Pirates!!!!
Pirates in Historical Fiction and Nonfiction and Swashbuckling Adventures on the High Seas:
After I read this article, I got really excited about doing the pirate unit. The way this article describes this unit, it seems to be very educational in a fun way. This unit integrates language arts and social studies nicely and I liked the idea that it describes fiction and nonfiction. I really like that each student can create their own “Pirate Diary”. I found this really neat and useful. It is a great way of getting students interested in the topics you are talking about as well as helping them with their writing skills, reading, and their questioning skills. I loved that there is a resource page for students so they can have them on hand if they need them while participating in the pirate unit.
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Internet workshop and Blog Publishing:
This article was very informational and was great to read to learn how to incorporate internet into your classroom. It was organized in a very neat manner to make it very easy to read and understand. I liked that it implies that using the internet for a tool to teach social studies is a good thing because some children can not read straight out of a social studies book and acquire knowledge. I liked that there are detailed examples of things to use in a pirate unit. The resources embedded in the context is very helpful because if you need a resource, it is right there ready to click on in the text. My favorite part about this article is that it actually gives you picture examples of webpages showing you what it should look like when you get to a certain step. The example poems are also a great resource. This article made me even more anxious to start our pirate unit!
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The Not So Jolly-Roger Activities
I really enjoyed reading The Not So Jolly-Roger book and doing the activities that went with it. This book was super cute and I think that children would like to read this book because it is funny but it very informational. My favorite part about this book is that it has a historical afterword that describes Blackbeard in more detail but still uses humor. The internet workshop that goes with this book is a great activity to use with this book and to integrate technology in a lesson plan. After I started reading this book, it suck me in. It was a very easy read and I feel like this book is suitable for just about any reading level. This would be a great book for reading groups. I liked this book so much, I would love to read the rest of “The Time Warp Trio Books”. I also thought it was really neat that there is a website that goes with this book series and it gives you lesson plan and activity ideas. I find this to be very helpful and a great resource and I plan to use these books and the website in my future teaching career.
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Blackbeard “I” Poem (Draft)
I am terrifying and dreaded
I wonder why people are so scared of me
I hear the sound of coins rattling in my pockets
I see all my dreams in the deep blue sea below
I want all the treasure in the world
I am terrifying and dreaded
I pretend to be the king of the sea
I feel dead people I have killed staring at me from the grave
I touch the dry cracked wood of the ship’s wheel while it is sinking to the bottom
I care about nothing more than stealing and being the greatest pirate ever
I cry at nothing because I am strong and brave
I am terrifying and dreaded
I understand that I am legendary because I am the meanest pirate in all the land
I believe that if you want something someone else has, you need to steal it
I dream of robbing as many ships as possible and never being caught
I try to be sly when robbing ships of cowards
I hope no one finds treasure in the place that is hard to find
I am terrifying and dreaded
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I am Blackbeard (Revised)
I am terrifying and dreaded
I have fire sizzling from my pirate’s hat and my long charcoal beard
I hear the sound of pieces of eight rattling in my pockets
I visualize all my dreams in the deep blue sea below
I want all the booty in the world
I am terrifying and dreaded
I pretend to be the king of the sea
I feel dead people I have killed staring at me from the grave
I touch the dry cracked wood of the Queen Anne’s Revenge while it is sinking to the bottom
I care about nothing more than stealing and being the greatest pirate ever
I cry at nothing because I am strong and brave
I am terrifying and dreaded
I am legendary because I am the most dangerous pirate in all the land
I believe that if you desire someone’s treasure, you should loot it, unless it is mine
I dream of robbing as many ships as possible and never being caught
I try to be sly when robbing ships of cowards
I hope no one finds my hidden treasure in the place that is hard to find
I am terrifying and dreaded
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Pirate Double Entry Diary:
Section 1:
Part A
| Quote: “My aunts laugh and call them “when-I-was” tales, for this how they always begin.” (page 5) | Reaction: We talked in class about how some of our families tell stories and they usually begin with “when I was” and then tell a story about when they were a certain age. Jake is talking about his father when he says this. | |||
| Quote: “Almost everything I look upon is wood. That which is not wood is canvas, rope, or tar.” (page 10) | Inference: I imagine that the whole ship is nothing but wood so Jake is referring that all he sees nothing but wood except for canvas, rope, or tar. I wonder if he ever got bored of the scenery? | |||
| Effect: “Every rope and sail on the Greyhound appears stretched to bursting point. (page 15) | Cause: The wind and waves were so rough the ropes swayed a lot and it probably looked as if they were going to break. | |||
| Quote: “The captain judged that he was pumping too slow, and ordered him flogged at sundown.” (page 17) | Connection: Flogging is when you get beaten with a whip. This makes me realize that Captain Nick might not be such a nice person. | |||
| Quote: “In fact, my “punishment” was more of a rest than a hardship” (page 21) | Connection: Jake felt this because he was punished by being sent aloft but he got out kinda easy because the sea was calm and the sun was not shining bright. | |||
Part B
| Quote: “Being a pirate was a strange way to make a living, but it was better than being in England’s Royal Navy. Navy sailors worked very hard, weren’t allowed to talk on deck, ate awful food, and were often not paid or allowed to go ashore for years.” (page 6) | Reaction: Even though pirates stole to get by they did have it a lot easy. This was a strange analogy and I never thought of it this way but I liked how this was written. |
| Quote: “Pirates didn’t want big ships, and they didn’t want to fight at all. They were smarter than that. They hid in shallow rivers and marshes, so they needed small boats that weren’t very deep.” (page 10) | Reaction: I found this interesting because I did not know that there were so many different kind of pirate ships and I always think about pirates having big ships instead of small boats. |
Section 2
Part A
| Effect: “Where are the rest of the crew? As if answer Adam’s question, one of them forthwith drew a pistol he had hidden in his shirt and fired it into the air.” (page 22) | Cause: The men swamped out with pistols, knives, and other weapons. They hurled a jug onto the deck and it burst a puff or gray, foul-smelling smoke to hide the deck from view. The ship pulled down their Dutch flag and hoisted a black flag with an hourglass and crossed swords on it letting the other ship know they were pirates. The pirates had taken over the ship but it was also the ship’s own crew taking them captive. |
| Quote: “If we jump ship we have not a penny. Yet if we stay aboard we are slaves.” (page 23) | Connection: When Noah says this, he is saying that it might have not been a bad decision to team up with the pirates because at least they were not without food or money and even though they would be slaves they would stay alive. |
| Quote: “Even a pirate who is full of sin may be saved.” (page 28) | Reaction: The pirates to me were very mean and cruel until this quote after Ahab died because it showed that Bart had feelings and he did care about his crew. |
| Quote: “We left the island today, but not before leaving behind the captain and second mate. This is the meaning of “marooning” that I heard the pirate speak of in their meeting.” (page 30) | Reaction: I found it very interesting that every one was glad to get rid of their captain and they were happier when the pirates were over them. They gave the captain and first mate guns and powder and that is all they had to survive with. |
Part B
| (Page 16) | Reaction: I did not realize that their were so many jobs on a pirate ship and I liked that each job was well described. |
| Quote: “False flags disguised a pirate vessel. Pirates might fly the flag of a peaceful nation. They would hide men below as they sailed sweetly up to the prize.” (page 20) | Reaction: This event is mentioned in everything we have read about pirates so far. I wonder why ships would not catch on to the pirates trick. If pirate attacks happened often, why did ships not take better precautions? |
mh75212 said,
October 12, 2009 @ 3:19 pm
Angela, your “I” poem is fantastic! I’ve got to admit, it was a little on the creepy side. The part about the dead people staring from their graves – spooky! This poem was very nicely done. Also, thanks for your kind words about my poetry! You’re so sweet.
Maggie H.
dani75649 said,
October 19, 2009 @ 3:13 pm
Angela,
I love your I Poem! You did a fantastic job of using descriptive words and language! I also love how you have used plenty of real facts in your I poem! Love it!
Dani