Pirate School

Pirate School
Level 20
Before you read
And afterwards
Questions to ask
Look at the cover. What do you see?
What words do you recognise?
Read the title.
How many words are in the title?
Which words have one/two/three syllables?
What sort of lessons might you learn at pirate school?
What sort of person would be in charge of a pirate school?
What makes a good pirate?
Would you be a good pirate?
Questions to ask
Which word has a silent w on page 6?
When Barnacle Bill says ‘What kind of pirates are you?’, how is
he saying it and what does he mean?
Explain how wind vanes and compasses are used.
On page 14, why do the teachers hide in the sails and the
barrels?
How would Barnacle Bill and the teachers be feeling when
Captain Red Beard and his crew sail away at the end of the
book?
Things to do
Things to do
Daily plan
Students brainstorm a list of lessons that pirates might undertake
at pirate school. Then they write a plan for a typical day on
work sheet 1. They include the start and end time of school
and when the pirates might break for meals. They include the
lessons the pirates participate in during different sessions of
the day.
Alliteration
Discuss alliteration. Students find examples of alliteration in the
text. They discuss how alliteration adds to the enjoyment of
reading the text. They make up some alliterative pirate names
like Barnacle Bill.
Spelling at school
Students use the letters from the title of the book, PIRATE
SCHOOL. They rearrange these letters to form as many new
words as possible. Examples include loop, hear, cool, sat, hate.
While you’re reading
Prompts to remember
Does that word make sense?
Can you find a clue in the picture?
Have you seen the word before/ on another page/ in our
classroom?
Does it look like another word you know?
What sounds do the letters make?
Can you chunk some of the sounds together?
Try reading the sentence / page again.
Sayings
Students discuss the saying one man’s trash is another man’s
treasure. They talk about how this relates to the text.
Questions and answers
Students find answers to the questions on work sheet 2. They
use the page references to check their answers in the text.
Remind students that some questions may not have an answer
that they find in the text. In these cases students use their
imagination to come up with a response.
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Pirate School
Name
Work sheet 1
Date
Daily plan
Fill in the daily plan for a typical day at a school for pirates.
Name of school:
school starts (time):
lessons:
break (time):
lessons:
break (time):
lessons:
school finishes (time):
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Pirate School
Name
Work sheet 2
Date
Questions and answers
Find answers to the following questions.
1Who is Barnacle Bill?
page 2
2What had the pirates forgotten?
page 4
3What was the first class?
page 6
4Why did Captain Red Beard’s
legs go wobbly? page 6
5 How did Captain Red Beard’s beard get burnt? page 8
8During band practice where did
the teachers hide? page 14
9What class did the pirates enjoy
on Friday? page 16
10How did Captain Red Beard and
his crew show exactly what kind
of pirates they were?
6Why did Barnacle Bill think the
crew looked fierce on page 8?
7Why was the map hard to read?
page 10
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Reading Record Sheet
Name
Age
Text Pirate School
Results
Level 20 • Extract 151 Words
Date
Page
Errors
Self Correction
Meaning/structure/visual clues
2
A pirate’s life is full of surprises.
When Barnacle Bill came aboard, the crew of
The Black Beast got a huge surprise.
Barnacle Bill was the head of the Pirate School ship
and he wasn’t happy.
4 “Whirling whales!” said Barnacle Bill.
“What kind of pirates are you?
You have forgotten how to be bold, fierce and nasty pirates.
It’s back to school for the lot of you.”
“Pirate School?” said Red Beard and his crew.
“Yes. Now get to your lessons,” yelled Barnacle Bill.
6
There were lots of classes at Pirate School.
First was sword-fighting class.
Captain Red Beard cut his finger.
He did not like the sight of blood.
His legs went wobbly.
His crew got wobbly legs too.
“I think I need to go to sick bay,” Captain Red Beard said.
Barnacle Bill shook his head and raised his sword.
“What kind of pirates are you?” he cried.
Comprehension QuestionsResponse
Head – factual
Who is Barnacle Bill?
Heart – personal interpretation
What do you think pirates should be like?
Hidden – inferential
What is better — a clever pirate or a nasty pirate?
Analysis Reading behaviours
Reads with understanding easy / instructional / difficult
Self corrects
always / mostly / sometimes
Self corrects using mostly meaning / structural / visual cues
Reads fluently
easy / instructional / difficult
Recommendations
Date assessment completed:
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