Theme - Pirate Theme

I am doing a pirate and treasure theme. These are the ideas I have gathered from others on this website along with ideas from a pirate coloring book that I have adapted for my third grade class. Moreover, I had luck in Party City finding pirate theme items. Also, I made a lot of my titles on MS Word with word art and clip arts from online and used a laser printer. Finally, I cut the titles and pictures out, pasted a background and laminated. They look store bought and I spent no money. Hope this helps you run with ideas for your particular setting. I will post pictures as soon as possible.

1. Pirate Bounty= Treasure Chest with treasure; HoTT Items for
class economy
a. Treasure chest
b. coins
2. "Get caught up in…Subject
3. Set Sail with a Good Book… The Pirates Cove= Reading Corner
4. "Open a book...find a treasure!"
5. Message in a Bottle!= Word Wall; find a bottle and place
paper inside or picture of it.
6. Help is on the way!= Ship in the water; life savers (candy
rewards); Reading Strategies:
Navigate through story passages.
P-preview & predict (pictures, graphs, title)
L-look for underlined words
U-underline 1st and last sentence in each paragraph (for
main idea)
N-notice questions (identify type)
D- dissect paragraph (2 words in margin)
E-evaluate answer choices (locate proof in passage)
R-review
7. Jack of All Trades!= Vocabulary
a. parrot
8. Sailing into Math Facts!
9. Sea of Writers= Writing Process Captain’s Sailing Log=
Treasure Map or Scroll;
a. Treasure hunt
10. Pirate Grub! Catch of the Day!= Daily Agenda
a. Sword(?)
11. X marks the Spot!= Multiplication
12. **Alphabet**
13. Are you a real treasure?. .Talkers Turn Back!= Rules and
Consequences and Behavior Chart (1st gold coins and gems
of different colors next to a huge treasure chest)
a. Treasure chest/ hunt
b. Coins/gems
Every pirate is paid five cents per day for keeping our five
classroom rules:
· Always tell the truth.
· There is always room for everyone.
· We take care of each other and our things.
· We always try our best to finish our work.
· We take care of little problems ourselves.
14. Ahoy, mates…Third Grade Treasures (writing
their names on little treasure chests)
15. P.I.R.A.T.E.= Prepared, Informed, Ready, And Together
Everyday
a. Burn edges
16. P.I.R.A.T.E.S.= People In Route to Achieving Terrific
Educational Success
a. Burn the edges
17. "This Week's Crew"= Weekly Job Assignments; Wheels with
pix in the middle
18. Race for Treasure! Arrrr…= Row boats and finish line; AR
Bulletin
19. Pirate Chef= Copy Pirate;
20. Look- Out Point!= telescope
a. spyglasses
21. Beware of the Sharks!=
22. Man the Wheel!=
23. Fair Winds!=
24. Shiver me Timbers!=
25. Land, Ho!=
26. Crafty Coins!
27. Walk the Plank…=


Books:
1) "How I Became A Pirate" by Melinda Long and David Shannon
2) "Captain Abdul's Pirate School" by colin McNaughton
3) "The Horrendous Hullaballoo" by Margaret Mahy
4) "Pie Rats Ahoy" By Richard Scarry (They love this one!)
5) "Wembley and the Soggy Map" by Louise Gikow (Fraggle Rock)
6) "Me On The Map" by Joan Sweeney (A Trumpet Book)
7) "I'm The Captain" by Margaret Ballinger (Early Success Book)
8) "Bananas In Pajamas The Treasure Map" By Matt Mitler (Golden Book)
9) "From Here To There" by Margery Cuyler

My behavior chart is a pirate ship w/title, Don't Walk Ye Plank!

Job chart-Deck Swabbers, I made silver buckets and mops w/each child's number.

Calendar-Ahoy Mateys!
Information B.Board-Captains Log w/a sternwheel
B.Board-Reading is a Treasure

I will be doing the Pirate Book this year for the first time.

Here is my website I don't have class pics yet, but will when school starts. www.mrsfreeman.net

How about a large ship cut from brown butcher paper. Use paint sticks and white paper to make the sails and the Jolly Roger flag. Cut "port holes", enough for each child. On the first day take digital photos of each one, print and put behind the portholes. A title might be "Mrs. ____ Crew or "Crew of the 5th Grade Ship".

Another thought, take skull and crossbone pix which are easy to find on the internet, cut them out, paste on black paper and make flags, banners, etc.

On the door, buy or copy and laminate a big ship wheel. Above it put the title, "Ahoy, mateys. Welcome aboard." Add a little fish net at the top to kind of droop down and give it atmosphere. Little fish nets are available at any party store.

Make a treasure chest and fill it with gold coin candies from Dollar Tree, eye patches, small spy glasses, tattoos, etc. as rewards.

I established this theme for my class this year. My organization tool is the P.I.R.A.T.E. binder (Prepared, Independent, Responsible, And Tidy Everyday) based on the infamous MOOSE book. My reading corner and bulletin board are covered with thatched hut paper, with a totem pole, parrot, palm tree, and grass skirt adorning the area. My treasure chest is filled with good behavior items. I gave each student a "treasure hunt" bag filled with items and riddles the first day. At Meet and Greet everyone received a lei as I welcomed them aboard. For open house I have a pirate hat decorating activity while I visit with parents. And, lots of other little items along the theme like gems instead of marbles, Pirates of the Caribbean fruit snacks, etc.

We are already back in school, and the kids have loved the theme. I am sure yours will, too!

This is a really cute idea, and with Pirates of the Caribbean out on video now, there should be lots of interest in this theme.

I don't know about a title for a behavior chart, but if you use levels, two "needs improvement" titles could be Swab the Deck (minor infractions) and Walk the Plank (more serious issues).

For group names, why not take a cue from the show Survivor, which named its tribes after famous pirates? They used Morgan and Drake. (When they merged, they became Balboa, but I don't think he was a pirate.)

I'm not sure how you could tie this in, but I think pirate gold was called pieces of eight. Spanish gold coins were called doubloons.

I think Crows Nest is a great name for a reading area. The word _nest_ also has the connotation of a warm, cozy place, perfect for enjoying a good book.

Good luck with your theme. It sounds like fun.

This probably won't work for you since you're already doing the pirate theme, but I do a pirate theme at the end of the year. We do map skills, and I have a treasure map that I made on brown paper, crinkled and burned on the edges, that I put on the bulletin board. On the last day of school, we do a treasure hunt. I make up clues, and hide them behind all the things that are on the bulletin boards. The kids take turns reading the clues, and follow the directions that are on each clue. At the end of the day, all of my bulletin boards are down, and they get the "treasure" which is usually a treasure chest full of snacks and sodas. We party at the end of the treasure hunt, and talk about our favorite things about the year. It's a fun way to end the year.

I've had a pirate theme in my room for two years now. I have a "treasured work" bulletin board where I put all of my excellent papers from students. I also have the crow's nest which is where I've put my reading area. At the beginning of the year I have "Ms. ______'s First Grade Gems" written on a treasure chest. I mount that on yellow paper (sand) make a giant butcher paper palm tree and put the kid's names on gem shaped pieces of paper to welcome them to my class. The Captain's Crew board is where my children are assigned classroom jobs. I don't know how much of this is helpful but I will say that with all the hype with Pirates of the Caribbean coming out, there are a TON of pirate things out there. My room mother just got a bunch of great things from oriental trading and party city that worked for my room and my end of the year pirate party.

Could you make a pirate hat out of black paper? An eyepatch?
What would really be cool is to take a photo of each, print it off, and let them add mustache, beard, eyepatch, gold earring and hat to their own photo. This could be a great illustration for some writing later....."If I was a Pirate"

How about famous pirate's names for your group names - Like Black Beards so and sos and Blue Beards so and sos . I am preparing to do an all school Scholastic bookfair and the theme this year is Treasure Hunt, Digging up a good book.

I send our class mascot (a stuffed animal named Pete the Parrot) home in a bag with a composition notebook and the students get to write about what Pete did with them that evening. I don't send him home over the weekends because we don't have homework on weekends. Each morning the person who took pete home reads what Pete did with them the night before. This is a fun activity that the children enjoy.

I have an activity called "treasure hunt" where I ask students to take their homework notebooks and search for things in their homes that fall into a certain category and make lists. They might have to search for things that are magnetic or words that start with the letters in their first name. I've made them find words that start with ch/sh/th and wh. They've searched for needs and wants, words with different numbers of syllables-- basically anything in the curriculum that can be tied into their home. After they make a list I let them choose 3 to illustrate for me.

Our school also requires a lot of projects from our students so every 2-3 weeks instead of homework, my students have a week to complete a poster or project of some type that supports the curriculum. Right now they are designing their own poll and making a graph poster to display the results of their poll. It never ceases to amaze me what some of my children are capable of without the help of their parents! (it's usually easy to tell which parents have "helped" their children)

Ahoy!
*Design your own flag
*Design your own hand-minted golden coins
* Draw a treasure map using symbols. Treat the map with weak tea to make it look like parchment.
*Turn a cereal box into a treasure chest (e-mail me & I'll explain it.)
* Snacks--beef jerky, dried pineapple & bananas, some juice drink for "grog"
*Watch "Muppet Treasure Island"

Hi, I'm just going to throw out a few things that come to mind.. I have used the theme a few years back and my student work board said"Ahoy There Mates! Here's the Treasure!" Over the calendar..."Good Day, Mates!" Bulletin Board can say something like.."Discover Fractions" with a telescope (toy plastic) hanging over a math problem...could use this with "Discover The Main Idea..how about "Discover New Rivers " for a rivers of the world unit, etc. Behavior corner..A pirate flag with the slogan..."Trouble Ahead!" A good time to study the equator and the prime meridian, longitude, lattitude ,etc.You could explain that sailors celebrate when they cross the equator and ask them think up something for a goal to reach...or you give the goal....... As the students reach it, you could have a board that says " We Crossed the Equator!"and their name added. Hey, you know how it is! Once you get your line of thought started, you will think of more than you could use! If you have any ideas on my first big unit"Three Worlds Meet" ( LA curriculum requirement)... I'd appreciate it!(Or anyone else,especially from Louisiana that has taught the unit with a theme .)

I had planned to do a pirate theme, but then decided to tone it down a bit, what with all the violence, etc associated with pirates (yes, I'm a chicken). So, I did a Welcome Aboard! theme. I had three little banners at the top of my three walls. The first one said:

We'll explore Ancient Histories

Math and Science Mysteries

And All the Possibilities

I also purchased some "welcome aboard" pencils from reallygoodstuff.com On the first day I gave each student one, along with a personal pencil sharpener and some other goodies in a little pirate treat bag.

As for classroom activities:

You could list your classroom rules as your "articles"
Tough Boris is a great book to use for expanding ideas when writing. The book is very simple. Ex: Tough Boris was tough. All pirates are tough. My students wrote Tough Boris is tough. By that I mean...For each of the adjectives used to describe Boris. The activity really stuck with them, and some were still using the "by that I mean" technique at the end of the year.
One summer I did a unit on pirates. I had students cover the front of a composition book with ripped up pieces of masking tape. Then, we brushed brown shoe polish over them. They looked like leather journals. These were their captain's logs. I also did a fun math activity with the gold covered chocolate coins. Something about a monkey stowing away, sneaking into the treasure, and mixing everything up. It was their job to count and tally all their coins to find out who had the Captain's treasure. We also did a map activity using velum.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures to share. I also had a bulletin board near my classroom library that said "seek treasure in a good book". The bulletin board had one of those cargo nets hanging from the bottom with shells in it.

Here are some other ideas you could use in your room for bulletin boards, etc.


• "Mapping our way through ______ grade”
• “Work to Treasure” – student work
• Jobs – Pirate Ship – “Captain’s First Mates” or
"This Week's Crew"
• “______ Grade Treasures” – Welcome board - gold coins
or jewels with student pictures in them
• gold, silver, bronze coins or colored jewels for behavior chart
• “Reading is a real treasure!”
• The Pirate’s Cove – reading center
• "Get caught up in a good book/science, etc" (net)

Just some more ideas! Good Luck!

I am doing a pirate theme too. I have a pirate outside my door holding a scroll with- Ahoy Matey's, Welcome to Mrs. Griffin's Pirate Cove and in the other hand is a book cover of Junie B. Jones Shipwrecked. I cut out the gun & cutlass so he could hold things in his hands.

My word wall says-There be treasure in those words!

Class Matey's-

Other things I am using-

Yo Ho Matey’s!
Sailing into great math facts:
Shiver me timbers ADDITION
Swab the deck SUBTRACTION
Walk the plank MULTIPLICATION
Land lubbers DIVISION

"Gold"-en Rules
First, ye must be safe!
Second, ye be responsible for your plunder!
Third, ye be of good cheer and peace!
Fourth, ye be kind and respectful!
Fifth, ye understand orders and obeys them!

I also made a wanted poster & I'll take their picture with my digital camera. At the bottom, I added -wanted for, & description of villan.

Hope these suggestions help. Joanne

I got this idea from another thread, but I'm going to do an AR bulletin board of a treasure map. Each child will have a little pirate ship that they move along the map for the number of AR points that they earn. There will be various prizes along the way (going in the treasure box, a free book from a book order, etc.) for the kids that reach the various point goals.

I also bought a pirate/treasure chest bulletin board set, and I'm going to make a board outside my classroom to welcome the kids. The set comes with a large treasure chest, gems, a parrot, a palm tree, and a pelican. I'm going to laminate the set and write names on the gems and place them on the wall around the treasure chest.

I'm also going to do a token reward system this year. Each child will have 5-6 gold coins labeled with their PIN number, and when I catch them being good, I'll drop one of their coins in a drawstring bag. At the end of the day I'll pull a coin and that child will get something out of the treasure chest. I bought a bunch of pirate themed items to go in the treasure chest too. I bought some pirate temporary tattoos, some gummy sharks and jolly rogers, jewel rings, gem bouncy balls, and jolly roger pencils.

I'm not going to go too crazy with the theme as far as decorating goes, though. I may try to make my classroom library into a "reading cove" with some fish net hanging from the walls and some other decorations, but we'll see what I can find. This is my 3rd year teaching 4th grade. This will be my first theme, so we'll see how it goes!

i did a pirate theme for my classroom last year!

on one huge wall i had 3-D water across the bottom (made with that plastic blue tablecloth stuff--bunched up and stapled), dark blue water background with shark fins popping up, a large island with palm trees and dashes (like a path on treasure map). each child had a treasure chest with his/her name. a large pirate ship (from party store). and title of board: Reading is a real treasure! for every 5 AR points, they got one of those gold plastic coins glued on their treasure chest!

on my front door was a treasure map i had made on that brown wrapping paper and then crumpled up. then i had a pirate (same package as ship) with a big speech bubble...but i don't remember what it said...something like, ahoy, mates! or scalliwags and then something about an adventure...drat! i can't remember. i think i might do that theme again next year, so i'll have to drag it out soon.

this year our theme was monkeys. (monkeys with bananas for AR points and a giant monkey on the door--swing on it to 6th grade!)

One thing you could do after the kids come back to school is to come up with a Jolly Roger flag that you all specifically design for your classroom and that could be your flag for the year. They could also each do their own Jolly Roger flag. There is a cute picture book, Roger, the Jolly Pirate by Brett Helquist (I just looked it up on mazon!) that tells a fictional story of how the Jolly Roger came to be. We read that and then made our own flags.

I also had an overhead transparency given to me by my partner teacher that had 3 columns with pirate type names on it and the students picked a name from each column and came up with a pirate name which they attached to their flag. For example, mine was Calico Bonnie Blue. If you want that list of names, maybe I can type it in and send it to you.

One more thing, check the party stores for pirate themed things. We dressed up on the next to the last day of school and I found a package of 3 eye patches with plastic earrings for $1.50 at Target. Target also has two cute pinatas, a pirate and a parrot, which you could hang or sit somewhere in your room. I never checked the other party stores, but I'm sure they would have had more stuff, too---we just ran out of days to do much of anything there at the end!

We did Talk LIke a Pirate Day to start off the school year. I think it was 9/17 but not positive. We read books, kids work bandanas, we found a bunch of pirate jokes, sang a song and kids wrote about being a pirate. I know that is kind of vague but it was a LONG time ago now. I have the stuff in school if you want specifics. The kids loved it
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