Seventh Grade Latin

In this section: Spanish Overview 7th grade Latin 8th grade Latin

Philosophy and Overview

The seventh grade lingua latina class is designed as an introduction to the language as well as to instill mastery of the fundamental Latin syntactic structures and beginning vocabulary. Although developing conversational skills is not a primary objective, it will be developed as appropriate to the language. Students will be asked to think as linguists as they begin to study the complexities of an inflected language not dependent upon word order. Classical pronunciation will be used throughout the course.

Students will also work on developing English vocabulary from prefixes, suffixes and roots in Latin. Each week time will be devoted to English derivatives and their meanings. Students will also be exposed to many cultural aspects of ancient Rome, including its history, arts and literature, government, and aspects of the lives of ordinary Romans. Comparisons with other cultures, including our own, will enrich their understanding of the classical period . Attention will be drawn to commonplace Latin phrases in modern English as well as the use of Latin words and phrases in printed materials in newspapers, books and other sources.

Goals and Objectives

• To help students understand linguistic concepts such as word order, inflection, assimilation, elision, agreement, case and gender.
• To master the following fundamentals of the Latin language:
  • forms for first, second and third declension nouns and adjectives in all cases
  • all six verb tenses in the indicative, active and passive voice
  • preposition use with ablative and accusative cases
  • vocative and imperative; and formation of adverbs
  • a working vocabulary in Latin to enable students to write and and read at the beginning levels
• To understand the connections between Latin and English and to enhance the knowledge of English vocabulary and grammar through the study of Latin.

Texts and Materials

Jenney, Charles. First Year Latin (Prentice Hall).

Supplemental materials as necessary.