When the students enter into the room…
First, I ask them to take out their catechisms. I then read a general prayer for the students and afterwards select one or two students to read the opening prayers out loud. Then we collectively read the catechism out loud with everyone reading all the questions and answers in order. This takes approximately 8 – 10 minutes, but is so important because it covers all the major information for the whole year which is reviewed every class day for the whole year. I borrowed the idea of the catechism routine from Professor Joshua Gibbs of Veritas School in Richmond, VA.
Next, the grammar lesson for that day is explained. I find this is helpful because it gives the students a break from speaking for a short while.
After the grammar lesson is explained, we do an activity or game to engage with the lesson on a deeper level.
Then we move on to chanting the vocabulary for the week, which is approximately 20 new words or phrases.
Following this, we do a table reading of Lingua Latina by Hans Orberg, where each person gets a turn reading out loud a few sentences of the chapter assigned for the week. I also have the students periodically orally translate what they have just read.
Finally, we end with reciting or singing The Lord’s Prayer in Latin and in English.