In BoyOne's English lit class, they were asked to write a letter to one of the characters in the book The Diary of Anne Frank, which they had just finished reading. While BoyOne's writing is coming along, it is still a little bit of a struggle to get him to write papers for class (what teenaged boy jumps for joy over writing compositions?!). In the beginning I would have him type his papers on the online translator and then copy the translation for his paper. His teachers and I thought this was the best way to get him started expressing himself. Remember, he had never ever written any sort of paper ever before. At age fourteen! He had NO IDEA how to even begin to do this. It used to take us HOURS to get four sentences. Now, when he writes, he doesn't use the translator at all and he can easily write 100 words without any sort of prompts! He can go another hundred with just a few questions to get his mind going again. I am so very impressed and pleased with his progress! These kids literally have to learn how to think. The whole thought process is foreign to them. Opinions? Forget it. You can see how having this background and past has made this new way of doing things so difficult for them, but wow! I'm so proud of him!
I wanted to share his letter to Anne Frank. It was to be a 'friendly' letter, 350 words. He counted exactly 350. I didn't double check him, but I did count the first 304 words for him. He then had to add the next 46 and count them on his own.
In the first draft of the letter I will type exactly what he has written and how he spelled it. If there is a weird word (and there are quite a few:)) I will type the word he means next to it in parenthesis. If he asked me to spell the word for him, I will type it in blue. In the second draft I will translate what he means, just in case you don't quite get it. It makes sense to me, but we hear it all day, every day. :) One thing that does confuse me a little is that he will sometimes spell a word correctly, but not at all consistently. You'll see that in the first draft. Also, he only capitalizes things sometimes. ?!
DRAFT 1:
Dear Anne Frank I like your book because you very awesome person. First I go school I read yours book I no wery (very) anderstant (understand) but I seenk (think) what happen. You book so cool because its wery (very) funny person but and bad staw (stuff) and good. I seenk (think) its so mach (much) long time for you garret (go write) that book but its cool. I lik (like) moushi because its cat. So I leave (live) and (in) Ukraine I no wery (very) like to read kind of, but I go it too America i read and my class your book I fearst (first) time ooo no read book so boar (boring) but leader (later) its good. And (in) Ukraine its no wery (very) bit ite (eat) but its ok. And you hide in Jermnay (I actually spelled this out for him slooowly and this is still what he came up with. It's supposed to be Germany) I tell you what happen in Ukraine its wery (very) lang (long) story but ok let.s (let's) go. And (in) Ukraine people were (very) hard work he is grow wheat its very hard work but stupid Russian go in Ukraine take erry (every) wheat people so said (sad) so sack (suck). And people no foot (food) and starve and die too. And Russian kill people for (in) Ukraine, and mare (more) for (than) 6 million people die. Ukraine country good I like Ukraine I play soccer, basketball (yeah, that's not quite accurate. we heard all the time in the beginning how 'big suck' Ukraine is because there is no basketball) and nader (other) sports. I no go erry (every) day in Ukraine school no wery (very) anderstant (understand) but its ok. Amereca I go church play soccer basketball and nader (other) sports. Now I gavet (have it) biger (bigger) friends for Ukraine. Ukraine no wery (very) good food America bedar (better). My femily stae (stay) in the Ukraine but I stae (still) love my family Ukriane and i now (know) he (they) love me Ukraine i have 1 brothers now i have 4 sisters and brother. Its longer school for (than) Ukraine but dats (thats) good. I Now (know) you hawe (have) cat i hawe (have) cat too America cat name Onix (Onyx) so crazy i seenk (think) he like sing. Ukraine cat too crazy isenk (I think) She lik (like) spider-man. I so said (sad) because you die for (in) Jermany (Germany) but I stae (still) like you book im (I'm) so sorry for (that) you die I senk (think) you so cool and popular. My family go for me back America me and my family stae (stay) in Jermany (Germany) you so awesom my name is ________.
DRAFT 2:
Dear Anne Frank, I like your book because you are a very awesome person. First I go to school and I read your book, I don't really understand, but I think I know what happened. Your book is so cool because you're a very funny person but bad stuff happened, and good. I think it took you such a long time to write the book, but it's cool. I like Moushi because it's a cat. So, I used to live in Ukraine and I did not like to read, well, kind of. I go to America and my class and I read your book. The first day I said, "Ohhhh. I don't want to read this book. It's so boring. But then later, I see that it's good. In Ukraine I don't have very much to eat, but it's okay. I'll tell you what happened in Ukraine while you were hiding in Germany. It's a really long story, but let's get started. In Ukraine people work very hard to grow wheat. This is very hard work. Stupid Russia came into Ukraine and took all the wheat. People were so sad. It sucked. People didn't have food and they were starving and they died. Russia killed people in Ukraine. More than 6 million peopled died. Ukraine is a good country. I like Ukraine. I played soccer, basketball and other sports. I didn't go to school every day in Ukraine. I don't really know why. In America, I go to church, play soccer, basketball and other sports. Now I have more friends than in Ukraine. Ukraine food wasn't very good. American food is better. My (biological) family stayed in Ukraine but I still love them and I know they love me too. In Ukraine I had 1 brother. Now I have 4 sisters and 1 brother. The school day is longer than in Ukraine but that's okay. I know you had a cat. I have a cat, too. My cat in America is named Onyx. He is so crazy. I think he likes to sing (because he meows so freaking loud all. night. long). My cat in Ukraine was crazy too. I think she was like Spiderman. I'm so sad that you died in Germany, but I still liked your book. I so sorry that you died. I think you are so cool and popular. When my family brought me to America, our layover was in Germany. You are so awesome. Your friend, _________
Alex still has a hard time with "v" coming out "w" as in "wampire". She is getting better with her vowels, but I still see "mach" instead of "much", too. Looks like Boy One is making some progress!
ReplyDeleteI love it! I blogged some of Alex's writing and it's so great to see how far he's come! I think he's doing AWESOME for how short he's been here!
ReplyDeleteI like it. I would like to tell the staff at the school where I work about my son adopted from Ukraine. May I use your son's letter to help show what life in Ukraine is like and what it was like under Soviet rule? I work in middle school and my son will be there next year. We are from a small community where people think they are well informed about students from different cultures because they know of a couple people who come from families who speak Spanish at home. Otherwise, that I know of, this school system (K through 12) has one student whose family is from China, my son, a boy from Columbia, and one girl adopted as a small child from Asia.
ReplyDeleteYou're such a great mom, Steph. You've got me thinking how overwhelming 2 Ukrainian 10th graders and an 8th grader are going to be next year---just when I'd finished with Science Fairs and Country reports.
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