QUOTATION

"Words are merely words, but real literature for any age is words chosen with skill and artistry to give the readers pleasure and to help them understand themselves and others."



Lukens, J. Rebecca



Theme

The relationship between children and the elderly.

To engage students in the classroom in meaningful dialogue about diversity using the medium of the classroom blog and personal interaction with multicultural text.
To encourage students to share their own cultural stories and "border cross" from one world to another.


Multicultural Children's Literature Selections

  • Valerie and the Silver Pear, Benjami Darling
  • Year of Impossible Goodbyes, Sook Nyul Choi
  • The Patchwork Quilt, Valerie Flournoy
  • Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs, Tomie dePaola
  • Grandpa's Town, Takkaaki Nomura
  • Annie and the Old One, Miska Miles
Learn
tolerance, empathy, acceptance, understanding of and respect for cultural differences

Become
a culturally responsive student

Read
multicultural literature







Monday, November 14, 2011

Post #8 Reflections

Students are required to spend some time reading and reflecting on peer's comments to Annie and the Old One. Please comment on at least two peer's comments . Please begin your comments/reflections with, " My response to this story written by (name of student) is..." and, " My response to this story written by (name of student) is..."

34 comments:

  1. My response to this story written by Sebastian Walenciej is:

    Sebastian, you are correct when you say that Annie loves her grandmother and you back up your assumption with evidence. I believe that there is no better way to show love than through the relationship between a child and their grandparents. I like how you compare the story to your life. I know that you have a different background than Annie, Polish. This does not mean that we do not feel or think the same about our grandparents. All cultures are similar one way or another.

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  2. My response to this story written by Connie Nanfara is:

    I like they way you said that Annie and her grandmother are inseparable. It does seem that Annie cannot go anywhere without her grandmother. I like how you relate the story to your life. If a person can relate a story to their life, not only will they have a better understanding of the story but they will be able to feel what the main character feels. I also like how you say that, “all cultures have different foods and such but the connection with their families will always be the same.” You are 100% right. Everybody is the same no matter what race, culture, language , age of color.

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  3. My response to this story written by Andrew Citta

    My comments/reflections on the story Annie and the old one are very similar to yours. That is why i can relate to your post. I also found it very touching that she tried to stop time in order to spend more time with her grandmother. When I was small, I always wanted to ride my toy jeep to my grandparents house, and one day i actually did without my mom knowing. I will love my grandparents forever and I will cherish every moment with them.

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  4. My response to this story written by Michael Yousif

    I like your comparison between the passing on of tradition and sports. You are right, they are alike but in 2 different ways. We are all like Annie in the story because we all come from different cultures, and in each culture, a different tradition is passed on to us. I always think about if the traditions we learn will last and get carried on to future generations and I get frightened that they won't. You cant beat the old school ways of doing something.

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  5. My response to this story written by Frances Gasbarro

    I agree with you when you said that it would be hard to lose someone. It is very difficult to lose someone that one really loves and I guess the grandparents in one's life are very important. It'd be difficult for me if I never knew my grandparents.

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  6. My response to this story written by Andrew Citta is:

    Andrew, it seems you have a close relationship with your grandparents as well. It is very important to remain close with your grand-parents. Although not going to school is not right, it is important you loved your grand-parents to the extent of wanting to skip school. You truly reflect this story. Good reflection!

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  7. My response to this story written by Anthony Laurenza is:

    Anthony, the elder have played a significant role in the novels we read so far in class. It is good that you pointed that out. You also took it one step further saying that we should respect our elders. You are completely correct. Great reflection!

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  8. My response to this story written by Anthony Laurrenza

    I agree with you when you say every culture has a bond with their grandparents. You shouldn’t take your grandparents for granted because you never know what will happen. I like how you said “the young learns their lesson to have respect for their elders and cherish every moment with them” because it is true. Our elderly are very precious to us.

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  9. My response to this story written by Alex Molella

    I agree with you when you say it was nice of Annie to go out in the middle of the night and under her mother’s rug so her grandmother wouldn’t die. Annie does have a lot of love for her Grandmother. Every culture should have that love towards both their grandparents. It is nice of Annie to knit when her grandmother passes away, because it shows how great of a person she is. I help make tomato sauce as well with my family because my grandmother is old.

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  10. My response to this story written by Connie Nanfara is:
    Connie the sentence that stood out to me in your reflection was “I think that all cultures have different foods and such but the connection with their families will always be the same”. I strongly agree with this sentence because not only do some cultures have similar food but some with similar tradition etc. Most diverse families have similar ways of connecting with one another and this is shown through the previous children’s books that we read. It is also great that you realized the main theme of the book and showed a great understanding of how close Annie and her grandmother really were. Great reflection !

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  11. My response to this story written by Anthony Laurenza is:
    Anthony what stood out to me from your reflection were two sentences. The first “the elderly have either gotten sick or passes away and that is the point in the story where the young learn their lesson to have respect for their elders and cherish every moment with them” I strongly agree with this statement because it’s great hw you connected your own thoughts and realized that all the book that have been read do contain and elder that was sick. The second sentence that was thoughtful was when you said “This story makes me realize how precious our elders really are to us.” I also agree with this statement because some of us take our elders for granted. That is why we should spend every chance we get with them and to make them know that we do cherish what they have carried down for us. Great reflection!

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  13. My response to this story written by Anna

    I really like how you could relate to this story because I think it's great to appreciate your grandparents interests. I also liked how you said that most cultures are simillar. In my opinion I think that's true in a way. But in another way , cultures have so many differences too. They way things are done in different cultures, are different. For instace, they way we celebrate holidays are different. Overall I really enjoyed reading your comment.

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  14. My response to this story written by Elisa

    I Like you said, I think this book is simillar to the other books we've read, because of the bond between the grandparents. I really liked how you said "our grandparents will always be there for us and always want us to carry on our traditions in our families." Because I think it's true, our grandparents want us to carry on traditions to pass on to the next generations.

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  15. My response to this story written by Sebastian.

    I believe that it is true when you tell us how much Annie cares for her grandmother. It is the bond between them that is so strong that it cannot be broken, even through death. Most of us do have a different background then Annie, but we can try to relate, just as you did, which was great.

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  16. My response to the story written by Michael Yousif

    I enjoyed how you started to compare the tradition of passing down items to the different types of sports. It is correct when you say it because it represents the same thing. Passing of tradition, and it no matter what culture it is because we all do it. We can all relate to this story because we all have a culture and grandparents. We all come from somewhere and we all have our own ways of representing it, and remembering it.

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  17. My response to this story written by Amanda Sinapi

    You’re absolutely right about a child so young thinking about the death of a loved one. It’s so tragic to see someone go through that, let alone be as young as 10. I also like that you said “This story taught me to never take my Grandparents for granted, because you never know when their time will come” because we should spend as much time as we can with the elderly. Whether its people from your own family or not. They deserve that love and respect that they give us every day.

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  18. My response to this story written by Alex Molella

    What stood out to me about your post is when you mentioned Annie continuing to knit. I think that it’s important to carry out old traditions because it brings your closer with that person once they are gone. It’s kind of like they never left. Good post!

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  19. My response to this story written by Alex Molella

    Each family holds a special tradition that they would like to be continued throughout generations. Carrying out traditions carries out a families cultural background, and that is what Annie's family is displaying. Its good how you can relate to this!

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  20. My response to this story written by Hailey Dacosta

    Everyone would do anything they can to postpone a family or friends death. No one wants to see anyone sick, nor do we want to see people passing. Life hits us with so many obstacles. Be thankful for what you have, and the people that surround you.

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  21. My Response to post # 7 written by: Alyssia Pascuzzi

    Alyssia I liked how you related the story to your own life. I thought it was so nice of you to skip school for your Grandfather, you obviously cared a lot about him. Unfortunately everybody has their time like you said and it’s sad to hear your grandfather past away.

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  22. My Response to post # 7 written by: Connie Nanfara

    Connie I like how you said that every culture had different foods and other things but the connection between families is the same. I think this is so true, we may look different but everybody cares for family, just like how Annie cares for her grandmother

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  23. My response to this story written by Anthony Laurenza

    After reading your post I realized that the two of ours are very alike. We both talked about how Annie wanted to stop her mother from completing the quilt so her grandmother could stay alive. Also, we talked about how this story relates to the other short stories we read. We mainly stressed our feelings for our grandparents. Like you, I talked about how I cherish every moment spent with the elderly people in my life, and how this story makes us realize how precious they really are to us.

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  24. My response to this story written by Hailey Dacosta

    Your post states that grandmothers are a respected figure in this culture just as in any other culture. I agree with this statement. Although in the Navajo culture the elderly are highly admired, I think every culture admires the elderly in their own way. You also wrote that Annie found it very hard to cope with the news about her grandmothers near death due to her age. I think no matter what age you are, it will always be hard to deal with the news of one of your loved ones passing away.

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  25. My response to post #7 written by Joseph
    It is very nice that you can relate to the story just as much as i can. The making of italian sausage with your uncle is a great tradition to share with eachother and really builds a bond between you two.
    My response to post #7 written by Andrew Citta
    It is very touching that you used to stay home from school just to be with your grandparents. Just as much as you love spending time with them, I do to and I used to do the same, spending as much time as i could with them while they still are around.

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  26. My response to post #7 written by Connie Nafara

    I completely agree with you when you say that "all cultures have different foods and such but the connection with their families will always be the same”. You are right because irregardless of the cultural back round a person has wether it is language, colour, or race we are all the same people and God made each of us equally. My opinion is that although their are many people from different cultures, people can always relate to each other when it comes to the relation ships they have with elderly people in their life's.

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  27. My response to post #7 written by Anthony Laurenza is:
    I agree with you that this is a story that everyone can live. I like how Annie tried to stop time to try to make her live longer. Your right that it shows how much she cares for her grandmother. All three books are about the elderly and how the grandchildren are so close with her parents. I do agree with you that our elders should mean a lot to us.

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  28. My response to post #7 written by Anna Sinopoli is:
    I can relate to this story too because my grandmother use to teach me how to weave too. I use to get her to make me things too and now I can sew so me and my grandmother enjoy spending time together. It’s good to see that you make your grandmother happy even when you don’t enjoy what you are doing. I like how you think for others instead of yourself first it shows that you are a caring person.

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  29. My response to post #7 written Teodora Tockovska

    I think you are one hundred percent right, I too would do anything to prolong the death of a loved one. I also agree with you when you said that Annie must have found it very difficult to cope with the preparation of her grandmothers death, but then again I think that anyone would find it difficult.

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  30. My response to post # 7 by Teodora
    I totally agree with you. It is an inspiring story. I too haven’t experienced this but if I would I would probably do the same as Annie. I t is sad to know that Annie was trying her hardest to keep her grandmother with her but the grandmother was going to pass away anyways. Annie loved her grandmother so much that she was willing to stop the weaving the main income to save her grandmother. I am glad you never have experienced this.

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  31. My response to post # 7 by Anthony
    You are right that the elderly are precious to us because without them in our lives we wouldn’t be the people who we are now. The elderly have helped us become who we are and they help us to become independent. All cultures respect the elderly because they are the most important people in our lives. That’s why we all should respect, obey and accept what they say to us. Our elderly are great people that we should cherish.

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  32. My response to this story written by Connie Nanfara is :
    No matter what we do our grandparents will always love us. Were so lucky to have relationships with our grandparents, because some people out there don’t. We don’t realize how important they really are to us unless we take the time to actually think about it.

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  33. My response to this story written by Sebastian Walenciej is:
    Annie loves her grandmother so much that she was willing to stop the weaving of the carpet so her grandmother wouldn’t die. Personally I would do the same. I like how you said she learns that she can’t stop time and that if she loves her grandmother that much, she would let her go. We love our grandparents so much that, of course, we would hate to see them leave us. We all realize at one point that we cannot stop death.

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  34. My response to post #7 written by Mario Zuliani:

    I think you really understood the true meaning of this story like when you said, "The fact that she would destroy something, that her mother worked hard on, shows how much she loves her grandmother." wow.

    My response to post #7 written by Michael Yousif:

    I loved how you connected it to sports which is something most of us can relate with especially with hockey in Canada, but I think that the sewing stick was like the torch in this story.

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