I meant to reply ages ago, sorry! The next day, I did in fact give them some of the German/Latin/Greek/Sanskrit/English cognates to puzzle over during warm-up, and gave them a quick version of the Grimms and Proto-Indo-European afterwards.
Even many of the brighter ones don't altogether get the Indo-European business, and I don't spend a lot of time on it because by this point we are wayyyy off the 7th-grade curriculum, and I have to steer it back to Latin and Greek roots before the end of the class. At their level, they are mostly hooked by personalities, and they mostly find it interesting to know something of the Grimms besides fairy tales -- though that includes that they didn't exactly write the tales. (They also are very interested in discussing vocab charts for English and the other Romance languages and understanding the reasons behind the patterns they see. Given how many speak or are learning Spanish, this is much more firmly in their ZPD.)
(They also are very interested in discussing vocab charts for English and the other Romance languages and understanding the reasons behind the patterns they see. Given how many speak or are learning Spanish, this is much more firmly in their ZPD.)
Yeah, that sounds right on, especially for the ones who know some Spanish. And after all I've been hearing about these last few years with respect to curriculum standardization and EOG testing, I think it's fantastic that you've found ways to cover topics that aren't on the 7th-grade curriculum.
A professor whose class I once visited did a very memorable lesson on Grimm's Law that included an undergrad-attention-grabbing comparison between cannabis and hemp. (He even said scholars think that root was a loan into PIE from some other language. I took his word for that, lol.)
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I do a "history of the English language" lecture every year with my Honors kids (12-year-olds).
This is REALLY cool. What a great way to get them thinking about language.
(I don't suppose they're ready for Grimm's Law? Because that's really mind-blowing when (college) kids hit it for the first time.)
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Even many of the brighter ones don't altogether get the Indo-European business, and I don't spend a lot of time on it because by this point we are wayyyy off the 7th-grade curriculum, and I have to steer it back to Latin and Greek roots before the end of the class. At their level, they are mostly hooked by personalities, and they mostly find it interesting to know something of the Grimms besides fairy tales -- though that includes that they didn't exactly write the tales. (They also are very interested in discussing vocab charts for English and the other Romance languages and understanding the reasons behind the patterns they see. Given how many speak or are learning Spanish, this is much more firmly in their ZPD.)
Fighting the good fight here, professor. ;)
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Yeah, that sounds right on, especially for the ones who know some Spanish. And after all I've been hearing about these last few years with respect to curriculum standardization and EOG testing, I think it's fantastic that you've found ways to cover topics that aren't on the 7th-grade curriculum.
A professor whose class I once visited did a very memorable lesson on Grimm's Law that included an undergrad-attention-grabbing comparison between cannabis and hemp. (He even said scholars think that root was a loan into PIE from some other language. I took his word for that, lol.)
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