Here is a silly poem that I composed together with one of my elementary-grade students, Leo, using English words derived from the Latin word mittere (to send). Working from a limited list of words forces creativity. We used a Seussical rhyme scheme. SECRET AGENT by Dr. K and Leo I’m on a secret mission; I’ve […]
Outschool classes
Docendo Discimus – By Teaching, We Learn
By Dr. Karen Wieland and James Currie More than HALF! Did you know that 29% of the words in the English language are derived directly from Latin words? Another 29% are derived from Old French, and the vast majority of these words also can be traced back to Latin. That means that nearly 58% of […]
Advice to Authors (Off the Top of My Head)
I teach a series of multi-week courses on Outschool called Vocabulary Building with Latin and Greek Roots and Affixes. This winter, the students and I have been having fun creating poems featuring English words derived from specific Greek and Latin roots. In this piece involving words derived from caput, capitis (Latin = ‘head’), I once again […]
‘Patriot’ Politics at the Pub
I’ve been doing something creative with students in my Vocabulary Building with Latin and Greek Roots and Affixes courses on Outschool. We’ve been writing poetry using lists of words that share the same Latin or Greek root-word origin. I crafted this poem using words derived from the Latin verb iacere “to throw.” This piece is […]
Twist
I’ve been doing something creative with students in my Vocabulary Building with Latin and Greek Roots and Affixes courses on Outschool. We’ve been writing poetry using lists of words we have curated that share the same Latin or Greek root-word origin. I crafted this poem using words derived from the Latin verb torquere “to […]
Tense Letter to the Landlord
I’ve been doing something creative with students in my Vocabulary Building with Latin and Greek Roots and Affixes courses on Outschool. We’ve been writing poetry using lists of words we have curated that share the same Latin or Greek root-word origin. I crafted this poem using words derived from the Latin verbs tenere “to hold,” […]