Ms. P's Story Hour: Recent Episodes
Erin Pendragon
“Soldiers, sailors, and airmen of the allied expeditionary force! You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have driven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The Hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere March with you.” — General Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower - supreme commander of the allied expeditionary force in his order of the day on June 6, 1944
“The main question was no longer which agents were caught, but which were free. I ended my report by saying as much.” — Leo Marks- in Between Silk and Cyanide A Codemakers War 1941-1945
“Combined with alertness of mind, the agent should develop a good memory.” — SOE manual
“It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of London.” — Sherlock Holmes in “the red handed league”
“Great care is needed in using codes and ciphers. One error may result in the message being indecipherable and cause a serious loss of time.” - SOE manual
“Some curious facts have been submitted to me within the last twenty four hours.” Sherlock Holmes in the adventure of the creeping man
“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data....one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” — Sherlock Holmes in “A scandal in Bohemia”
“Shortly after the sirens wailed you could hear the Germans grinding overhead....you could feel the shake from the guns. You could hear the boom, crump, crump, crump, of heavy bombs at their work of tearing buildings apart. They were not too far away.” — Ernie Pyle American war correspondent in London
“Each student is given a personal identity prefix and a security check, so that the origin of the message can be established and its authenticity guaranteed.” — SOE manual
“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes” — Sherlock Holmes - in The Hound of the Baskervilles
“I thought that I could be much more useful in France, pushing the Germans out, than in England doing paperwork. I applied to the inter-services research bureau” — pearl witherington cornioley, SOE Agent
“The introduction of an agreed name, word, or phrase into the text...will give the prearranged message, e.g, the name “John” might mean -“I am going into hiding immediately.” — SOE manual
“Never relax your precautions and never fool yourself by thinking that the enemy are asleep. They may be watching you all the time.” — SOE manual
“The agent must not leave about, and, as far as possible, must not carry, incriminating documents, e.g, names, addresses, notes.” — SOE Manual
“Good cryptographists are rare indeed.” — Edgar Allan Poe “a few words on secret writing” - 1841
“You should always be on the alert to notice strangers hanging about. Especially when you are leaving any house.” — SOE manual
" A cipher is a method of converting a message into symbols...which have no meaning to a person not possessing the key." -- SOE Manual
"surveillance is the keeping of someone under observation without his [or her] knowledge." -- SOE manual
"The agent should not...tell people more than they need to know. no matter how important or close the association." -- SOE Manual
"Undaunted by smouldering debris, thich smoke, intense heat and jets of water from fire hoses, this dog displayed uncanny intelligence and outstanding determination in his efforts to follow up any scent which led him to a trapped casualty." -- PDSA Dickin Medal citation for Rex, civil defense rescue dog
"The agent should merge into the background and act in the same way as those around him." -- SOE Manual
"It seemed to me as I walked through the brick compartments of that shelter that I learned something about fear, and the resistance to total destruction which exists in all human beings." -- Eleanor Roosevelt on her visit to London. - in her column My Day, October 27, 1942.
“Do not walk or hang about in places where you could easily be watched without detecting it” - SOE manual
I may be on the trail in this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I shall soon know which it is. -- Sherlock Holmes in "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet"
"If you follow conscientiously in the field all that we teach you here, we cannot guarantee your safety, but we think that your chance of being picked up is very small. Remember that the best agents are never caught." -- SOE Manual
"The agent...has only his alertness, initiative and observation to help him. He has to look after himself but we can prepare him for this by training." - SOE Manual
[ The agent ] should not only observe things but also make deductions from them - SOE Manual
Never trust to general impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. - Sherlock Holmes in "A Case of Identity"
Follow along with me in your social studies book. Sorry I mess up a bit, I recorded this at night and I was tired!
This book was published by Sleeping Bear Press
It was copyrighted by Devin Scillian and Tim Bowers in 2010.
Very short chapter, but Matt had a good convo with Dad. Think he gave us some insight into how he feels. Any similarities between you and Matt?
- Email me! Tell me what you think about Tubbs now that you know a little bit more about him. What do you think about Matt? What does Tubbs think about the way Matt and his family live? (Go to google.com - click on gmail - click "compose" and send to - erin.pendragon@tvcs.org. I'll read some of your messages next episode!
- Can you draw me a picture of what you think the dog yard looks like? Here's some info about it: It was a large open space with rows of straw-filled dog houses, each with a sunshade, a sunning platform, and a dog dish attached. Trees surrounded the yard on three sides and the barn ran along the fourth side, with the trail through the woods past that.
Characters/dogs we know about now:
- Atlas - wheel dog (male)
- Foo - named by Lily - smart (male)
- Fester - red, wide face, impatient expression, likes to run (male)
- Arrow - red, pointy face with a calmness in her eyes (female)
Vocabulary:
- Wheel dog - position closest to the sled
- Indignant -showing annoyance
- Hostile - unfriendly
- Detroit - a city in Michigan
- clogs - shoes that have wooden bottoms
- Propane - gas that they use to light the lamps in their house (remember they don't have electricity) hint your parents might have a propane tank under a grill outside
- Incredulous - acting as if something is unbelievable
- Imitation - copying
- Curdled milk - when the milk separates into lumps (they use powder to make it)
- Scuttled - walking fast with quick short steps
Some of the notes I wrote after reading this chapter:
New Characters:
Mr. Moffat (chapter 2)
Tubbs
Flute - Tubbs' yellow lab
Atlas - Matt's oldest sled dog
Vocabulary Words:
Landline - a phone that's connected to the wall. (example: the telephone in my classroom...it's not portable)
Furnace - like a heater used to heat your home. He wishes he had one of these instead of the wood stove they do have.
Waft - to pass gently through the air. I think we talked about this one in the Titanic book
Trudged - walking kind of slowly, heavy steps
Yearling - a young animal...usually one that has only been alive for a year or two (root word: year)
Veered - suddenly change direction
Self-preservation - knowing to protect yourself from something dangerous