Read or share Classical Greek teaching materials, such as lesson plans, teaching tips, pedagogical strategies, exercises, work sheets, sample quizzes and exams, projects, reviews of books, videos, and computer programs of use to Greek teachers, at Greek Teachers' Corner.
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You had asked a while back for me to write up a short description of my new Greek class.
Greek Language and Literature will be a one-year Honors course for secondary school juniors and seniors. Since it is difficult, even for the best students, to learn Greek in one year with sufficient competency to read anything substantial in only a year, my approach to the class is to intersperse Greek language with English selections of Greek authors. I intend to read selections from Herodotus, a play by Aristophanes, another by a tragedian (Im looking into the English department syllabus, to do something theyre not), some Greek poets (including Alcaeus, Simonides, and Sappho), Platos Apology, and the Life of Alcibiades from Plutarch. Ill be interspersing this with Greek from Athenaze; the idea here is to whet the students curiosity for Greek, enough that they might study it more seriously in college. An eventual hope is to design a class structure so that the last section of the class can be to translate some actual Homerthe vocabulary is restricted enough to make that a possibility, and I may be able to tailor grammar lessons toward whatever passage I choose.
Greek is offered as a year long course to Seniors who have generally studied several years of Latin (usually through Virgil). The course is not being offered this year due to a small enrollment (2!) but will hopefully return next year. We did not use a single text, but rather a combination of Athenaze and Crosby & Schaeffer with readings from Nairn and Duckworth.
I do a 1 to 2 week study of Greek halfway through Latin 3 (sophomore year), between Ciceros First Catilinarian Oration and letters of Pliny the Younger. We study the alphabet, certain vocabulary, Greek literary history, etc.
I would benefit from a book that was aimed at students with a background in Latin and an understanding of inflected language who would take a year long course teaching Greek syntax and vocabulary that worked toward understanding Homer and studying bits of the Iliad and Odyssey.
Greek 1 - 40
Greek 2 - 25
Greek 3 - 8
Something that would combine the excellences of Athenaze with the simplicity of, say, Thrasymachus. Also an accompanying workbook. One shortcoming of Athenaze - waits too long to introduce other tenses, and moods, for that matter.
Also - the Teach Yourself series presents lessons that are admirably self-contained, and self-containment is important in a non-traditional course.
Greek I - 45 students, Athenaze I
Greek II - 20 students, Athenaze II plus handouts
Greek III - Homeric Academy - Odyssey / handouts
I would like to help with a new edition of an Athenaze type book. More emphasis on the Greek verb; stories dealing with history, mythology, more grammar exercises.
Thank you
Paul Moynahan
I myself teach Greek (independently - after school/2 students once a week). Texts: Athenaze & Little Studies in Greek. I also spend about 1 day a week or in spots in Latin 5 (Vergil) (grade 11) teaching (using) Greek to these 33 students. No text used (citing from Homer to Euripides).
Greek 25 (1) (8th - 10th grade)
Current text: From Alpha to Omega, Anne Groton
enrollment: 8
Greek 45 (2)
Current text: Introduction to Attic Greek, Don Mastronarde
enrollment: 8
Greek 65 (3)
Current text: Athenaze
enrollment: 3
As you can see my dept. has been experimenting with a new text each year. The Mastronarde is clearly not suited for high school.
2000/2001
Greek 3, Iliad, 7 students
Benner,Selections from Homers Iliad - All except for Achilles Shield*, plus Book 7, photocopied from Oxford text
Greek 4, entire Sophocles Ajax; and Philoctetes, ed. Webster; entire Euripides Hippolytos, ed. Hamilton, Bryn Mawr Press.
Also selections from Agamemnon, Aeschylos; Thucydides Peloponnesian War; Pindars Odes
(2001/02 should bring a Greek I
Chase & Phillips, A New Introduction to Greek
Freeman & Lowe, Greek Reader
Alex Banay
Middlesex School
1400 Lowell Road
Concord, MA 01742
Our curriculum book makes reference to Greek I, II, and III, in parallel with the core offerings in the other languages, so that in theory a student could fulfill our schools 3-year language requirement in Greek. In practice, our Greek students almost always either are taking or have taken another language, and we rarely have the opportunity to teach a Greek III. We use Thrasymachus for I, and for II resume the latter end of Thrasymachus and then graduate to Homer.
We are lucky enough to be able to schedule Greek in the regular day.
We use Little Studies in Greek; the students like it; we do the alphabet and read some of the lessons in Greek.
Classical Greek I
One person, hopefully more soon
Athenaze
I have been teaching a non-traditional class (I should say classes) of Greek since a 1985 Summer Session at Bowdoin. I allow girls who have completed one year of Latin to take the course once a week, and when a full period is not possible I give two mornings before school. Presently I am teaching the second year book of the Athenaze series as well as the First Year to the beginners. Last year I completed the second year book with my advanced group. My enrollment has varied because of labs or transportation. Up until this year I had 3 groups of 5, 8, 6 respectively. This year I have 2 groups of 3 and 4 respectively because of the reasons mentioned above.
I have been using the Athenaze series, which I enjoy. If I had a regular class I would perhaps want a more comprehensive text. This is enjoyable for the girls.
Two of my former students are now mastering in Classics, one at Harvard and the other at Wellesley. The latter has the reputation of being one of the finest students in her class. Of course this young lady was a very diligent student. I have one wish only: to have a regular class some day. My years undoubtedly are numbered as this is my 49th year of teaching. One of my goals in retiring is to be able to read fluently.
Greek 1 - often Thrasymachus, Peckett & Munday
Greek 2 - often selections from Apology followed by Iliad or Odyssey *
Greek 3 - continuation of Homer, sometimes Euripides Medea
occasionally Greek 4 - at discretion of teacher
* Good school texts for Iliad & Odyssey are hard to find now. Book Tech Company in Winchester, Mass., has both on computer file from out-of-print books for us and would be happy to provide them as well for anyone else who called in: attractive large-type paperback format. (781-933-5400//800-750-6229) We have had them prepare other out-of-print resurrections for us in Latin & Greek books, for example a text of Medea.
Shannon Farley
Eagle Hill School
242 Old Petersham Road
Box 116
Hardwick, MA 01037
For a new introduction to Greek book, it is important to present grammar and vocabulary in a systematic fashion, with accompanying stories at appropriate levels (much like Jenneys Latin series). Many texts are geared to college classes (e.g., Hansen & Quinn; JACT) and are difficult to adjust to days/week High School classes. Greek culture is another component often missing from many texts. I would enjoy assisting in the creation of a high school Greek book.
For two years I taught Greek to eighth grade students as an exploratory arts course every other day.
1. TEACHING OF GREEK
A. I taught 1 year of introductory Greek to 4 Latin students during their fourth year of the Latin program, i.e., they agreed to be taught Greek instead of a fourth year of Latin. This class was taught in a combined course with 3rd-year Latin. We got through the 1st book of Athenaze & 15 chapters of Chase and Phillips. This class occurred in Indiana 3 years ago. I also taught an intensive course on Greek, using Athenaze, over a 3 week period outside of the regular curriculum (P.S. I used Reading Greek with some earlier students). I had 10 students, and we met in a coffeehouse for 4 - 5 hrs. a day.
B. I frequently insert Greek language training in my current classes at Barnstable H.S., especially at the 2nd-year level and above.
C. Last year, I co-taught 2 class periods with our Shakespeare/World Literature teacher on the Odyssey. The English (World Lit.) teacher prepared his students with an English translation of the Odyssey, and I prepared his students and my 3rd-year Latin students with a Greek version of a segment of the text.
This year the same Lit. teacher and myself will be doing a bilingual segment of the Oedipus Rex and acting it out bilingually, hopefully with masks constructed by our Drama Dept.
D. I just received approval from my principal to teach Greek after school next year.
NEW GREEK TEXTBOOK
(I am extremely interested in helping to author such a text!)
A. Some things that initially come to my mind regarding content are:
1. Some didactic material for the Latin teacher with no Greek training to enable instruction of students in a Greek text at least as a means of giving students the cultural idea of the bilingual nature of Roman life. (It always amazes me how many Latin teachers are surprised to learn Caesars last recorded words were Greek, not Latin.)
2. A bilingual text with stories in Latin, interspersed with Greek to give an accurate cultural reflection. (One story could be about a young Greek slave brought to Rome who needs to learn Latin, thereby setting up the context of dual language conversations between Greeks and Romans).
3. A play, Plautus or Aristophanes, could be presented textually in a bilingual text.
I am so excited about your interest in Latin teachers who wish to teach Greek within or in addition to their Latin programs at the secondary level. I am hopeful to do either/or, preferring to teach Greek within its own regular curriculum. My school administration is supportive. I just need help getting a program off the ground.
Greek 1 - 5 enrolled this year (meets 3 or 4 x per week)
Greek 2 - 6 enrolled this year (meets 3 x per week)
No Greek 3 this year, usually only one or two on independent study basis
Text used - Athenaze, which we find suitable and enjoyable, but are frustrated that certain grammatical things are introduced so late, such as the future tense, subjunctive, etc.
We get to about chapter 12B in year one, with our time restrictions. Our students typically have full schedules, with at least a couple honors or AP courses, and even occasionally a conflict with a lab 1x per week, so in order to keep them enrolled in a Greek elective we have to cut them a break.
Im thinking of offering a year of Greek at some point in the next 2 - 3 years, but my concern of course is that it would cannibalize the Latin program, to some extent.
Thomas Burgess
Classics
Brooks School
1160 Great Pond Road
North Andover, MA 01845
See the Brooks School Course Catalogue for more information.
Brooks School
1160 Great Pond Road
North Andover, MA 01845
Greek 01, 02, 03 (Athenaze)
Greek RO (1st reading coursevaries)
Greek Reading (varies according to students & teachers desires)
First year: Athenaze I; Second year: Athenaze II (sometimes fall semester only).
Third and Fourth years: Oxford Texts or texts w/ notes for tragedy, New Testament, comedy, history, philosophy, lyric, epic, as the teacher chooses (no particular sequence).
ROSALBAC@ALUMNI.WASHINGTON.EDU
NO
blank Plan to start a course next year.
YES Something like Jenney, or Latin for Americans would be ideal.
YES
nicholasunger@stmarksschool.org
Greek 1
This course serves as the introduction to the study of Greek language and culture. Using Crosby and Schaeffers An Introduction to Greek, the class covers most of the grammar of Attic Greek in the first year. In addition we will read selections from Greek literature, including Xenophon and the New Testament. At several points in the year, students will undertake projects on Greek culture and history. Enrollment 2000: 4
Greek 2
The class completes An Introduction to Greek, with an emphasis on reading fragments from the presocratics. Students learn the concepts of early Greek philosophy, culminating in a Greek-style symposium on presocratic metaphysics. The winter is spent reading selections from Aesop, Xenophon, and Herodotus. Socrates is the focus of the spring term, and Platos Apology is closely read and discussed. Enrollment 2000: 3
Greek 3
The fall is devoted to the study of Homers Iliad. Emphasis is placed on understanding the ancient oral tradition and its conventions, concepts of the hero in Greek literature, and the social values of Homeric society. In the spring readings in Greek tragedy, history, or lyric are studied at the discretion of the instructor. Enrollment 2000: 0; Enrollment 1997-98: 2
richard_deppe@wellesley.mec.edu
I meet with interested students as is possible on several occasions over the course of our seven-day cycle. Normally I use Athenaze. With the student I have now, who is truly gifted, I am using Hansen & Quinn.
I look forward to any contact and support.
Greek I - 16 students, Athenaze
Greek II - 10 students, Athenaze (complete, Plato)
Greek III - 5 students, Iliad, Benner; Spring = Lyric Poetry - selections
See Appendix for catalog description of the Roxbury Latin School Greek program.
Lola Greene taught a Greek unit in Latin IV. I taught it this year, combining her materials with some I made for a Latin III unit last year. This unit emphasizes English vocabulary from prominent Greek roots.
This was a very popular unit. I considered preparing an after-school program for next year. I still may do it. I would aim for younger students in hopes of eventually adding a Greek course in the curriculum.
Beyond basic transliteration, I am unsure how to proceed. Even the stories in Athenaze would be too difficult when presented in an extracurricular context.
This questionnaire comes at a good time for me as I consider ways to put more Greek in the Latin classes. A separate course would be wonderful, but I think it would be most effective to build interest through the Latin courses and an after school program.
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