About Me
Mrs. Forbes is passionate about the pursuit of wisdom and the application of innovative strategies to pressing social problems. From 1990 - 1999, she rescued and revitalized a failing college scholarship program in 10 major U.S. cities for Merrill Lynch, resulting in a 90% high school graduation rate for 250 underserved students randomly selected in the first grade, a success rate three times higher than average for this population. The program won a White House award, and Mrs. Forbes is still in touch with the New York City students she began mentoring and tutoring 30 years ago. From 2007 - 2017, she co-founded a national nonprofit to help mothers overcome obstacles and make healthy, empowered decisions in the critical postpartum period. Mrs. Forbes and her co-founder leveraged celebrity interviews, corporate alliances and evidence-based medical advice to reach millions of expecting and new mothers; they were quoted in Time, People, and USA Today and informed the U.S. Surgeon General’s Call to Action in 2011. From 2017 - 2021 she was a private violin instructor with the Basie Center’s Monmouth Conservatory of Music and also taught 20 underserved 6 to 8th grade students in an after-school program in Red Bank, NJ. Teaching the most difficult musical instrument re-awakened her love of teaching and student development. Mrs. Forbes is a product of a classical education; as a National Honor Society student in High School she excelled in Latin and won the North Carolina State Mythology Championship. She graduated with a B.A. in Biology from Swarthmore College (ranked #3 in Liberal Arts Colleges) in 1986. She is interested in the study of personal resiliency and loves gardening, music and knitting; she is also a Tae Kwon Do black belt. Mrs. Forbes’ daughter attends Florida State University and her son is a police officer in Stuart. She lives in Stuart with her husband, a German Shepherd, two cats, and two birds, one of whom whistles Mozart.
Homework
Wednesday Mar 8: Ch. 9 and 10 Translation Test. Scholars should study Ch. 10 Practice B and Practice C, and review their charts (Conjugations, Declensions, Special -ius Adjectives, Demonstratives)
Mar 3 - 7: Translation practice, chart review, and makeup/retakes.
Tuesday Mar 7: Chart Review and Vocabulary Review
Monday Mar 6: Makeup day and translation practice.
Friday Mar 3. Check for homework and notify scholars of missing work/quizzes.
Thursday Mar 2: Homework: #4 and #6 on Ch. 10 Practice C: Translation
Wednesday Mar. 1 Chapter 10 Vocabulary Quiz #2. 8 Verbs, 1 conjunction, 1 preposition. Scholars need to know the conjugation and definition. When finished with quiz, work on Ch. 10 Practice C: Translation
Feb 23 - 28 Ch. 10 Practice B: Verb Recognition. Complete front for classwork grade due Feb. 28.
Thursday, Feb. 23 Chapter 10 Vocabulary Quiz #1.9 nouns and 1 adjective. Scholars need to know the declension, gender and definition.
Tuesday, Feb. 21. Ch. 10 Practice A: Nouns & Modifiers. Complete at least 1-10 of FRONT ONLY in class after reviewing vocabulary for Quiz on Thursday.
Tuesday, Feb. 14. Hic Haec Hoc Chart Quiz.
Tuesday Feb. 7. Unus Nauta Chart Quiz.
Thursday, Jan. 26. Vocab Quiz #2, Chapter 7 wordsearch and Chapter 9 wordsearch.
Wednesday Jan. 25. We filled in the Hic, Ille, Iste Notes packet (2 pages).
Tuesday, Jan 24. Vocab Quiz #2 postponed to THURSDAY, JAN 26. Chapter 9 vocabulary list. Homework: Complete Chapter 9 wordsearch. NOTE: Charts Quiz on Thursday Feb. 2, Chapter 9 test on Thursday February 9.
Friday, Jan 20. Study for NAUTA quiz on Thursday January 26, 9 words total: 5 NAUTA special adjectives, the demonstratives hic, ille and iste, and the adverb nimis; plus scholars need to know the phrase aliî...aliî = some...others.
Friday, Jan 13: UNUS QUIZ. Study 3rd Declension endings for quiz on Tuesday, Jan. 17. Classwork: Work on reverse of UNUS practice worksheet, translating noun/adjective combinations into Latin.
Thursday Jan 5: Classwork: Fanfold on the first 4 nouns on the vocabulary, plus one conjunction, one preposition, one adverb (7 words total). Handout: UNUS NAUTA Special -ius Adjectives. Fill in front of worksheet during class.
Wednesday Jan 4: Quiz (classwork grade) on 1D/2D charts. Finish filling in vocabulary definitions and reviewing derivatives.
Tuesday Jan 3: Handout: Chapter 9 Vocabulary. Homework: Study 1st & 2nd declension chart (see Declensions 1 - 3 Study Guide)
Wed. Dec. 7: Chap 8 Vocabulary quiz Part II (9 nouns + 3 other vocab words)
Friday. Dec. 2: Chap 8 Vocabulary quiz Part I (9 verbs and 2 adverbs). Chapter 8 vocabulary, click here. Scholars should continue reviewing their 3rd Conjugation endings and how to conjugate their vocabulary words, and review all of their charts as needed (see Helpful Links for all study guides). Pop quizzes will continue until scholars reach an appropriate level of mastery.
Tues. Nov. 29: Organize Notebooks and make sure scholars have all study guides and vocabulary lists, which can be found under helpful links. Review 9 verbs and 2 adverbs in class . Start translating Chapter 8 Practice: Short Sentences that we worked on before Thanksgiving break.
11/8 - 11/18: Quiz on 3C Endings. Practice B: Review imperatives and learn how to form for the 3rd Conjugation. Conjugate 6 Chapter 8 3C Verbs: agere, discere, gerere, scribere, trahere, vincere. Practice A: Identifying Person, Number and Tense for 3C Verbs. Decline and Translate 4 Noun/Adjective combinations from Chapter 8.
10/31 - 11/4 Learn the 3rd Conjugation, and practice noun/adjective combinations from Chapter 8. To see the power point I showed in class, click here. Scholars may also want to watch the Wheelock's Chapter 8 by Rebecca Cefaretti on youtube.
10/28/22 Cicero Biography (Powerpoint Presentation) and worksheet.
10/27/22 Chapter 7 Translation Quiz, was postponed from 10/25/22. Scholars need to know their grammar charts, and the Translation Study Guide we reviewed in class. They should study their worksheets and the examples of nouns & adjective pairs and short sentences we have been translating for the last month.
10/26/22 Due Friday, October 28. Verb conjugation worksheet (demonstro on one side, doceo on the other).
10/21/22 Was due Monday, October 24, now October 31 : Corrections from the Chapter 7 Vocabulary Quiz. How to do corrections for points back:
If scholars got only the Declension number wrong, they should write out the rule of the Genitive Singular endings: 1D = ae; 2D = i; 3D = is.
If they got only the gender wrong but the definition correct, they should write out the whole Latin word and the gender 7 times for each incorrect gender.
If they got the definition wrong, they should write out the whole Latin word, the gender, and the definition 7 times for each incorrect definition.
Wish List
Class Newsletter
Tuesday Jan 2: We are starting Chapter 9! This week we will learn Chapter 9 vocabulary, review our first and second declension, and learn all about the "Special -ius adjectives" that have the acronym UNUS NAUTA. We will be moving a little quicker this semester, so scholars will need to make sure they know their charts and vocabulary. I try to give little homework with the expectation that students study for 10 minutes per day.
Friday 11/17/22. We have finished learning the 3rd Conjugation (Chapter 8) and are starting on translating short sentences. Scholars should be studying their charts every night before going to bed, in the car and while in the orthodontist or doctor waiting room; grammar charts are like multiplication tables, they are the foundation of translating! See Helpful Links for all Study Guides I have handed out this year, and see homework for what they should be memorizing over the break.
Friday, 10/21/22. We are working on our translation skills and have been working on short sentences that feature Chapter 7 vocabulary and the 3rd Declension which we have been studying for the past month. In the process we are reviewing all of our charts and playing "Latin Speedball" so that scholars are motivated to spend 10-15 minutes every day studying their verb conjugations and noun declensions. Next week we will start Chapter 8 vocabulary and continue with more advanced Chapter 7 sentences, including Sententiae Antiquae featuring quotes from famous Roman orators, statesmen, philosophers and poets.
Helpful Links
Youtube videos: Rebecca Cefaretti, Wheelock's Latin Chapter Videos are endorsed by Hillsdale and are numbered by Chapter. A great way to review previous material from last year and this year!!
Chart/Grammar Study Tips: Follow the WRISST method: WRIte your charts, Say or Sing them, and Teach them to someone else! Write your charts on flashcards. Also, try writing each ending on one side of a flashcard and the Gender, Case and Number on the other side for nouns, or the Tense, Person and Number for verbs. Mix them up and see if you can recognize them no matter what order they are in! Do the same thing with nouns and verbs that have been declined or conjugated and keep practicing until you increase your speed and can answer almost automatically.
Study Guides to download
3C Verb Endings compared to 1C/2C with example
Verb Conjugations 1C/2C Study Guide
Review charts and vocabulary at night before going to sleep, in the car on the way to school, in the doctor's office waiting room, any time you have a spare minute. Keep a set of flashcards with you always!
Vocabulary study tips:
1. use the fanfold method to learn vocabulary. Watch this video about a tool for improving memorization. Make a fan fold and write out your latin words in ENTIRETY (that means, the nominative and genitive singular for nouns, and at least the first two principal parts for verbs), then in the second column write out the english equivalent. You may only be able to fit 5 - 8 words on a sheet of paper, just keep doing it until you have done them all.
2. If you know your vocabulary somewhat, cover up the definitions and see if you can recite them from memory. Put a star next to the Latin words you don't know and do a fanfold for just those!
3. Once you know your vocabulary pretty well by WRITING IT OUT, test your skill with QUIZLET flashcards. Don't use just any set of flashcards, many are inaccurate! Search Wheelock Chapter ___ (whichever chapter number you want to study and look for IowaLatinTeacher because her flashcards are quite accurate and she is a teacher!!