Roman Calendar 2024: Origin of Latin Month Names and Thematic Monthly Activities

Throughout 2024, students explore the origins of the Latin months of the year and how they connect to English. There's a special activity for each month that goes with the theme of that month's Roman origin.

This activity works well for a Roman Time Unit at the start of the new year!

Included:

• An overall calendar for 2024 at a glance
• A calendar page for each month of 2024, including the summer months, for students to add their own personal upcoming events (birthdays, holidays they celebrate, concerts, book releases, graduations, etc.)
• Clear explanations for the origins of the Roman months
• A thematically-relevant activity for each month of the year
  • In Ianuarius, students will act like Ianus (the Roman god of endings and beginnings for whom the month is named) to reflect on the previous year and look ahead by setting a goal for themselves. In Februarius, they'll participate in "spring cleaning" for the month of Roman purification. In Martius, they'll pick some creative (and, ultimately, silly) exercises to do, since the Romans would've started their military exercises this month.
• Notes for the teacher to facilitate implementation
  • Do you want to give them the full calendar at the start of 2024, as part of a new year unit? There's a suggestion for how to implement that!
  • Do you want to give them the calendar one month at a time, as that month presents itself in the school year? There's a suggestion for how to implement that!
• A color version of the calendar and a black-and-white version for easy printing

Material Covered:

• Latin words for the months of the year and days of the week
• Etymological explanations for the Roman months of the year and how they connect to English