Ahoy, Matey! Would you like to have Pirate-themed math lessons for your classroom? Kids love anything “Pirates”! They can let their imaginations run wild, fight the bad guys, and discover buried treasure. Popular movies like Pirates of the Caribbean have fascinated kids and adults alike.
One of my teacher friends, Beth Ann, loves everything “Pirate”. As a 6th Grade teacher, she had a table transformed into a boat, complete with sail, and a treasure box. Students could earn prizes and choose from her Pirate treasure chest. For the first 2 weeks of school, her students researched pirates, wrote stories, designed and built a pirate ship, and had contests to see if their ship could float. They even experimented to see how much loot (pennies) their ship could hold. Wouldn’t it be fun to be a student in that classroom? Since Beth Ann’s birthday is two days before International “Talk Like a Pirate” Day (September 19th), she celebrates annually with an adult Pirate party, where her friends dress in elaborate costumes, walk the plank across the swimming pool, and enjoy pirate concoctions.
Students reap the benefits of having a passionate teacher that loves all things pirate! There are so many great ideas for creating a pirate theme in your classroom. For pirate-themed ideas, go to Pinterest and search “Pirate Classroom Activities”. From Pirate escape rooms, to hooks made from solo cups, to graham crackers placed over cups of water (walking the plank), you’ll love the creative ideas teachers come up with!
For my own classroom, I wanted a fun project that incorporated a review of ratio activities. For student buy-in, I needed it to be fun! So I created a project called “Pirate Rescue Adventure”. Students start by reading a story. A math student is kidnapped by pirates, forced to help find buried treasure, and figure out an escape plan. Blimey! Each twist and turn in the story requires students to solve ratio problems in order to survive, find clues to the treasure, and signal for help. I found some great pirate clip art from Educlips on Teachers Pay Teachers. Ratios are not one of my students’ favorite math topics, but the Pirate theme definitely makes it fun! Yo ho, yo ho!
Shout out to teachers who make learning fun!
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