Bolchazy-Carducci has published a new workbook for (especially, but definitely not limited to, younger) students of Latin called A Roman Map Workbook. Author and Latin teacher Elizabeth Heimbach bases her lessons on successful practices in her 8th grade and high school classrooms. The workbook includes text, translation exercises, geography exercises, and maps, both filled-in and empty. She introduces some of the concepts, then offers various types of quizzes (matching, short answer, and labels) to reinforce the new information. She also suggests crafts projects. The exercises do more than review; they challenge you to see what you may not know you already know. Here is an example from the 1st set of exercises: "How does the word septentriones tell you how many stars make up the Big Dipper? The Big Dipper is part of the constellation Ursa Maior. Retell the myth that explains how the Ursa Major came to be in the sky."
The maps don't just serve to teach terms for geography in a vacuum, but offer a complement to Latin and Roman history teaching. One map shows where Latin writers (both classical and important late) came from. Gaul, Britain, Germany, and Greece are covered, as are the routes of Odysseus and Aeneas returning from the Trojan War.
Inspired by this useful new tool for teachers, I have written up two quizzes on ancient Roman geography:
The second links to material on my site, should you miss the correct answers. The first deals mainly with the directional concepts with only a bit of what we think of vaguely as geography. Directions on even 16th century maps require knowledge of Latin and Greco-Roman mythology, especially the wind gods [also see Aeolus -- the one who helped Odysseus]. In case you're wondering what the wind gods have to do with geography, see this collection of beautiful antique maps at the University of Southern Maine: Where the Winds Blow.Also see About.com's Geography Guide's Basics of Map Reading.
Book cover from Bolchazy-Carducci; Aeolus picture © Clipart.com
Comments