulōque īnfīxit acūtō;
ast ego, quae dīvum incēdō rēgīna Iovisque
et soror et coniūnx, ūnā cum gente tot annōs
bella gerō. Et quisquam nūmen Iūnōnis adōrat
praetereā aut supplex ārīs impōnet honorem?”
The question is, HOW do I want to grade this? In fact, what IS my ultimate goal?
Well, first I went to http://www.txclassics.org/OralExam.pdf for the "Oral Skills and Reading Proficiency in the Latin Curriculum: Plan of Oral Exam for Certifying Latin Teachers." This document was written in the late 1980s to go with the ExCET test for Latin because at the time we had been told that there was going to be an oral component. I personally think it is a very practical approach to what you need to be a Latin teacher. It doesn't include conversational stuff which freaks everyone out.
Anyway, I'm not sure I like the rubric that's on the above PDF file. Here is what's on the PDF with regards to grading the recitation:
****
The question is, HOW do I want to grade this? In fact, what IS my ultimate goal?
Well, first I went to http://www.txclassics.org/OralExam.pdf for the "Oral Skills and Reading Proficiency in the Latin Curriculum: Plan of Oral Exam for Certifying Latin Teachers." This document was written in the late 1980s to go with the ExCET test for Latin because at the time we had been told that there was going to be an oral component. I personally think it is a very practical approach to what you need to be a Latin teacher. It doesn't include conversational stuff which freaks everyone out.
Anyway, I'm not sure I like the rubric that's on the above PDF file. Here is what's on the PDF with regards to grading the recitation:
****
Oral Reading – Poetry. Points will be given as follows:
Communicative Competense (Phrasing and Expression) 0 30 45 60
Mechanics of Pronunciation
• Vowel quality and quantity
• Consonant quality
• Word Accent/Rhythm & meter 40 points total
For any word with one or more errors in vowel quality, consonant quality, or rhythm and
meter, ½ point will be deducted from the 40 point total.
For repeated, specific errors, such as:
• failure to pronounce double consonants
• mispronunciation of “r” or of “gn”
• repeated mispronunciation of a single word (such as anglicizing Hercules or mangling spelunca)
• incorrect word accent on imperfect tense verbs (e.g. ha΄bēbat rather than habē΄bat)
• failure to elide (poetry only)
a maximum of 1 point total will be deducted, regardless of how many times a specific error is
repeated. Note: Whether to count an error in a word as one of a set of repeated, specific errors
or as an isolated error will be within the discretion of the graders of the exam.
****
Ok, so let's examine what's here because maybe it is usable. This rubric is saying that the overall reading--expressiveness and interpretation is more important than nitpicky perfection in pronunciation. I can appreciate that, even for all the importance I put on pronunciation. I'd rather an expressive reading than one that has perfect pronunciation but is robotic and dull. The choice for points awarded--0, 30, 45, 60--seems limited. I wouldn't want to penalize a student by 15 points! I doubt my students will be as dramatic as I am and I think there needs to be clarification here.
For instance, we could break this down to at least two things--phrasing and interpretation. I think phrasing is so important and that a person could have excellent phrasing, demonstrating a comprehension of the passage, but a flat and unexpressive reading. I guess the next question for me would be how should these things be weighted. Perhaps 40/20? The nice thing about that is that students would feel that less of this is subjective. After all, phrasing you can identify either by punctuation or word order. There's a concrete aspect to this. Expression is a bit more subjective.
Ok, so 40 points for phrasing. But how will the points be awarded or deducted? The mechanics of pronunciation, etc, are using .5 pt per mistake--but then, that includes accent and meter too. That's up to 80 things that could be counted wrong--and considering the passages are suggested to be 80-100 words long, it is actually possible to get a zero. HIGHLY UNLIKELY but possible. What about 3 pts for phrasing mistakes? Too much? There are 15 lines in the above passage which, times 3, would give us 45... more than the 40 points. And I guess I'm assuming that it's unlikely that there would be more than 1 phrasing mistake per line. Maybe I should consider the possibility of 2 phrasing mistakes per line, thus 30 items...maybe 1.5 pts per mistake? That would equal 45 pts. Well, maybe phrasing SHOULD be 45 and expression 15. It can be the icing on the cake.
So, how to score the expression portion...
0 = you suck and I'm not even sure you're alive
3 = thanks for trying, I just barely notice that you expressed feeling with a couple of obvious words
6 = you have some expression, but it's not like you care enough
9 = good, I think there's an actor in there somewhere, but you're still worried about what others are thinking
12=very good but you could reach for the gold if let go
15=extraordinary, you should be famous
Ok, that's a little cocky. But technically it's just a 5 pt scale from good to bad. (Plus the zero thrown in.)
But that could work, right?
Phrasing = 45
Expression/Interpretation = 15
Mechanics = 40
Hmmmm....
I think that might work.
NOW, the other thing.... I'm thinking for the 1st semester I'll let the students read off of a sheet with macrons but NOT in the 2nd semester. Why? To demonstrate to students that by making a healthy habit all year long of reading out loud that you can read without macrons as you internally assimilate the Vergilian vocabulary. This should actually develop confidence in facing the AP test without macrons.
So I was thinking maybe during the 1st 9 weeks I'd let them do their two readings using their own sheets with macrons and any other things they want to write on it--meter, phrasing, accent marks, ANYTHING.
2nd 9 weeks on the day of the recitation I'd give them a clean sheet with macrons and I'd give them a few minutes (maybe up to 5) to mark anything they want to on it before reciting, though they can use NO NOTES OR BOOKS. Kind of like a test.
3rd 9 weeks on the day of the recitation I'd give them a clean sheet WITHOUT MACRONS and the rest like the 2nd 9 weeks.
4th 9 weeks I would not tell them what the passage was going to be (while with the previous 3 nine weeks I would give them the specific passage in advance) but simply tell them it will be from the last 2 or 3 weeks of their readings. On the day of the recitation I'd give them a clean sheet without macrons (like above).
Oh.... I just realized I've got this written down by 9 week grading periods whereas the AP test comes earlier.... well, I'll just refine this to match my syllabus, which I don't have out in front of me.
Right. I've rambled enough about this. Time to figure out how to write this up for the students. Then I really need to get onto some review materials for the OTHER classes for the first week of school.
****
Ok, so let's examine what's here because maybe it is usable. This rubric is saying that the overall reading--expressiveness and interpretation is more important than nitpicky perfection in pronunciation. I can appreciate that, even for all the importance I put on pronunciation. I'd rather an expressive reading than one that has perfect pronunciation but is robotic and dull. The choice for points awarded--0, 30, 45, 60--seems limited. I wouldn't want to penalize a student by 15 points! I doubt my students will be as dramatic as I am and I think there needs to be clarification here.
For instance, we could break this down to at least two things--phrasing and interpretation. I think phrasing is so important and that a person could have excellent phrasing, demonstrating a comprehension of the passage, but a flat and unexpressive reading. I guess the next question for me would be how should these things be weighted. Perhaps 40/20? The nice thing about that is that students would feel that less of this is subjective. After all, phrasing you can identify either by punctuation or word order. There's a concrete aspect to this. Expression is a bit more subjective.
Ok, so 40 points for phrasing. But how will the points be awarded or deducted? The mechanics of pronunciation, etc, are using .5 pt per mistake--but then, that includes accent and meter too. That's up to 80 things that could be counted wrong--and considering the passages are suggested to be 80-100 words long, it is actually possible to get a zero. HIGHLY UNLIKELY but possible. What about 3 pts for phrasing mistakes? Too much? There are 15 lines in the above passage which, times 3, would give us 45... more than the 40 points. And I guess I'm assuming that it's unlikely that there would be more than 1 phrasing mistake per line. Maybe I should consider the possibility of 2 phrasing mistakes per line, thus 30 items...maybe 1.5 pts per mistake? That would equal 45 pts. Well, maybe phrasing SHOULD be 45 and expression 15. It can be the icing on the cake.
So, how to score the expression portion...
0 = you suck and I'm not even sure you're alive
3 = thanks for trying, I just barely notice that you expressed feeling with a couple of obvious words
6 = you have some expression, but it's not like you care enough
9 = good, I think there's an actor in there somewhere, but you're still worried about what others are thinking
12=very good but you could reach for the gold if let go
15=extraordinary, you should be famous
Ok, that's a little cocky. But technically it's just a 5 pt scale from good to bad. (Plus the zero thrown in.)
But that could work, right?
Phrasing = 45
Expression/Interpretation = 15
Mechanics = 40
Hmmmm....
I think that might work.
NOW, the other thing.... I'm thinking for the 1st semester I'll let the students read off of a sheet with macrons but NOT in the 2nd semester. Why? To demonstrate to students that by making a healthy habit all year long of reading out loud that you can read without macrons as you internally assimilate the Vergilian vocabulary. This should actually develop confidence in facing the AP test without macrons.
So I was thinking maybe during the 1st 9 weeks I'd let them do their two readings using their own sheets with macrons and any other things they want to write on it--meter, phrasing, accent marks, ANYTHING.
2nd 9 weeks on the day of the recitation I'd give them a clean sheet with macrons and I'd give them a few minutes (maybe up to 5) to mark anything they want to on it before reciting, though they can use NO NOTES OR BOOKS. Kind of like a test.
3rd 9 weeks on the day of the recitation I'd give them a clean sheet WITHOUT MACRONS and the rest like the 2nd 9 weeks.
4th 9 weeks I would not tell them what the passage was going to be (while with the previous 3 nine weeks I would give them the specific passage in advance) but simply tell them it will be from the last 2 or 3 weeks of their readings. On the day of the recitation I'd give them a clean sheet without macrons (like above).
Oh.... I just realized I've got this written down by 9 week grading periods whereas the AP test comes earlier.... well, I'll just refine this to match my syllabus, which I don't have out in front of me.
Right. I've rambled enough about this. Time to figure out how to write this up for the students. Then I really need to get onto some review materials for the OTHER classes for the first week of school.
section leader
(Anonymous) 2008-08-26 05:22 pm (UTC)(link)suggestion: in band class student learn a piece of music in their sections(all the flutes together). The best student flautist is the leader. The object to achieve a uniformity of results that matches the music on the page. It works kind of like a "reading circle" with immediate feedback. The students work together until all are ready to try out before the teacher either chorally or individually.
ken