Arrrg Pirates!

Piratical Article

There were a few aspects to this article that caught my eye. The first was the “little used computer labs” comment. I think this comment proves true for most classes which is a tragedy especially considering the computer labs available in today’s schools. When I was a student, I remember playing games on one of those ancient green-screened Apples with the actually floppy floppy disks. The computer lab was used only during computer class and there was little integration with core classes. This trend seems to have continued to today’s more technologically advanced classrooms. One question I had was how do you keep students on task who are already quite familiar with navigating the internet? There will be different levels of computer/internet experience in the classroom so keeping everyone on task seems like a challenge. I particularly liked the idea of not giving students a question with one correct answer. By doing so, you take the questioning out of inquiry which basically makes the whole idea moot. With that in mind, how do I as a teacher find notable websites like the ones listed in Table 1? I am not one of those people who go surfing the internet for fun thus have always been astounded when people are able to find these amazing, ridiculous, *insert adjective here* things. Another portion I thought was amazing was the news portion with kid friendly news websites. Reading newspapers has never, in my experience, been an enjoyable past time for children but by showing them websites with current events portrayed in a kid friendly way is an amazing concept! I think this is a fantastic way to get children involved in the world around them letting them begin to realize that the world does not revolve around their town but that their town is a tiny speck in the grand scheme of things.

The Not-So-Jolly Roger

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read but it grabbed my attentions from the first. The narrator talks about his friends and this magic book and I’m hooked. What magic book? What does this book do? How do they meet the pirate on the cover? I think this is a good way to grab students. They’re already interested in pirates and now they have a pretty cool story telling them about it. I also found the language (hellfire and brimstone) and descriptions of killing people to be apropos. Those are things pirates did and shouldn’t be shunned because the book is geared towards children. They can handle quite a bit more than most adults give them credit for. The pictures and sentence length help to keep their attention too. There aren’t too many words on the page as to seem daunting but there is factual information within the book. I think this is a great way to gets students interested in learning more about pirates and they’ll be more likely to dredge through the “boring” informational text.

Article Reading

I found this article to be rather useful in understanding how to do a shared reading. I think it’s important to comprehension strategies before, during, and after the text. Using all parts of the book to accomplish this is important. It allows students to interact with the text. One way that immediately comes to mind is by using the picture on the cover, like Dr. Frye did with The Not-So-Jolly Roger. This allows for predicting and students are able to check back and see how their predictions went. Another aspect I like is the use of vocabulary. I think that many students are not developing the sort of vocabulary that they are able to because they are not pressed to internalize the vocabulary. They’re expected to memorize things which only causes them to forget. Text Features lead to comprehension as well because it adds to information in the text. This includes aspects like the epilogue in the Not-So-Jolly Roger which gives historical information. I think it’s important, like the article states, to model these aspects so that students do them unconsciously and automatically. That’s the whole goal of our teaching is to make these students better readers which includes showing them how to actively read.

I am Blackbeard!

I am impressive and feared
I wonder about living honestly
I hear cannons fire
I see the ocean boil
I want the loot from that privateer
I am impressive and feared

I pretend to be jovial towards my crew
I feel powerful over my minions
I touch the smooth handle of my well used pistol
I worry they will form a mutiny
I cry never!
I am impressive and feared

I understand the life of the sea
I say I am above reproach
I dream of living this life until I’m in Davy Jones’ Locker
I try to strike fear into the hearts of my enemies
I hope to be the most notorious of pirates
I am impressive and feared

Pirate Diary

I really liked reading this book. From all that I’ve learned about pirates lately, it seems to be fairly accurate. Jake learns that pirates work hard on their ship and they don’t spend their time drinking and gambling all the time like other media portrays. I also liked how the diary went through what Jake is learning about ships because it makes it easier to understand what he’s talking about since he explains things in his own words as well as technically.

What if you met a Pirate?

One thing that struck me about this book is that it starts out with the question and answer of what a pirate looked like based on many people’s view of pirates from movies. But Adkins then goes on to show the truth about pirates. One thing I was not keen on personally was all the side bars of information. I think children will enjoy reading them but they’re distracting for me.  I think this book is best for factual information. It is just loaded with facts and drawing about pirates and the life they led.

What if You Met a Pirate?

“…it was legal to “press” new sailors—to kidnap men walking down the street or sitting in a tavern.” (p. 6)	This makes me think that “press” means “force”  because they kidnapped the men and made them be sailors.
“When they traveled, pirates were packed into small boats like dogs in a kennel.” (p. 10)	The author used a simile: compared pirates to dogs in a kennel using “as.”
Types of cannon shots: Round Shot, Bar Shot/Chain Shot, Grape Shot, Canister Shot(p. 18)	I didn’t know there were so many types of cannon shots! And each one was used for a different reason. Round shot is what we commonly think of; bar shot/chain shot takes out the mast, grape shot was spread out bullets, and canister shot caused mass destruction.

Pirate Diary

“He has the same face as my father, but his hands are larger and rough to the touch.” (p. 5)	I wonder why Will’s hands are so rough. It must have something to do with him being a sailor.
“He told Will his ship had found a cargo sooner than expected and had sailed on the evening tide.” (p. 7)	Did captains usually leave crewmen behind? I thought ships needed all the able-bodied men they could get in case things get rough.
“To my surprise, he asked us no questions but bid us write our names in a book below the names of other members of the crew.”(p. 7)	This seems kind of sketch. Captains must not have been that picky.
(p. 9) The picture depicts a tiller for steering the ship and not a wheel.	The tiller looks really long to able to be handled by one crewmember.

Pirate Diary

Effect: Captain Noah falls over board through the railing. (p. 43)

Cause: The railing was sawed through three fourths of the way and the cut was hidden with tar. (p. 43)

Pirate Diary

“Even the king’s men who search the ship ignore contraband as long as we give ‘em a chage!” (p. 13)	This time period seems like a rather dishonest time. Bribery was key so are king’s men really so different than pirates?
“When I first bit into my biscuit, I discovered a dozen little white worms that had made tunnels into it.” (p. 15)	Gross! No wonder so many pirates died of sickness! They can’t even keep maggots out of their food.
“He does this at noon by measuring the sun’s height with a machine called a backstaff.” (p. 18)	I wonder if this is the same thing as the quarterstaff discussed in “What if you Met a Pirate?”
“…the PIRATES…had hauled down their Dutch flag, and hoisted a black flag with an hourglass and crossed swords on it.” (p. 21)	The pirates tricked Captain Nick by coming out with a friendly flag!

Character Sketcher

Black Stache

1. disgusting p. 33-34 par. 1st(33) and 1st(34) — Black Stache had greasy black hair from being unwashed and he ate vermin raw. If he didn’t wash his body, I assume he didn’t brush his teeth so his breath must have been rank.

2. boastful p. 33 par. 7-8 — He think his ship is the fastest on the ocean. He even laughed at the idea that the Wasp may outrun his ship.

3. determined p. 49-50 — He decides that in order to catch the greatest treasure ever that the Wasp is carrying, he needs to lighten his ship…by throwing precious water and two of his most rotund crew overboard. If he’s willing to do that, he must be determined.

Character’s Goal: Black Stache’s goal is to catch the Wasp and obtain the “greatest treasure ever taken to the sea.”

Problem: Black Stache’s problem is that the Wasp is known as the fastest ship, faster even than his, the Sea Devil.

Solution/Possible Solution: Black Stache may catch the Wasp because he devised a set of sails called the Ladies which he is convinced will make him sail faster than ever before known to seamen.

1. 

   fryeem Said:

   on February 2, 2010 at 8:53 am

   Okay, let’s start with your first question…we keep students on-task by monitoring their work. You make yourself visible and move from child to child. They are also more focused because you have provided a scaffold by bookmarking the Web sites and providing questions. They know they will eventually share their work, so they actually want to do it.
   I have given you LOTS of child-friendly Web sites. Start bookmarking them…NOW!!! Also, the Free Tech. for Teachers Web site is one to constantly check out-he does the “searching” for you.
   You need to go ahead and create those blogrolls now.

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