ARRRRR we Learning?!

Talk Like a Pirate Day 2018 was Epic!  ARRRRR!  In fact, we were having so much fun learning pirate style that we kept it going for three days!  Our classroom was transformed....complete with two pirate ships.  The students' faces when they walked in was priceless.

We started the day with a naming ceremony.  To be a pirate, you need a strong pirate name.  Students chose names by generating numbers and using different place values to generate the silly names.  The students had new names like Big Buckle Charlie and Fearsome Pegleg Patsy.  Some students even put their pirate names on all their papers.  Ha!  It sure made correcting their work interesting.

Pirates really know their place value.  They have to with all the counting of gold dubloons.  We had several activities where students had to count coins and figure out the place value of the treasure.  Gold sprayed Oreos help with pirate place value too!



Later, we found a mysterious note.  The notes said that we were captured by pirates that wanted our ship and treasure.  If we could follow the clues and answer a series of math problems, we could escape capture. The students had 60 minutes to "escape the room."  Thank you Teresa Kwant, an educator from Utah, for your fun and engaging lesson.  The students worked so hard!  Their cooperation, perseverance, and problem solving sure made this captain proud!

 The students escaped with just 4 minutes to spare.  They even found a chocolate treasure with pirate jokes attached.  The students enjoyed sharing their jokes with each other and eating chocolate treats.  They also had some time to read pirate stories.

On Friday, we responded to an inquiry questions.  Students made guesses about why pirates where eye patches.  We used a tool called padlet to record students' guesses.  Then, we read about why pirates wore eyepatches.  Ask your child if they remember this interesting fact!

We also did a breakout that was all digital and pirate themed.  In this breakout, students had to use their ELA (English Language Arts) skills to solve the clues.  They practiced and applied skills like identifying homophones, cause and effect, and inferring.

One last activity!  It's hard to do just highlights, I feel like I left so much out.  We did a S.T.E.M. challenge.  The students had a list of materials.   They had to use the materials to build a waterproof treasure box.  The students enjoyed the challenge; however, the groups were shocked to learn that only one of the groups successfully kept the treasure dry.  It gave us a lot to reflect on.