Yo, Ho, Ho and an I Poem too!! Argh!

What a wealth of information we have been presented about pirates. I am finding that I have held many misconceptions about pirates and I would presume that many of the students in my classroom will have some of those same misconceptions. In reading the pirate literature, I have been surprised to find so much historically factual information contained in text that are not only simple but also enjoyable to read.

 “The Not-So-Jolly Roger” was a very entertaining story to read and I can see how it would peak students interest in learning more about pirates. I think fourth graders would enjoy relating to the adventure that the “book” takes the boys on and the suspense of what Blackbeard will do to them would definitely keep young readers engaged. All three of my boys have enjoyed the “Magic Tree House” series of books and this story reminded me of those books but it seemed to be a slightly simpler read. When my 9 year old read this story, he really enjoyed it very much. His favorite part of the story was when Blackbeard shot the guys that buried his treasure because he told them to guard their treasure.

While the book, “What If You Met a Pirate” is filled with factual information about pirates and their lives, it was very entertaining to read. Most informational text that I have had experience with has been either hard to understand or honestly just plain boring. This book is written in such a way that it not only provides accurate information but it makes the reader want to dig deeper into the text to continue learning. The illustrations in the book not only make it very appealing, they help to provide a clearer picture of some of the things that relate to the life of a pirate. I was surprised to learn that much of the visions I have about the appearance of pirates was inaccurate. I had pictures in my head of Captain Hook or Jack Sparrow, not ordinary sailors that just happened to plunder from prize ships. I was also surprised to learn that sailing on a pirate ship was actually a much better job that sailing for the royal navy. My preconceptions led me to believe that being a sailor in the royal navy would be a prestigious occupation but apparently it was a life filled with brutality and degradation.  I liked the maps that were included in this book and the descriptions that went along with the different areas where pirates sailed. I was surprised to find that pirates literally have covered the globe at different points in history. The detail that this book gives about the jobs pirates held on the ship, the democracy that was in place among pirates, the types of weapons they favored, and the different sailing vessels they used provides such a clear picture of what being a pirate was really like. While this text did point out the good standing relationship that some pirates had with Queen Elizabeth I, I wish accurate information about the few female pirates that existed had been included.

I read “Pirate Diary” after reading the other two books and I am glad that I did. I think that would be the order I would have my students read the text. It helped me to relate some of the aspects of pirate life that Jake wrote about in his journal to the information I had ascertained through reading “What If You Met a Pirate”. I loved the journal format of this book.  I think that it is a great example to show students that even a boy pirate kept a journal just like they are doing! While Jake’s journal really is an entertaining story, it is filled with loads of historically accurate information about the life of pirates, the life of people living in the 1700’s, and the role of the English government during that time. One of the things that I really liked about this book was the way it introduced vocabulary. Many new vocabulary words were introduced and then immediately followed by a descriptive definition. For example, on page 35, the text says, “we must sail many leagues to port, then go about (which means change direction) and sail the same distance to starboard! Zigzag sailing like this is called “tacking’ or “wearing.” In just this one sentence students would learn the definition of “go about, tacking, and wearing” in simple to understand terminology. There are multitudes of examples of this use of vocabulary teaching throughout the book. I also liked how the book described actions of the pirates as they would have actually happened. Instances such as being flogged with the cat-of-nine tails, writing and signing of the pirate articles, the amputation, death and burial of Ahab, and many other instances gives the reader the sense of what that lifestyle was truly like.  I could go on forever on this book because I believe it has so many wonderful aspects that would help students to gain a deeper understanding of the life of a pirate.

Now on to the I Poem power point. I can see through the evidence presented in the power point how using the format of poetry to present information can deepen students understanding of content. It makes sense that if students not only read and collect data on a topic but do so with the expectation that they are going to transfer their findings into a creative outlet such as an I Poem that they will be more engaged in what they are researching. By researching a topic and transforming the factual information into poems that requires the use of imagery and creative word choice, students develop a deeper understanding of their topic. I really liked seeing the example of how Sam moved through the process of gathering information in the graphic organizer, to creating the web, then writing his rough draft, and then creating his final I Poem about a mountain lion. It is very apparent that he not only learned a wealth of information about the mountain lion but also about the environment it lives in as well as information about its survival. This process seems to integrate many different learning opportunities. This one project combines research with Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies. I think that by having my students conduct investigations in this way to create I Poems in the classroom, I will provide them with multiple avenues for learning.

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