NORWAY — An Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Latin class has partnered with the Rowe Elementary School in an exchange program that teaches students basic Latin skills.

On Friday, the program got off the ground as dozens of students in the kindergarten and first grade participated in Latin learning lessons with high school students. The lessons ranged from small group instruction to classroom games, all designed to build a working knowledge of the language.

“While it may not be groundbreaking, it is the start of a partnership between the two schools to develop a platform for children to teach and learn language through dynamic and unique pathways,” said Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Latin teacher Ean Lexton.

Lexton said the idea was prompted by one of his students, Dalton Rice. Rice, like the other student “teachers,” is enrolled in Latin 3 classes. All student teachers must be junior or senior class members.

The students used a variety of teaching methods, including games such as word races, number shuffles and mix-em-up contests, where the young students had to arrange items, such as ties with numbers on them, in order.

The student teachers also played a numbers game with the first-grade students using dice. Each face on the dice had the Latin name for a number. The students were responsible for identifying the numbers and knowing which number was larger than the other.

In other games, the Rowe students were asked to “high five” the students next to them, but with a twist. First, the students were asked to pick from a random pile of numbers. Lexton said that instead of the usual “five,” the students were asked to give whatever number they picked. For instance, if the student drew a two, he or she would give a high “duo,” or a “high two.”

The students were also asked to listen for derivatives in English, or other languages, which reminded them of the Latin numbers they were listening to.

Lexton said the program has benefited not only the young students, but his students.

“I will continue using these outside experiences in my classroom, too, as a supplementary means of instruction to and for my high schoolers,” said Lexton. “It has been proven that the best way to learn is to teach, so in that light, we will be practicing a great deal.”

Lexton said although there have been no formal discussions yet, he would like to continue the exchange program on a more frequent basis, targeting specific lessons, themes or skills, such as addition, sides of shapes, colors or even finding English words in Latin. The learning lessons could also extend to Spanish and French words, he said.

Additionally, he said, his Latin students are interested in creating an exchange that could build formative linguistic experience for the young learners of language.

“I think that it would be foolish to keep this in just the lower grades, and as we build a base with the kindergarten and first-grade classes,” he said. “Hopefully, we can expand all the way through the elementary to the middle school,” he said.

The Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Latin program officially begins in ninth grade with Latin 1 and proceeds through Latin 4 for senior students.

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