Category Archives: by Mr Milloy

Friday and the Red Flag Fleet

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I lost myself in thinking ‘bout
That Red Flag Pirate fleet,
The captives taken to their ship
And trials they might meet.

I know ‘bout probability
Their chances di’n’t look great
Lingsi seemed sure to farkle* once
That sailor dropped that crate.

She risked it all; she summoned up
What courage she could find.
Surprised that dreaded pirate queen
With powers of her mind.

What lesson do you take from her?
That queen knew to take heed.
There’s nothing quite so valuable
As knowing how to read!

*Farkle is a game of chance played with dice in which to Farkle means getting a bad roll causing the player to lose points and lose their turn.

I look forward to seeing eveyone’s reaction to the story, your writing, your videos and all your efforts from this week (which is quickly passing by!).

Enjoy the poem in the video below (you should recognise the meter!), and spend some time on some poetry you might include in a card on Sunday.

On a bit of a roll

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There may be times when it is hard not to notice what we can’t do or what isn’t getting done ore going well, but right now I cannot help but notice what is happening that is both interesting and good:

  • We had a lovely virtual assembly Friday (featuring some of your hearts for healthcare workers, thank you!)
  • Strong responses to questions about ‘The Difficult Path’ show you may be developing Lingsi’s superpower
  • I’m seeing a few of your video clips tying in with the endings you wrote to the unfinished story we heard last week
  • Several of you are having success at Farkle, the dice game I gave you this week
  • I got to read some of your lines of verse (though one was about pets that bite!)
  • I got to meet someone’s new cat virtually (but again a pet with a propensity to bite‽)

As I alluded in the title to this post, it is starting to feel like we are on a roll. So (after reminding you all to continue working on the tasks laid out for this week) I’ll recommend you plan ahead for Sunday by checking out this wonderful poem by Bruce Lansky. You should recognise the rhythm. You might try writing your own version to include (perhaps along with a copy of ‘On Mother’s Day’, crediting Mr Lansky, of course) in a card this weekend.

I’ll also recommend this online version of Farkle (There are a few ads, but it’s not too bad). The game goes quickly, but watching the text description for each turn helps. And like most things in life, the practice (including the turns that don’t go your way) help you think about and develop your strategy. (Did you know you could have this much fun learning about chance & probability?)

Let me know how your farkle games (or other endeavours) are going in the comments, and I’ll see you at our next meeting this afternoon in Teams at 1PM.

Scholatic Super Power

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We recently started listening to a short story called ‘The Difficult Path’ by Grace Lin. The story is about a young girl who had been sold into servitude, by her own mother! In the last part of the story, we’ll find out about the superpower the pirates want from her. [Grace Lin is also the author of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, which some of you may have read from our classroom library shelf. While the short story we’ve been reading is a work of fiction, you might be surprised to find out about one of the pirate captains of the actual Red Flag Fleet from the 19th Century]
Chinese pirates attack merchantman

During our class circle yesterday, we discussed our ongoing asssigned activities for this week, including a video we will try to put together and preparing for a (virtual) poetry slam.  Here again is the link to what we’re working on this week, which includes links to part 2 of the story (along with a few questions to answer). There is also a link to part 1 if you need a review and an exercise to help those poetry-writing skills.

Remember to come with questions during the morning feedback/discussion sessions (see the Teams calendar), and remember our next meeting time Thursday afternoon at 1PM (again join from the Teams calendar event).

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

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It is the 5th of May today, and if you’ve been reading the comments, you’ll know the full name for this holiday and the country where the celbration originated. (Thank you Christine!)

I’m glad when you can come to meet

Each week or once a day.

We’ll talk about new meeting times

Where you can ask and say

Just what you think. Now off you go

Use iambs best you can

Try wordplay with all kinds of verse

For our next poetry slam.

Here again is the link to what we’re working on this week.

May the Force Be With You

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I know not everyone is a huge Star Wars fan, and I cannot say I have kept up with every single one of the latest releases, but I always liked the way that benediction, “May the Force be with you,” could so easily and widely be offered and accepted as a kind wish and gesture of good will. So I offer it to you all today (whether you are busting out your action figures or not).

Speaking of messages carrying good will and hope, I hope that everyone enjoyed attending our Celebration of Learning Assembly (online or virtual edition) and seeing the message from our school staff Friday. Do go back and check it out if you haven’t (or watch it again!).

As students look at assigned activities for this week, you’ll see that we will be taking on some longer projects and branching out into developing some aditional skills (How are you with video?). We will talk about these more at our weekly Tuesday morning Teams meeting when I’ll also discuss some additional meeting times as ways we can connect more often.

May is on the way

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April 30th

To say that we are doing many things differently these days is a gross understatement! Before going to explore activites I’ve assigned for today (and some how-to videos), please leave a comment here about what skills (or tools) you have had to learn or improve a lot while working from home.

Please also remember to visit me for feedback & small group discussion online in Teams this morning (also tomorrow). Login to your school Office365 account and go to the calendar in Teams to join the session.

I look forward to your comments, questions & discussion.

April 29th

I was delighted to see many students’ comments that the demonstrations I gave during our meeting yesterday were helpful. It was certainly frustrating having the difficulties we had with sound!

I’m asking students to reply to an email messsage today that I have sent to your school-assigned Office 365 address to confirm that you are able to read & reply to those messages in Outlook. So check for my email. For help, I have another Teams meeting scheduled for you between 9:30 and 11:30 where I’m available for help & feedback. Join the meeting through the calendar in Teams. And check the list of assigned activites. I’m looking forward to reading (listening to?) your story endings!

I’ve also just added links to some how-to videos in that list of assigned activites to help you in case you are still not sure (or have forgotten) how to do things like login to Office365 or hand in work online.

April 28th

I am looking forward to our next class meeting online later this morning.  I’ll be posting some new activities after we get a chance to chat at our meeting, there is one creative storytelling option for this week you may want to have a look at sooner rather than later.

Before we meet together, I am hoping most of you will follow this link and complete the short survey there.