This lesson was quite different to our usual lessons. For a start, I booked some space in our school library - five tables - so that the students could spread out into five small groups of four.
2. Each student was given a copy of a comic book entitled, Bellum Civile; I have made a class set, that I hope to use year to year. This comic closely follows the plot of LLPSI Capitulum Tertium - although with out the domestic violence (more on this later) and a better ending - mea sententia. You can download the comic here and view it online here.
3. Each group was also given a ‘visual dictionary’ to share. This can be downloaded along with all other Worksheets, here.
4. The only instruction the class was given was to read the comic together and try to understand every word. Some groups works solidly for 30 minutes, others for less. Near the end of the lesson, one student translated the entire comic out loud in real time. I needed to explain “Cur?” and “Quia.” to every group, but it was always met with an ‘aaah, that makes sense.’ No one needed ‘me’, ‘te’ or even ‘eum’ explained. Some even deduced the meaning of ‘iam’, which I thought was impressive.