On day one, I came dressed like this. And the classroom had little fishing nets and red and black pennant banners hanging from the ceiling. There were pirate anchor charts on the walls and well...a buzz in the room with the class trying to figure out what was going on....engagement was palpable.
It was super fun to wear this around the school all day. The best reaction of all was from the PreK class at recess. Those kids made me feel like a famous pirate. They swarmed me, especially the boys, asking questions. "Are you are real pirate?" they wanted to know. Sometimes I would sporadically throw in an "Arrrrg!" and they would squeal and run away, only to be back in front of me with more questions within seconds. Pretty soon they were bringing me treasure they had found...a.k.a. mulch and rocks. It was pretty cute.
This unit took us through so many fun math activities. At first, I was thinking the math activities would last no time at all, but they really did last pretty much the full math class each day, so I was pleasantly surprised. Each lesson was pirate themed and tons of learning fun!
I tried to have a different costume every day all week long, but was unable to come up with anything for one of the days. Here's a look at some of the other costume choices. Some were as simple as a hook for my hand or an eye patch and some were much more elaborate. I wanted to be over-the-top on day 1 with my captain's outfit. This is a coat and shirt that I sewed several years ago for my husband when we had a pirate birthday party to attend. I have gotten a lot of use out of it since. It is just so much fun.
So, I encourage all of you teachers out there to get out of your comfort zone. Who cares what the other teachers think (although I am pretty sure they will think you are awesome). Do it for the kids. They deserve it! Teach like a pirate! ARRRRRRRG!
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