ginlindzey

I had one of those wing-it sort of mornings.  Not totally winging it, but we have mandatory/state testing this week and I knew trying to get written work out of students would be tough.  I knew I wanted to work on neuters.  We are wrapping up stage 17 and I have a bit more time this year to teach and explain things in this chapter.  It's felt good not to be as rushed.

Anyway, after a warm-up of singing the Endless Noun Ending Song and practicing declining neuters, I shifted over to students working in groups on white boards.  I had a PowerPoint that I was building as I was teaching (NOT the way to do it, but one does what one has to when one's weekend does NOT go as planned).  On each screen was a different sentence with the neuter in all caps.  They had to tell me whether it was nominative or accusative.  This is something they will be tested on later explicitly, so it was time to get their wee brains thinking.  I ended up with a decent progression of sentences and concepts.  See what you think:

1. ego et Clēmēns, postquam ad urbem pervēnimus, TEMPLUM vīdimus.
   • ACCUSATIVE  (nom + acc + verb)       
   • Clemens and I, after we arrived at the city, saw a temple.
2. LONGUM  ITER iam fēcimus.
   • ACCUSATIVE
   • We already made a long journey.
   • Did you forget to check your verb?
3. nunc festīnāre dēbēmus, quod iter LONGUM est.
   • NOM!  Est takes the twin noms!
   • Now we ought to hurry because the journey is long.
   • Did you forget to check your verb?
4. subitō MŌNSTUM TERRIBILE in caelō appāruit.
   • NOM!  Nom + prep phrase + verb.
   • Suddenly a terrible monster appeared in the sky.
   • What gender is terribile???
   • Yes, of course, NEUTER…. That means….
5. NECESSE est nōbīs casam intrāre (et perīculum vītāre).
   • STILL NEUTER and NOM! 
     Necesse est + dat + infinitive.
   • It is necessary for us to enter the house and avoid the danger.
   • So what is the neuter noun—or what is ACTING as a neuter noun????
   • THE INFINITIVE ACTS AS A NEUTER NOUN!!!
6. commodum est mihi ad templum Serāpidis īre.  (2 in one—give me the case of both AND WHY)
   • commodum STILL NEUTER and NOM! 
     commodum  est + dat + (prep phrase) + infinitive.
   • templum is ACCUSATIVE with AD.
   • It is convenient for me to go to the temple of Serapis.
   • How much help can prepositions give us?
7. What are other prepositions that take accusative objects?
   • ad templum
   • ad litus – to the shore
   • prope litus – near shore
   • prope agmen – near the procession
   • ad caput – to the head
   • Therefore, prepositions help us recognize neuters or 3rd declension. What other cues do we have?
8. What about  hic, haec, HOC? Look for the short O in hoc which makes it NEUTER.
   • mercātor, postquam HOC MŌNSTRUM vīdit, ad terram exanimātus prōcubuit.
   • tacēte vōs, quī hoc sacrificium vidēre vultis!
   • ubi hoc audīvī, magis timēbam.
9. hic, haec, HOC – more comparisons. What gender is templum, urbem, and puerum?
   • ad hoc templum, quod Augustus Caesar prope litus aedificāverat, festīnāvimus.
   • PROPE HANC URBEM habitābat Barbillus, vir dīves.
   • Barbillus, vir benignus, mihi hunc puerum dedit.

I'd like to write more about this because I felt that even though class was somewhat on the fly, that it was a good class and we covered simple to complex things (infinitives as neuter verbal nouns, no less!), so something for everyone.  I keep saying this was on the fly, but I did comb through stage 17 last night looking for ALL sentences with neuter words to see what I could glean from them--what I could demonstrate and teach more clearly via comparisons and contrasts.  As always, CLC is just LOADED with good and useful examples. 

But now, I must go ponder stuff for my AP students, Latin 3, and Latin 2.  Lots to do.