This week in sixth grade Latin, students learned about the funerary customs of ancient Romans. Students started by looking at ten different Roman tombs and reading both the Latin inscriptions on the graves as well as English translations to determine who the deceased was, what their lives might have been like, and what the Romans culturally believed was most important to remember about them (as suggested by what was and what was not present in the text on the tombs). Students then discussed whether they agreed with the Roman values they were identifying.
The next day, students chose the tombstone that most intrigued them to explore further. First, students wrote a paragraph analyzing the material evidence to convey information about the deceased and, from there, to interpret not only the deceased’s position in Roman society but also what we today can discern about Roman values from this evidence. Finally, students recreated the tombstone by creating a detailed painting to share with the class.
– Emily Damiano, middle school Latin teacher
