Latin Students Creatively Explore the Root of the Word Pandemic

Two Latin students took a creative, multimedia approach to exploring the language this past winter, and this approach has continued to serve the class well during distance learning more recently. Latin Teacher Gabriel Grabarek explained, “Every week I give my students a list of English words with Latin and/or Greek roots, and they prepare and give small presentations which explain the definition and origin of the word.” 

Phoebe Burgis ’23 and Nithya Reddy ’23 went above and beyond what is expected for the assignment on several occasions. They filmed stop-motion films with handmade props and a cell phone. They wanted to do this because, in their words, “it would be fun.” The videos are outstanding and they have served as a helpful learning tool for the entire class (and even other Latin and Greek classes) in both physical classroom discussions before spring break and in virtual classroom collaborations more recently. 

As an example from earlier this year, a video on the root of the word Horologium is HERE. And more recently, they developed a stop-motion film (below) on the word “pandemic.”

 

Grabarek continued, “These two are the type of students who go above and beyond with most everything they do. They want to take learning into their own hands and it often has amazing results. The videos have been an excellent model for our new distance learning platform, and I will be incorporating them as the third trimester continues.”

Thanks for helping make learning fun, Phoebe and Nithya!