This Discipulus Illustris (i.e. Special Person) variation was inspired by a student who shared with us that he had 4 names. Even though the whole class knew his name since September (i.e. boring interview question), they had NO IDEA that he had two middle names. Sweet. This is the kind of hook needed to reboot interest in a Special Person program. This variation ranks high on that compelling-o-meter…

It’s simple. For every question, the student has a choice to respond a) truthfully, or b) falsely.

You might expect this to be obvious, but NO! That 4-name response threw my entire class for a loop. They would’ve easily guessed that the student made that up if I had been doing this variation! Another benefit to this variation is that we have an opportunity to expose students to all sorts of grammar that most teachers don’t even think about touching in the first year. We teach grammar, oh yes we do. For example, report what the student said, and you’ve got an instant indirect statement. Here are some ideas to make sure you’re unsheltering grammar:

• dīxit sē vocārī She said that she’s called
• dīxit sē malle… He said that he prefers…
• putāsne discipulum dīxisse vērē an fālsē? Do you think that the student told the truth, or made it up?
• fierī potest ut discipula sit mendax! It’s possible that the student is a liar!
• sitne vērum and falsum? Could it be true, or false?

Here’s a streamlined Power Point for those who don’t need the support in the original, as well as some indirect statement prompts to remind you to ask the class to determine the veracity of the Special Person’s statement. Enjoy!