Thursday, October 30, 2014

Pirates!

After spending a recent day with my youngest granddaughter visiting the new little “pirate” park off of Hinton Avenue and firing off the canon on the “pirate” ship at The Children's Museum of Wilmington, I was prompted to dig out an old “pirate” unit that I used back in 2007. When I found the “pirate” supplies in my attic, I was surprised to see that the stack of accumulated materials was almost 4 feet high. Hearing my husband's voice in my head that says “some day the attic is going to cave in on us because houses were not built to hold that amount of sh#%&,” I decided to pull out the “pirate” unit and share it.

During my years in the classroom, I always appreciated donations made by retired teachers. I especially appreciated the materials that came sorted and notated. So my goal for my “pirate' unit was to sort it, catalog it, and divide it appropriately by age level and usefulness.

As I started the process of unpacking and spreading all the materials out over two bedrooms, I was reminded how gifted our staff was, how great our resources were, and how much the children enjoyed the activities. The “pirate” unit back in 2007 was our kick-off, back-to-school theme and it carried us even to the end of the year with a field trip to that “pirate” ship at The Children's Museum of Wilmington.

Of course we didn't have a “pirate” ship at school so we built one. My husband was retired and I enlisted his help in building one. With only three refrigerator boxes and Mr. McGroovy's BOX RIVETS, anybody can have a “pirate” ship large enough to accommodate an entire class of preschoolers. The children really took ownership of the project because they helped paint it. It was so cute that WECT-TV came out and filmed the three year old class and showed them on the six o'clock news. As seen below in WILMINGTON PARENT, it was also featured in our school advertising for many years.



This unit was very amazing because it cut across so many areas of our curriculum---art center, free play, dress-up, puppets, music, circle time, bulletin boards, classroom speakers, snack time, field trips, playground, library books, etc. It was all encompassing. It was embraced by staff and children alike. Plus it was very flexible and adaptable as to age level appropriateness. Like in painting the ship, the two's could paint as long and as high as they wanted and the kindergarten could paint as long and as high as they liked. It was definitely a “one size fits all” unit.

In addition this unit was a showcase for our staff. It let the parents see how gifted, enthusiastic and resourceful the teachers could be. Our bulletin boards were amazing, all the activities were happily embraced by the children, and the parents appreciated the value on the return from their investment in our program.

I have always been a proponent of local resources like the public library, retail establishments, and parent volunteers. In 2007 the New Hanover County Public Library provided us with a “theme bag” full of “pirate” titles. Each child was sent home with a “pirate” bookmark (seen below) listing all the titles being read during the unit. Local pet stores generally are willing to allow classes to visit and often times parents are willing to bring a family pet to the classroom. Real parrots were definitely a part of this unit.

This unit allowed us to immerse the children in “pirate” music, language, songs, and finger plays. As was our custom, each art center time project was sent home with an appropriate song or finger play. The accompanying songs and finger plays informed the parents as to the correct lyrics or words being said by their children. Our music teacher did a fantastic job of providing a variety of musical experiences during her time with each age level. In addition to singing songs, the music teacher provided opportunities to listen to “pirate” musical instruments----drums, flutes, accordions, fiddles, etc. (1). She would teach them to move or dance like a pirate, act like a pirate, or even work like a pirate. Two of the favorite songs were BLOW THE MAN DOWN and MY BONNIE LIES OVER THE OCEAN.

Since the unit was a kick-off for a new school year, there were fun “pirate-like” activities to do during circle time instead of the usual, get-to-know-you activities. Since a “pirate” has to know how to use a “spyglass,” we played a form of “I Spy” during circle time. Each child got a turn with the “spyglass” to look across the circle and name the child in view. The children created “pirate” names by adding “pirate” titles to their own names. Circle time was also filled with puppets, finger plays and “pirate” vocabulary words. Talking like a parrot was fun also.

Since our playground was huge and very sandy we had plenty of opportunities to play with treasure maps and toy compasses. The children used sandbox shovels to dig up the buried treasure---jewels, rings, coins, etc.(2) The children also created their own treasure maps using the side of a brown paper bag, rubber stamps, and markers to make big X's to “mark the spots.” To give the maps a little authenticity and aged look we had the children crumple and wad up the maps after they drew them. When the maps are smoothed out, they look very old! The toy compasses were adequate enough to introduce N, S, E, and W as directions to travel (early literacy!).

We had a set of guiding principals concerning art center time at our school. Art center time occurred everyday, teachers worked one-to-one with their students, and activities were selected according to the weekly skill chart (MT---cutting, W---gluing, and THF---painting). In addition, activities for art center time were created or selected with thoughts concerning “process vs product,” unit being studied, and season (inside or outside, etc.). As a point of clarification, cutting, for example, was not strictly with scissors. Cutting could include tearing, ripping, folding, rubbing, tracing, shelling, etc. or the use of tweezers, plastic knives, sewing needles, hole punchers, etc. Gluing always centered around assembly, but painting could occur in many forms (sponge, finger, easel, stamping, printing, drizzle, etc.).

With a unit like this one, it was a challenge to find or develop correlated projects for art center time. A favorite go-to source for classroom supplies was SHAPES ETC. It is easy to take a pad of their NOTEPAD creations (large or small) and turn them into sewing cards, dioramas, puzzles, or stick puppets. Shown below are examples (with the help of lamination) how we created projects for art center time--- “pirate” sewing card, digging diorama, and stick puppet (each project went home with an accompanying “pirate” song or finger play introduced during music or circle time).

We always asked parents to save items for the classrooms. Two of our most desired items were paper towel rolls and toilet paper rolls.(3) For this unit we used construction paper wrapped paper towel rolls to make the cutest “spyglasses.” The biggest hit was when the children cut a section of paper towel roll in half and glued a large parrot to the roll. The parrot could be worn cuff style on a wrist or perched “pirate” style on a shoulder. 






 
Our staff was never shy about dressing up. One teacher had her own adult “pirate” costume. She was also very good at doing voices and being very dramatic while reading aloud. She treated the children to a “day-with-a-pirate!” She wore her costume to school and stayed in character as she encountered and conversed with the children. She shared a lot of “Ahoy me Hearty!,” AR, AR, AR's,” Aye Matey!,” “Yo Ho, Yo Ho!” and “Shiver me timbers!” (4)

The children also liked to dress up so we often made wearable items during art center time.(a hint concerning a project's success was always how quickly the children donned their items when their parents arrived for pick-up). The “pirate” earrings made from a rolled strip of aluminum foil and a rubber band were a hit with the boys and the girls. Three types of headgear were created during art center time----one was for cutting, one was for gluing, and one was for painting. We copied one Captain's hat from Long John Silver's restaurant chain which was done as a cutting project (this technique was often employed for cutting which called for the children to cut along a designated line). Another Captain's hat was a gluing project, but the most popular hat was the tied on scarf accompanied by an eye-patch and washable “pirate” tattoo (this project was done on a painting day).

During comprehensive units we often brought special toys into classroom centers for free play time. Special garments or objects were added to the dress-up clothes like pirate costumes, treasure chests filled with old jewelry, compasses, spyglasses, eye patches, play mops, a “pirate” Jolly Roger flag, etc. Bendable pirates were added to the block centers. Large Melissa and Doug floor puzzles and wooden table puzzles depicting “pirate” scenes were added to the puzzle collection. Some parents shared “pirate” sets from home like a “pirate-themed” Mr. Potato Head, a Fisher Price Pirate Ship and Island with accessories, a Playtown “Timbers B. Shiverin” with accessories. A large stuffed parrot and a large “pirate” puppet were added to the puppet stage. A hammock was tied between two trees on the playground so the children could sleep like “pirates.”

Eating like a “pirate” was a bit of a challenge, but zwieback or Biscotti could serve as a substitute for “hard tack.” Canned sardines might be introduced, but don't plan on much sampling!

With big kick-off units we always created “welcome” scenes for the preschoolers for the first week of school. For this unit the children were greeted by six foot tall “pirate” inflatables at each entrance. Later the inflatables were used to create a “photo booth” scene at the “pirate” ship. All the classes dressed up for picture taking sessions at the end of the unit.

      1. CD: PRACTICAL POP AND BUCCANEER ROCK FOR SCALLYWAGGS OF ALL AGES
      2. ORIENTAL TRADING COMPANY INC.
      3. Supplies could be in jeopardy if manufacturers start producing “roll-less” products!
      4. PIRATE: “Things to do and Make!” and The Great PIRATE Activity Book

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