One of the most common questions I get from Latin teachers interested in CI is “Where do I start?”. I had this question in mind when I approached the legendary Martina Bex of the Comprehensible Classroom. I had long admired her SOMOS and NOUS SOMMES curricula as invaluable resources to Spanish and French students. Dipping ones toes in to comprehension-based teaching for the first time can be scary and thus having a pre-maid curriculum, activities and plans would help a ton of people take the plunge. Latin had nothing like this, but desperately needed it. Fortunately, Martina agreed! And thus SUMUS was born.
SUMUS is a developing curriculum that is released individual units as they are completed. Currently there are four full units available, with many more to come! Each contains multiple readings, slideshows, lesson plans, etc., that are all based on CI principles. The content is meant to be accessible and engaging for all different age groups. Regardless of the time of the year, you can plug in a SUMUS unit or lesson at any time!
The whole reason why I wanted to make SUMUS was because I wished I had had something like this to help me when I was first getting into CI. I continue to work on it because even more experienced CI-based educators sometime desire a bit more structure to feel comfortable teaching this way. I am a fulltime classroom teacher and thus everything I create or adapt is something I would personal use in my classes.
I am very proud of SUMUS has turned out so far and I really hope you find it helpful. This year in particular is challenging and exhausting. I encourage you to give SUMUS a try and take a break from planning and creating new materials. Smash any of the SUMUS links to purchase and gain instant access to all of the SUMUS‘ entirely digital materials.
John Bracey
Magister Bracey's Comprehensible Latin 