歡樂過暑假-----7/7/2006

7/7/2006  晴

Finally, it's Friday!

今天是這週課程的最後一天了,時間過得很快,從第一天的Sensory word然後Choosing the correct word, Creative use of language, Using dialogue到今天的Energetic Writing,一系列針對writing的英文訓練,我看著孩子學習,吸收與應用,老師活潑生動與互動的教學方式,讓我覺得選對老師真的很重要. Cathleen, thank you for all your efforts, we really appreciated. (老師也會上來看, 因為她不懂中文, 而我真的是由衷的感謝她,所以借此傳答訊息。)

今天老師唸了兩段很棒的文章,藉此文章讓孩子們感受到一篇好文章的威力,能讓讀者有親臨其境的感覺。她並讓孩子討論並說出文章讓他們映像深刻的地方, 為什麼?(老師每次都會問”為什麼”,目的是讓孩子能思考並有機會練conversion.)

我把這兩篇文章貼出來,各位也可思考一下,這兩篇文章好在什麼地方?

 Example 1

  I was used to going to school through the rumble and snarl of traffic, sidewalks teeming with people…I had traveled on a city bus jammed with faces of every color and humming with languages from around the world. Now each morning I stood like a stump at the end of our unpaved driveway waiting for the big yellow monster to swallow me up and transport me to Boredom High School. I had been dragged from a major street in the biggest city in the country to the edge of the known universe, a rural route in Garafraxa Township—the name sounded like an incurable skin disease—with a chicken farm at the dead end, on the outskirts of a no-place village called Fergus where, as near as I could tell, the locals' idea of a good time was trying on gloves at the department store or watching the blue light revolve on the top of the snowplow.

  There was nothing funny about being the only child of two stubborn parents who had decided to leave the city and do the pioneer thing among the trees.

(By William Bell, Zack(New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1999) p.7-8)

孩子們的看法多半是喜歡”..the big yellow monster to swallow me up..”, 原因是這種比喻法很傳神也很有趣。

Example 2

  I woke up one morning, at the age of twelve, to the smell of low tide. The scent of seaweed and tidal pools crept through my open bedroom window and tiptoed around the room, not overpowering, but arousing interest. Usually awakening to the faint smell of pine and the rush of wind in the trees, that day I was intrigued with the thick, musty odor of sun-baked salt and mussel-covered rocks. My ears strained to pick up the slight sloshing of the tide as it swept in and out around the low-water-mark rocks and ledges. It seemed strange that having been surrounded by the ocean my entire life, this was the first time I noticed the screeching of the gulls and the drone of a diesel-powered lobster boat nearby.

(By Linda Greenlaw, The Hungry Ocean(New York: Hyperion, 1999) p.52)

這段讓人感覺那整個海景就在眼前,甚至像可以聞到海的味道一樣,很美。

老師出了最後一份Homework, 要大家寫出”My least favorite place.” 主要的用意是用來跟上課前測程序的”My favorite place.”相對照, 看孩子是否有進步。

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騎馬今天也是最後一天了,到今天Monica和Sharon才學會如何馴服Fletcher,就是氣勢要比它高漲,不然它就不聽你的。而Anderson和Tony今天才知道要清馬蹄時要如何叫Crystal把腳抬起來。Brian現在已經能自己把馬鞍綁好,而不需要其他人幫忙。Joy雖然上了很多次的騎馬課,這一次也是她第一次學會如何叫馬抬腳替它清馬蹄。所以除了騎馬以外,學到的其實還真不少呢!

今天教練還讓他們學習在馬上做”Around the World”,就是坐在馬背上轉一圈(人轉馬不動),還要他們做一些其他的動作,如’Touch the horse’s year”, “Touch the tail”, “Right hand touch left foot”, “Left hand touch right foot”, 這些動作都是在增加孩子在馬上的信心,減少恐懼。

雖然一週上下來,學到的東西只是皮毛,但我安排騎馬的課還有另一個用意就是增加孩子的信心,讓他們覺得”I can make it."

 

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今天晚上本來應該去游泳,但孩子都要求”Today is Friday, let's relax.” 想想也好,因為休息是為了走更長遠的路!