兒子今年的英文老師是 UT - Austin 教育系畢業的高材生. 有用心的高材生果然出手不凡: 課前預告, 系統分析, 鼓勵實作, 一樣不缺. 雖然我家所在的 Klein 學區整體寫作成績不理想, 但碰到這位老師可真是兒子的福氣.
以下是課前準備範例 - 這是每周一會送到家長手上的訊息.
"Reading Learning Intention- I can read a poem and identify the figurative language (similes and metaphors) and the sensory language that creates imagery.
Writing Learning Intention- I can write a rhyming poem, shape poem, and an alliteration poem with sensory language.."
是的, 你沒看錯. 英文詩鑑賞與寫作是美國小學生的必修教材. 隨著老師講解舉例完各類詩型後, 兒子為期一周的 "Poem Fever" 正式起跑.
以下是兒子 10/23/2018 寫的生平第一首押韻詩:
A Cake in a Lake
I wanted to bake,
a very cool cake,
in the great lake,
and I will do it for heaven's sake.
So to the great lake,
I went with a shiver and shake,
I almost ate a frozen flake.
When I got home I ate a warm steak.
But that was so weird and fake.
看得出兒子在為押韻湊字之餘, 努力想串聯起一則故事的企圖. 最末一句: But that was so weird and fake 轉得突兀, 卻合理化了之前所有生硬的不合理. 高招!
其他的詩句還有:
You
You are good or bad,
You are a lady or a lad,
You are humble or bright,
You are weak or like to fight.
Don't worry, You decide!
呵呵, You are a lady or a lad... You decide! 很合性平的潮流.
以及無名詩:
Fright, sight, light, and night they are all the same to me.
Cat, mat, hat, and bat they are all the different to see.
以下是他寫的最複雜的一首:
Eyes
Your eyes shine
unlike twine,
with one dot each
not like peach.
They spy like a pro
looking to and fro.
Eyes are bright
your sense of sight.
用 "twine" 是美麗的錯誤 - 兒子以為 "twine" 是 "twinkle": 閃爍的意思. 他本來想說睜大的眼睛不閃爍, 現在變成非 "線" 一般的咪咪眼, 還說的過去啦...
我喜歡 "with one dot each, not like peach" 描寫黑眼球的這一句. 他用大小的比喻, 帶出兩隻眼睛, 四個圓圈, 有分內外的圖形 - 很像他自己畫的插圖.
以下是我和老婆公認作品中最棒的一首型體詩:
The Creature
I saw a creature with hands and feet with a eek like thunder emerge from the swamp.
"Hey you" he said and disappeared into the swamp.
詩裏不只寫形 (creature with hands and feet), 還寫聲 (eek / Hey you), 很有日本俳句剎那印象即永恆的感覺.
Something emerge from the water: 意指型體浮出水面. 只看閃電擊中沼澤的瞬間, 分不清閃電自上還是下方來, 很有顛倒看世界的 Fu, 給整首詩加了禪意.
看完兒子的作品, 立馬寫信詢問高材生老師有關補充教材事宜. 老師舉了以下書單, 對孩童英文詩有興趣者可參考:
The New Kid on the Block – by Jack Prelutsky
A Light in the Attic – by Shel Silverstein
Where the Sidewalk Ends – by Shel Silverstein
Love that Dog - by Sharon Creech
The Crossover - by Kwame Alexander
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