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To engage students in the classroom in meaningful dialogue about diversity using the medium of the classroom blog and personal interaction with multicultural text.
International Studies Unit
ENG2D1 - Grade 10 Academic English
Irish American Culture
Native American Culture
Jewish Culture
African American Culture
Universal
School Logo
York Catholic District School Board
INITIAL SURVEY
ALL STUDENTS MUST COMPLETE BEFORE 10/28/11 11:59 PM
While reading Valerie and the silver pear I couldnt help but think about my own culture. When reading this, I think of when me and my nonna cook together. Also, the passing down of jewlery is very similar to what my grandparents do for me. Also, they tell me stories just like the silver pear story that was told to Valerie by her grandfather. The Jewish culture sure doesnt seem much different than mine after reading this story.
ReplyDelete“Valerie and the Silver Pear” is an inspiring novel filled with truth. Although it is not a true story, it reflects the truth of the real world. The Jewish culture is represented to be a culture of sharing and value. It values the significance of tradition. This is shown when the grandparents pass on the tradition of the pear pie. In my family, my grandparents also pass on valuable items to my parents which then go to me. Sometimes, the valuable items go directly to me. This story makes one realize that although one’s culture seems different, it is similar to many other cultures in the sense of sharing, caring, respect to your elders and tradition. It gives the reader a lot to think about, as it pertains to culture and families.
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ReplyDeleteValerie and the siler pear was a very inspirational book. It inspired me to really learn how to apreciate what you have in life. Because grandparents will not be there forever and we have to cherish the time we have and spend with them. I also enjoyed how this booked showed the Jewish culture. Just like many different cultures, there's many different traditions. For example in the Jewish culture, Valerie's grandmother used to make pear pies. This book gives the reader something to think about ,when you have grandparents. For example I realized that I need to cherish the time I have with my grandparents and respect there traditions because they won't be here forever.
ReplyDeleteI found Valerie and the Silver Pear to be a very loving story between the grandfather and the granddaughter. The grandpa went through a whole tale about a silver pear in order to pass down the grandmothers bracelet. That is adorable for a grandfather to do for his granddaughter. They bonded and spent time together. The Jewish culture is not much different from the Italian culture because in my family, we all make fresh tomato sauce together using my grandparents recipe. In my mom's side of the family, a ring has been passed down generation to generation and now my mom has it. It will continue to be passed down and this is like what happened in this story.
ReplyDeleteI thought that “Valerie and the Silver Pear" is a story that outlines the basic doings of everyday people. I didn't really find many differences in culture other then the pie, but I do think that it was a great story. The story talks about how Valerie is constantly with her grandpa. I find it very sweet because her grandma passed away and the grandfather lives alone. I know I would do the same for my grandpa. This story is very realistic and I think all of us would be able to relate to it no problem.
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ReplyDelete“Valerie and the Silver Pear” is about a girl that is very close to her Grandfather, ever since her Grandmother passed away. Grandmother passed down her pie recipe to her Granddaughter. My grandmother passed down to me her necklace she got from Italy when she was a kid. I wear it every day because I want to cherish it. Whenever my grandmother sees me wearing her necklace, there is a big smile on her face, she is so happy. This story taught me that everyone has a different culture, and we need to accept that. Every culture has different ways of bringing down there traditions to anyone, it can be to their children or even their kids.
ReplyDeleteI really like this story. The images are beautiful and very detailed which really shows what is going on. This story brought back memories of my childhood and the passing down of two golden rings than belonged to my grandmother and my great, great, grandmother. I don't really wear them too much because I am scared if I lose them. I love how Valerie's grandfather made up the story of the silver pear to pass down her grandmother's silver bracelet. It also much have been fun to bake 8 pear pies, and when Valerie said that it was difficult. That reminded me of this summer when my grandmother was helping me bake traditional pastries. It was difficult but I made them all on my own, and they were great! Overall, this story is very wonderful and bright and I hope that I can view the recipe at the back one day.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading Valerie and the silver pear the first person that came to my mind was my Zia, from ever since I was little she always made the most delicious dishes. I always use to ask her to teach me so I could learn and spend time with her. In this story in shows how things are passed down, and personally I have never had anything passed down from my grandparents so I don’t really understand the importance. It made me think about when my Nonno and Nonna do pass away what will I have to remember them by other then memories?. At both my Zia and Nonna’s house they have a fruit tree and every time it grows we always go to collect them, and Mr. Racco’s right nothing beats the things you grow in your backyard.
ReplyDelete“Valarie and the Silver Pear,” is an excellent children’s novel that shows both the relationship between youth and the elderly but also the passing down of traditions. Valarie seems to have an excellent relationship with her grandfather. She visits him almost every day and helps him bake. This reminds me of when me and my grandmother would bake Crostata. Crostata is a cake with a layer of homemade jam on top and strips of dough lining in a zigzag. I would help my grandfather pick cherries from his cherry tree and then I would help my grandmother bake the Crostata. “Valerie and the Silver Pear,” also shows the passing down of traditions. Valarie’s grandfather passes down the tradition of making pear pies. In my family the tradition of making Crostata and homemade tomato sauce is passed down.
ReplyDeleteI found that I could relate to the story Valarie and the Silver Pear because it reminds me of my culture and my family. Every year for my grandfather's birthday my grandmother makes this cake that he loves. She gave me the recipe and I tried making it but it doesn't taste the same unless she helps me. My great grandmother also passed down some crystal glasses that she loved. She passed them to my moms aunt and my mom use to say she loved them when she was a little girl. Recently she passed away and now my mom has them.
ReplyDeleteHaving read the book Valerie and The Silver Pear it is very easy to make a comparison to the everyday lives of people. The book exhibits valuable points and shows the relationship Valerie has with her grandfather. It shows that spending quality time with someone is always meaningful. Valerie and her grandfather enjoy baking pies together,they also enjoy each others company. This book is very relatable to my relationship with my grandparents because we always do little things like baking or having dinner together, and to me the most meaningful thing is being able to cherish and enjoy the time I have with them.
ReplyDeleteValerie and the silver Pear was a great story. I could reflect to this story the most because I do the same with my parents. We pick apples and pears and after make jam out of the fruits. The reason I help my parents is I want to spend time with them because they aren’t going to be with me forever so I want to spend as much time with them as I can. Valerie’s grandfather wanted to spend time with her by making up the story. I think most cultures would do the same to spend time with their young ones. I would love to do the same with my grandparents so the next time they come to Canada I will ask them to pick pears and apples with me.
ReplyDeleteThe children’s story Valerie and the Silver Pear written by Benjamin Darling was an inspirational story whose main theme was tradition. It was about a Jewish family who passed down tradition of the making of pear pies. The grandfather also passes down his wife’s bracelet and his stories on to Valarie. Valarie and her grandfather built a great bond and I am fortunate to also be close with my grandfather. I try the best I can to always make sure I fit him in my schedule. My grandfather and I always had an interest in looking for cars. He promised me that when I am able to get my G1 he will take me to get a car. We also have many traditions that are family orientated but looking for cars is the only thing that me and my grandfather are able to do with each other. My grandfather has recently given me his wife’s ring also, my grandmother passed away at an early age therefore all her belonging got passes down to her two daughters. My mother has many of her belongings and I am fortunate to be responsible for her wedding band.
ReplyDeleteValerie and the Silver pear was a story based on a loving relationship between a girl and her grandfather. The meaning behind the title comes from a story that the grandfather made up to be able to pass down a silver bracelet to his granddaughter. Valerie and her grandfather bonded and spent a lot of time with each other making food from the pears. This can relate to the Italian culture where on occasion the family gets together to make tomato sauce for the entire year. In my family a bracelet has also been past down to each generation and will continue to be for future generations.
ReplyDeleteValerie and the Silver Pair is a children’s short story book that displays the Jewish Culture. This book shows a strong bond between a grandfather and his granddaughter. This book can be relatable to many cultures because many grandchildren share a strong bond with their grandparents. Like most grandparents, they plant trees in their background and use the plants from the trees to create different ingredients. I also agree when the grandfather says,“you can’t beat what you grow in your own backyard” because my grandfather says the same thing, and feels that when you’re growing food in your backyard it tastes better since it is coming from the heart.
ReplyDeleteThe children's novel "Valerie and the silver pear" Is a story about a relationship between a young Jewish girl and her grandfather. I can relate to this story because I also have a very strong bond with my grandfather. Valerie and her grandfather had a tradition of making pear pie using the pears that they grew in there backyard. When I was younger I also made cherry pie using the cherries that we grew in our backyard. This story makes me realize how tradition that has been passed down through my family has such a great affect on my life and influences me everyday.
ReplyDeleteThe short story “Valerie and the Silver pear” is a sweet story about the relationship between Valerie and her Grandfather. This story is told from the Jewish perspective but isn’t much different from mine, which is catholic. When her Grandmother past away, she left her recipes behind, this is like how my Grandparents left me their items too. I also liked how Valerie spends a lot of time with her Grandfather because the elderly have a lot of knowledge to share with us young kids. When I was younger I would spend as much time with my grandparents as I could and they’ve thought me a lot of good life lessons that I still use.
ReplyDeleteDuring the story "Valerie and the Silver Pear" I was often thinking about my grandparents and the pear trees in their backyard's. I also thought about how I help my grandparents pick their pears and when they pass their belongings down to me and others in my family. I think many of us can connect with this story because most grandparents have a lot of fruits and vegetables growing in their backyard garden.
ReplyDeleteReflection of the children’s story book: Valerie and the Silver Pear
ReplyDeleteThis fictional story called “Valerie and the Silver Peach” is a story about passing down important items from generation to generation as a family. It shows us the Jewish culture and tradition of passing down items. But to me, the amazing thing is that every single culture does this, not just Jewish people. No matter what color, race, or religion families pass down items because they love one another and want to leave something behind before they pass as a reminder of them. They left a bracelet for Valerie, and my mom; which is born in Portugal has reminders and items of her mother. Also, they did the tradition of making pie. For me and my Italian half, we make Italian sausages every year which represents the same thing, just different objects. So this shows us that every culture is alike, just in different ways. Some harder to see than others…
"No matter what color, race, or religion families pass down items because they love one another and want to leave something behind before they pass as a reminder of them." Absolutely! Not only items are passed down but in some cultures names are passed down. In my culture the first born male always is named after the paternal grandfather. I actually traced this back all the way to my great-great granfather. Interesting. Hailey writes: When I was younger I also made cherry pie using the cherries that we grew in our backyard. This story makes me realize how tradition that has been passed down through my family has such a great affect on my life and influences me." Last August my parents took pictures of my children picking fruit from the fruit trees in my garden, their garden, and from an apple tree at our cottage. I guess harvesting food is a reminder of past life experiences? Alyssa, like many of us, has objects that have been handed down to her: "My grandfather has recently given me his wife’s ring." Isn't it funny how objects seem to replace people in our lives: rings, books, photos, artilces of clothing etc. I think my dad is itching to pass down his favourite hunting rifle to my son; his first grandson.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting comments. Thanks for sharing.