Quis nuntium misit ad me? Choose Your Own Adventure

This past week, I created an activity for my Latin I classes with the following scenario: someone has sent you a strange text message, so how will you react?! What unfolds next depends on how students choose to respond (from a set of possible responses) to the mysterious message, for they will receive different follow-up questions. In the end, the students find out who sent the message - with a surprise twist!

The mysterious message: "I found a body." 😱

The format: a text message (question) & the possible responses

Here are some examples of the question and the answers to choose from:

"ego invēni corpus." (I found a body)

• You should send, "Who are you?"
• You should send, "Who are you?" 😡
• You should send, "Who are you?" 😘
• You should ignore the message.

The 'sender' will respond based on the answer.


"vide sub mensa. quid invēnisti?" (See under the table. What did you find?)

• You should send, "I found money."
• You should send, "I found dust."
• You should send, "I found a stylus."
• You should send, "I found a key."

"sume rem! quid est?" (Pick up the object. What is it? [The adventure at this point had led to finding an object in a cabinet.])

• You should send, "The object is a stylus."
• You should send, "The object is money."
• You should send, "The object is blood."
• You should send, "The object is a book."

The response to the question above will determine the final sequence of events. 

Why?

• I love active use of the target language, especially for fun and quirky purposes!
• To expose students to target vocabulary, such as debere "should," mittere "to send," and invenire "to find."
• To expose students to "real-life" applications of the language with questions like "Ubi es?" ("Where are you?"), "Quid invenisti?" ("What did you find?").
• To offer choice to students as they practice reading Latin.

What students do:

• Access the Google Form with the questions.
• Write each question that they encounter and the answer that they choose for every question.

The packet for students to fill in the questions and answers:



How did students react? They loved it and they shared their choices with their friends! It was a fun change of pace.

What would I change for next time?

• Use this activity after students have already acquired the vocabulary, rather than to introduce and reinforce vocabulary. Students said that it would have even more fun if they did not have to refer to the lexical guide I made.
• Use this activity with Latin II to review Latin I vocabulary.