3 Ways to Support Students Learning Latin Verb Endings
Latin verb endings are tedious to memorize, and important when deciphering verb tenses and meanings. Students need lots of practice, and the best practice occurs outside of wrote exercises! Here are three ways I encourage students to work with Latin verb endings, for first, second, and third conjugation verbs.
3 Ways to Support Students Learning Latin Verb Endings
Nearpod
Nearpod is a website that allows teachers to make their powerpoint presentations interactive. It adapts to both Google Slides and PPT. I used a free trial week, and then ending up purchasing a year because I found it so effective. I teach middle school, so my students have shorter attention spans than a full 30 minute lecture. I use Nearpod to pause throughout the topic I am presenting/reviewing, ask questions, and engage my students to increase their attention. Nearpod is especially great for Latin verb endings, since you can place interactive games in between verb ending review slides! Here are some pictures from a Nearpod I made for Latin verb endings in preparation for Winter Exams:
Here are screengrabs of some of the functions of Nearpod. Teachers can easily:
upload a PPT (students log in to follow along on their own device)
create matching cards that students can quiz their knowledge on during the lecture
engage students with “Time to Climb” game that asks students questions over the discussion topic!
Nearpod has a free trial, so if you want to check out the ones I made for free, here are a few that focus on Latin verb endings:
2. Task Cards for Latin Verb Endings
Task cards are short assignments (2-3 minutes) that are numbered and posted around the room. Task cards are effective because:
They are low-prep for the teacher
Students move around the room (research says this improves memory and retrieval)
It’s variety from a traditional worksheet, while students are still able to get the repetition they need
You can enhance task cards by turning them into a game, creating differentiation for your spectrum of student abilities, play instrumental music in the background, etc.
3. Stations for Latin Verb Endings
Stations also add variety to student learning. My stations tend to be 5-10 minutes to complete, and students are encouraged to collaborate with their group. Where a task card might have been repetitive “list the person/number/tense/voice/mood/translation for each verb”, stations might be more in depth translation pieces. You can see examples in the videos below.
Here are some of the Latin verb stations and task cards I’ve created:
1st and 2nd Conjugation Beginner Latin Verb Endings