A Notebook for Vergil's Aeneid

Stephen Distinti

A Notebook for Vergil’s Aeneid provides students with a system for processing their homework and preparing their Latin assignment for in-class presentation. The complete Latin text for the AP® Latin Exam is triple-spaced to allow plenty of room for annotations. Below the Latin passage, students copy from their textbooks all the Latin vocabulary that they do not know. This changes the process of vocabulary building from one of passive recognition to active recall by creating personalized vocabulary lists for study. The facing page provides two blank lines keyed to the Latin text: one for the students’ home translations and one for corrections students note as the class shares translations. The second line allows students to make adjustments without erasing their mistakes. Doing so encourages students to become reflective learners who analyze and learn from their errors. The section below the translation, entitled “Additional Notes,” keeps class notes together with the Latin passage. At the end of each set of Latin passages from the individual books of the Aeneid, students keep track of and review the major plot points for what they have read in Latin. Students also construct summaries of the English readings required by the AP® Latin Curriculum on pages so designated.