Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 24th

quarto decimo die Decembris, Minimus stellam invenit. (On the twenty fourth day of December, Minimus finds a star!)

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 23rd

vicesimo tertio die Decembris, Minimus aquifolium invenit. (On the twenty third day of December, Minimus finds holly).

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 21st

vicesimo primo die Decembris, Minimus sigillum invenit. (On the twenty first day of December, Minimus finds a pottery figure)

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 22nd

vicesimo secundo die Decembris, Minimus anserem invenit. (On the twenty second day of December, Minimus finds a goose).

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 20th

vicesimo die Decembris, Minimus pomum invenit. (On the 20th day of December, Minimus finds an apple).

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 19th

undevicesimo die Decembris, Minimus rangiferum invenit. (On the nineteenth day of December, Minimus finds a reindeer).

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 18th

duodevicesimo die Decembris, Minimus librum invenit. (On the 18th day of December, Minimus finds a book). 

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 17th

septimo decimo die Decembris, Minimus pupam invenit. (On the 17th December, Minimus finds a doll). 

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 16th

sexto decimo die Decembris, Minimus ursulum invenit. (On the sixteenth day of December, Minimus finds a little bear).

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 15th

quinto decimo die Decembris, Minimus libum invenit. (On the fifteenth day of December, Minimus finds a honeycake). 

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 13th

tertio decimo die Decembris, Minimus arborem invenit. (On the thirteenth day of  December, Minimus finds a tree). 

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 12th

duodecimo die Decembris, Minimus viscum invenit. (On the twelfth day of December, Minimus finds mistletoe).

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 11th

undecimo die Decembris, Minimus candelam invenit. (On the eleventh day of December, Minimus finds a candle).

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 10th

decimo die Decembris, Minimus pileum invenit. (On the tenth day of December, Minimus finds a hat).

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 9th

nono die Decembris, Minimus donum invenit. (On the ninth day of December, Minimus finds a present). 

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 8th

octavo die Decembris, Minimus nuces invenit. (On the 8th day of December, Minimus finds nuts).

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 7th

septimo die Decembris, Minimus soccum invenit. (On the seventh day of December, Minimus finds a stocking).

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 6th

sexto die Decembris, Minimus tintinnabulum invenit. (On the sixth day of December, Minimus finds a bell).

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 5th

quinto die Decembris, Minimus spheniscum invenit. (On the fifth day of December, Minimus finds a penguin). 

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 4th

quarto die Decembris, Minimus nivem invenit. (On the fourth day of December, Minimus finds snow).

Minimus' Advent Calendar, 3rd December

tertio die Decembris, Minimus coronam invenit. (On the third day of December, Minimus finds a wreath). 

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 2nd

secundo die Decembris, Minimus erithacum invenit. (On the second day of December, Minimus finds a robin). 

Minimus' Advent Calendar, December 1

primo die Decembris, Minimus caseum invenit. (On the first day of December, Minimus finds cheese). 

Verb endings, colour coded

My Year 5 pupils have been learning about regular verb endings in Chapter 3. This is a colour-coded set of endings as requested to help with their forthcoming test - and to help anyone else!

So, Form V - here are the endings on their own:

Here are two different verbs written out in full (conjugated is the correct term):

Acting out the MiniBooks

My Year 6 pupils performed two little sketches for a Latin assembly at the end of term, both taken from a Minimus MiniBook. 

Covers of MiniBooks 15 and 25

 We chose the Hercules stories from Corinthus et Demetrius fabulas narrant (set 2) and Corinthus fabulam opportunam narrat (set 3). The Augean Stables story (the fifth Labour) was performed in Latin, and the Man-eating Horses story (the eighth Labour) in English. We decided to keep it simple, as the audience included everyone from Reception to Year 8...

Everyone loves the Horse

 We took to the Rose Garden for our rehearsals, taking every opportunity to be outside during the mini heatwave. As usual, I had left everything to the last minute, and I could only catch the children for one lesson.

It was a perfect opportunity to reintroduce our beloved horse costume, which is over twenty years old, and the scene-stealing star of many plays and sketches.

Juno, with peacock feathers, and the Narrator

While Juno and the Narrator went over their lines, the Horse practised walking in a straight line...

Horse falling apart

 ...not entirely successfully, it has to be said. The back end fell off into a lavender bed.

Hercules is told his next task by King Eurystheus

 King Eurystheus gave Hercules his instructions, to go and fetch the Mares of Diomedes (except there was only one).

Hercules overcomes Diomedes

Hercules resisted the wicked Diomedes' efforts to push him (her!) into the hungry mare's jaws, picking him up with superhuman strength...

Diomedes is eaten by his own horse

 ...and hurling him to his doom. The horse spent several minutes eating the hapless Diomedes, before allowing him to crawl away and laugh behind a rose bush.

Eurystheus hides in a huge jar

Hercules returned victorious to Eurystheus, after giving the horse a good telling off about its man-eating habits. Eurystheus retreated to the Safety Jar in terror, although it would have been more convincing without the giggles.

Hercules and the horse find everything Very Funny

One more Labour safely completed! Our assembly went off very well, in the end, with everyone speaking their lines clearly, and no small children eaten by the horse.

Minimus at Vindolanda

At the beginning of May, the Minimus team had their meeting at Vindolanda, which meant that we were able to explore the site and museum - completely transformed since our previous visit - and also to have fun at the Roman Army Museum.

 Minimus was very eager to see Vindolanda again!

 He was pleased to see that the museum had made special preparations for his stay, but was a little disconcerted by the massive eyes!

 

The newly refurbished cafe is no longer called after Lepidina (maybe Candidus would have been a better patron!) but at least Minimus has a spot on the menu!

 He's also well represented in the bookshop, which has lots of brilliant books about the site, the tablets and the Romans in general.

 Here, Minimus is sitting on a stone very close to the ditch where the first of the Vindolanda tablets were excavated.

 Minimus spent a lot of time getting ready for his visit to the Roman Army Museum.

 He found a soldier's marching kit with a cooking pan just the right size for a mouse!

 Minimus practised standing to attention with his pilum (javelin).

 This soldier lent Minimus a hand to look out for invaders

This scutum (shield) is maximum (very big); Minimus' scutum is minimum (very small)!

All good soldiers carry their own spongia (spongestick) for the latrina (loo)!

We shall definitely need to go back soon!

A (fairly) ancient comic strip

I drew this comic strip at school (Chelmsford County High School for Girls) when I was about 15. It was my contribution to the Latin Department's display for an open evening. There was no such thing as Tippex then, so I had to work around inked mistakes in the lettering and pictures, and I've just used school crayons for colour. It's unnerving to see how little my handwriting and drawing style have changed over the intervening years!