讓家裏的Reluctant writer動筆

我家裏的小學男娃天生不愛說話。娃得了他爸的基因，父子倆都不愛說話，娃小時候，他爸出國，幾個星期不在家，給娃打電話，就問娃，"xxx,how are you. " 娃就說Good, 他爸又問“how's things going " 娃又說good. 然後父子倆再也說不出話來，電話結束。

 

等娃入了小學去測語言能力，說娃語言表達能力弱，有語言表達障礙。一直用學校的therapy, 也沒有什麽進步。疫情網課的時候，語言therapy 在網上給他上課，跟他一起上課的也是一個語言有問題的孩子。可人家娃非常配合therapy, 有問必答。我家娃就是不怎麽開口。老師也很Nice, 一點兒也不push。我在旁邊看的很著急。

 

之前學校集體網課，班裏的娃們搶著說話，小八哥很多，而他從來不自己主動發言，老師偶爾點名叫他，他的語速很慢，說話聲音很輕，說了一兩句就再也不肯多說。

 

娃的社交就是和小區裏麵的同齡男娃打鬧，踢球，看卡通，玩電玩，似乎也不說話。我想娃的出路，大概率就是打好數學基礎，和娃爸一樣，將來去學個工科。

 

等到娃開始寫作，Reluctant speaker 變成了reluctant writer. 我在美國說外語，還要推他寫作，想一想都頭大。

 

寫作最難的就是麵對一張白紙，想不出寫什麽，也想不出用什麽詞語寫。對娃來說，這兩者皆難。

 

好吧，先降低難度，給娃一個現成小故事，這樣娃不需要構思故事情節。讓娃練習用自己的話把別人的小故事重新寫一遍。

 

讓娃把別人的小故事讀一遍，用幾個短語，摘錄五六個故事要點。叫outline, 然後把原文拿走，用outline做提示，用自己的話重新寫故事。情節一樣，但用的句子必須和原文不同。

 

娃不擅長表達，用不同的句子寫同一個意思，不知道怎麽動筆。和娃一起從原文中挑出四句長句子，然後highlight幾個關鍵單詞，和娃一起，對關鍵詞羅列出一堆同義詞，然後用同義詞替換原來的詞，重新組句。這個過程可以和娃一起翻了同義詞詞典。

 

通過同義詞替換，把原文的四句長句子全部用自己找的同義詞重新寫了一遍。這樣娃有了四句他自己寫的話。

 

娃有點信心，可以擺脫原文，繼續看著outline, 用自己的話重寫成一篇故事。我說這是個遊戲，規則是意思不可以變化，但用的詞語一定要變化。

 

文科牛娃可以毫不費力，信筆佔來，對reluntant writer 來說，寫作需要降低兩個難度。折騰了一個多小時，娃也用他自己的話，寫成了一篇小故事。原文網上有，這是他用自己的話重新寫的：

 

The ant and the chrysalis by Aesop 

Retold by XXX

 

An ant was promptly roaming about in the sunlight, hunting for food.

 

While the summer wind blew gently, the ant stumbled upon a leaf of a hemlock tree, to which a chrysalis was clinging. The chrysalis was very near its time of changing. The chrysalis moved its tail. This movement attracted the attention of the Ant, who realized that the chrysalis was alive. 

 

The ant was an arrogant chap. " Poor pitible animal " exclaimed the ant scornfully ," what a sad fate is yours !" The ant continued to taunt the chrysalis " while I can run every nook and cranny at my pleasure , if I wish I can crawl up this huge hemlock tree , you lie caged in your shell. " The chrysalis heard the ant's mocking laughter but said nothing. 

 

A few days later, the ant chanced to come across the same hemlock tree. He looked upon the shell and to his astonishment there was nothing remained except an empty shell. He found himself all at once covered and fanned by the magnificent wings of a beautiful butterfly.

 

" Behold in me" said the butterfly , " you much-pitted friend, boast of your abilities to run and climb as long as you can get me listen to you. ”the butterfly ascended in the air, and borne along and floated on the summer breeze until she vanished in the misty air far from the ant's vision. 

 

全是娃自己寫的，我給娃改了幾個拚寫錯誤，下一步拿去給native speaker 看。請他們指出寫的別扭的句子，繼續改那些別扭的句子。

 

娃是Reluctant writer, 但無論如何一定要他動筆，最好天天動筆。

 

家裏的妹妹也寫了同一個故事，她用了不同的句子，講得是同樣的故事。讓家裏不同的娃一起寫同一個故事，對不愛動筆的娃也是一種促進，孩子都是人來瘋，愛看樣。看到比他小的孩子也在寫同樣的故事，大娃開始不服氣了。他嚷嚷說，我比妹妹寫的好。

 

看看妹妹寫的故事。

An ant briskly strayed in the sunshine, looking for food. 

The ant was slowly walking through the woods and saw a chrysalis in her shell. The chrysalis was about to change. She can hardly move her tail . The ant was curious about this little creature that was alive . 

 

"Poor pitiable animal ” the ant giggled “ what a miserable fate is yours. I can run from place to place in a field , if I wish I am free to mount the highest tree while you are trapped in this shell, only can wiggle your tail.

The chrysalis heard but did not answer . 

 

A few days later, the ant came back. He gazed upon the tree where the chrysalis lived. To his surprise, the chrysalis had disappeared. While he was stairing at the empty shell, he noticed himself swiftly shadowed and blown by the fancy wings of a beautiful butterfly. 

 

“you much pitted friend Boast  of your powers to run and climb as long as you get me to listen to you”. And then the butterfly rose quickly in the air and winged over the summer breeze. In a twinkling she flew into the wonderful sky which the ant was never able to imagine.