I’ve been trying to do some work to write up the kinds of things I aim to do in live classes, which is mostly to develop questions in Greek (or insert appropriate language here) about the text, as we go. I’ve adapted a lot from the TPRS method of circling, and here below I demonstrate with a very small portion of text from the Athenaze textbook, how you can frame a whole range of questions even on the simplest material. The questions are arranged in ‘levels’ which are somewhat arbitrary, but give something of a schema to work up from and to.
Text:
ὁ Δικαιόπολις Ἀθηναῖός ἐστιν. οἰκεῖ δὲ ὁ Δικαιόπολις οὐκ ἐν ταῖς Ἀθήναις ἀλλὰ ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς· αὐτουργὸς γάρ ἐστιν. γεωργεῖ οὖν τὸν κλῆρον καὶ πονεῖ ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς. χαλεπὸς δέ ἐστιν ὁ βίος· ὁ γὰρ κλῆρός ἐστι μῑκρός, μακρὸς δὲ ὁ πόνος.
Questions (with some answers)
Level 1 (Yes/No)
ἆρα Ἀθηναῖός ἐστιν ὁ Δικαιόπολις; ναί, Ἀθηναῖός ἐστιν ὁ Δικαιόπολις.
ἆρα οἰκεῖ ὁ Δικαιόπολις ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς; ναί, ὁ Δικαιόπολις ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς οἰκεῖ.
Level 2: Either/Or
Q: πότερον Ἀθηναῖος ἢ Λακεδαιμόνιός ἐστιν ὁ Δικαιόπολις;
A: ὁ Δικαιόπολις ἐστιν Ἀθηναῖος. οὐκ ἔστιν Λακεδαιμόνιος.
Level 2b: Leading yes/no questions
Q: μὴ Λακεδομόνιος ὁ Δικαιόπολις;
A: οὐ Λακεδομόνιος ὁ Δικαιόπολις, ἀλλὰ Ἀθηναῖός ἐστιν.
Level 3: Substitution with who/what/where/when/why
τίς ἐστιν Ἀθηναῖος; ὁ Δικαιόπολίς ἐστιν Ἀθηναῖος.
τίς ἐστιν ἡ πόλις τῷ Δικαοπόλιδι; Ἀθηναῖός ἐστιν ὁ Δικαιόπολις.
τί ἐστιν ὁ Δικαιόπολις; αὐτουργός ἐστιν. ἄνθρωπός ἐστιν. Ἀθηναῖός ἐστιν. ὁ Δικαιόπολίς ἐστιν αὐτουργός τε καὶ Ἀθηναῖός.
τίνα γεωργεῖ ὁ Δικαιόπολις; τὸν κλῆρον γεωργεῖ.
τίς ἐστιν μικρός; ὁ κλῆρός ἐστιν μικρός.
τίς ἐστιν μακρός; μακρός ἐστιν ὁ πόνος.
ποῦ οἰκεῖ ὁ Δικαιόπολις; ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς οἰκεῖ.
τί ἔχει ὁ Δικαιόπολις; κλῆρον ἔχει.
τί ποιεῖ ὁ Δικαιόπολις; τὸν κλῆρον γεωργεῖ; πονεῖ ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς.
ποῖός ἐστιν ὁ βίος; χαλεπός ὁ βίος.
ποῖός ἐστιν ὁ κλῆρος; μικρός ἐστιν.
Level 4: Asking for details not in the reading
ἆρα ἐστιν ὁ Δικαιόπολις νεανίας, ἢ οὔ;
μὴ ἦν ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ Δικαιοπόλιδος αὐτουργός;
πότερον πολίτης ὁ Δικαιόπολις ἢ δοῦλος;
τίς ἡ πατρίς ἐστι τῷ Δικαιοπόλιδι;
ὁ Δικαιόπολις μόνος οἰκεῖ ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς;
Level 5: Asking for student details/responses (personalisation)
ἆρα σὺ εἶ Ἀθηναῖος, ἢ οὐ;
ἆρα σὺ εἶ αὐτοργός;
πότερον Ἀθηναῖος εἶ ἢ οὔ;
μὴ γεωργεῖς;
οὐ ἔχεις κλῆρόν τινα;
τίς ἡ πατρὶς σοι;
οἰκεῖς ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς; ἐν τῇ πόλει; ποῦ οἰκεῖς;
(the same again, but in the 3rd person, in 2nd plural, in 3rd plural, with students, with known and unknown responses.)
Level 6: Conditionals
εἰ Ἀθηναῖος ἐστιν ὁ Δικαιόπολις, τίς ἡ πατρίς αὐτῷ;
εἰ Λακεδομόνιος ἦν ὁ Δικαιόπολις, ποῦ ἂν ᾤκει;
(I would generally start with conditionals closely tied to the text. But you can make them further and removed.
There are other things you can do: use of synonymous words, phrases, structures. Switching around constructions (active <> middle), etc etc. But this is just a sample.
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