Decatur Classical

Runners up were fourth grader Joey P. and fifth grader Orest S. The school champion was fourth grader Matthew C! Congratulatioto all who competed!

Results from the National Latin Exam and National Mythology Exam are in! On the National Latin Exam, we had ten silver certificate winners and five gold certificate winners, as well as one purple certificate perfect score winner: Kristen R! On the National Mythology Exam we had an unprecedented 67 medal winners, including 23 bronze medalists, 21 silver medalists and 23 Athena Gold Medal of Excellence winners! Please see the Latin bulletin board for names. Awards will be presented at the June 8 Latin Awards Ceremony. Congratulations to all who participated in Latin contests this year!

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) held its annual elementary City-wide Latin Olympics on Saturday, April 14, 2012, at Ray Elementary School. This year, fourth, fifth and sixth grade students from Decatur Classical, Lenart, and Ray elementary schools participated in the all-day event that challenges CPS students in Latin programs to compete for honors in 16 academic, oratorical, and fine art contests.

Students compete in academic contests in vocabulary, derivatives, mythology, Roman Civilization and History, and Pentathalon, and in Certamen, a Latin quiz-bowl competition. They also participate in performance contests to demonstrate oratorical mastery over memorized or sight-read Latin and English readings. Finally, students show their fine arts chops by writing modern myths, drawing, painting, sculpting, or creating mixed media in subjects of Roman civilization, mythology, or the study of Latin, and creating costumes and performing a short soliloquy based on a character from Roman civilization, mythology, or Latin study.

During a full day of competition, Decatur students excelled in all categories, taking home 25 first-place, 23 second-place, 23 third-place, 27 fourth-place, and 16 fifth-place awards. Decatur award-winners, many of whom won accolades in multiple categories, are: (Gr. 4) Jordan N., Maansey R., Audrey S., Lauren M., Gwen M., Sunny E., Penelope B., Sadie B., Joey P., Blake C., Casey W., Samia K., James R., Ayla R., Amelia L., Kareem B., Matthew F., Ethan J.; (Gr. 5) Gretchen F., Quinn G., Samantha L., Edina H., Makenzie F., Gabriella F., Hannah H., Nihal K., Marquise C.; (Gr. 6) Kristen R., Isabel V., Allyson L., Olivia H., Zaddeen B., Emmanuel O., Allyson L., Thaddeus L., Jan B., Phillip C., Stephanie B.

Every Wednesday is Animus Romanus – Latin Spirit Day! On Wednesdays we say The Pledge of Allegiance in Latin! I also encourage students to wear t-shirts with Latin phrases!

The Bibliothecula Latina expanded over the summer! Come browse the selection on our beautiful new shelves, receive a recommendation from Magistra, or offer Magistra your recommendation! The Bibliothecula Latina is open from 8:15 to 8:45 every morning except Wednesdays. All students in grades two through six are welcome to take advantage of the Bibliothecula Latina and borrow a book for a week!

Magistra is always adding new books to the Bibliothecula Latina...and to her wishlist! Would you like to donate a book to the Bibliothecula Latina? See Magistra's wishlist:

All School

Every week students learn a new Latin motto or saying. We call this list Verba Scriptaque, which means “Said and Written.” Ask your nearest Latin student about this week's verbum scriptumque!

You may be wondering what you can do to help your Latin student.

Keep up with your child! Here's how you say, "Hello! My name is . . ." in Latin!

Primary Grades

Third through Sixth Grades

Here is an overview of my homework guidelines. Specific information regarding assignments and grades is available on Parent Portal. Magistra uploads due dates and instructions to Parent Portal regularly.

Beginning in third grade, we use The Checklist as a structure for each chapter. Ask your student to guide you through his or her checklist. (What is the sentence chart?)

Third through sixth graders use Latin binders, which are organized following the table of contents.

Table of Contents

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Latin Olympics

The Latin Olympics took place on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at the Ray School in Hyde Park. Students in fourth, fifth, and sixth grades were eligible (but not required) to participate in Latin Olympics. All students took a series of four tests and afterwards competed in costume, oratory, and art contests. Contests that occurred in advance included the modern myth and t-shirt design competition. Additionally, four students in the fourth grade and four students in the sixth grade were invited to participate in the Certamen, which is an academic bowl competition. This year Decatur students took home 25 first-place, 23 second-place, 23 third-place, 27 fourth-place, and 16 fifth-place awards. Congratulations to all who participated!

Information on next year's Latin Olympics should be available in late fall or early winter.

Illinois Certamen League

Our sixth graders also participate in the Illinois Certamen League’s Northern Division. This year the competitions were on November 1 at Northside College Prep, December 6 at New Trier High school, and February 7 at Loyola Academy. All competitions are on Tuesday evenings from 5:30 to approximately 8:00. This year our varsity team placed FIRST at our November meet! We took third place for the 2011-2012 year in the division!

Certamen 2011 photos

For more information about Certamen - Certamen Homepage

National Examinations

Every spring the American Classical League sponsors three national examinations. While these exams are a regular part of the Latin curriculum, they do not affect students’ Latin grades. Besides being enjoyable contests, the exams help students practice Latin, mythology, and test-taking skills. Additionally, students receive ribbons, pins, and medals for high achievement! This year second graders took the Exploratory Latin Exam the last week of March. Third, fourth, and fifth graders took the National Mythology Exam on February 21, 2012. Sixth graders took the National Latin Exam on February 27, 2012. On the National Latin Exam, we had ten silver certificate winners and five gold certificate winners, as well as one purple certificate perfect score winner: Kristen R! On the National Mythology Exam we had an unprecedented 67 medal winners, including 23 bronze medalists, 21 silver medalists and 23 Athena Gold Medal of Excellence winners!

For more information click on the following links:

Roman Banquet

Every June we hold a Roman Banquet! Fifth and sixth graders wear Roman costumes, and younger students wear laurel wreaths. Included in the festivities are an awards ceremony, performances, a “Roman” pizza feast, and games. The entire school attends the games and cheers for the sixth grade teams!

According to the New York Times, studying small amounts of various items over the course of an extended period of time works better than cramming! Read "Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits " and then go study vocabulary! (See page 4 of your checklist: "Remember that you will remember vocabulary words better if you study them for a short amount of time every night than if you study for a long amount of time at the last minute!")

Don't be afraid to make mistakes! According to an article published in the New York Times, "learning is maximized not by getting all the answers right, but by making errors and correcting them quickly." (Sam Wang and Sandra Aamodt, authors of "Welcome to Your Child's Brain"; read "Delay Kindergarten at your Child's Peril".)

Finally, here are some links that I think are summa cum laude! Included on this page are vocabulary review games, dictionary sites, study resources, and a few sites for fun!

LATIN LINKS

Salve and Welcome to Magistra Cohen's Latin Page

We had our Mythology Bee on Friday, April 27, 2012.

Fifteen finalists from grades 4, 5, and 6 competed in an exciting contest.