Latin for Beginners · Lesson XLII · Part 8: The third declension completed
42. Review lesson: Terror Cimbricus
Goal: Your child reads a connected Latin story about Marius and the Cimbri, and declines the third-declension nouns in it.
You'll need
- The book (the review lesson page)
- A notebook and pencil
- Index cards from Lessons XXXIX to XLI
What's in the book
A review lesson (§ 240): review the consonant-stem paradigms, then read the story Terror Cimbricus and decline every third-declension noun in it. A footnote explains who the Cimbri and Teutons were and how Marius saved Rome.
The lesson, step by step
Warm up
Go through the word cards from the last three lessons. Put the ones your child misses in a separate pile.
Review the paradigms
Have your child recite the consonant-stem nouns from the last three lessons, including flūmen and caput. The book points back to §§ 233, 236 and 238 for these tables.
Read the footnote first
Read the footnote to the title aloud in English. It tells the background: northern tribes invaded Italy, several Roman armies were beaten, and Marius was called in to save Rome.
Read the story
Read the story a sentence at a time. Your child translates out loud; you help with any new words. Two of its sentences:
Magnam calamitātem accēpimus.
Marius pater patriae vocātus est.
Split it over two days if needed: the first day up to the speech, the second day the rest.
Find the nouns
As the book asks, pick out every third-declension noun in the story and decline a few of them in full on paper.
Wrap-up
Your child retells the story in English in four or five sentences, then says the declension of one neuter noun from memory.
Afterwards
Spend a second day on this review if the story feels long. Keep drilling the missed word cards.
Tip
Reading a whole story is a big step. Praise the effort, and let your child read it again a day later. The second reading is usually much easier.