Text Talk Lesson

Text Talk Lesson For How I Became a Pirate By Melinda Long Illustrated by David Shannon Harcourt, Inc. 2003 (Tonya Denny)

Summary: A young man named Jeremy Jacobs is surprised to see Pirates come to shore while playing on the beach. The Pirate crew takes Jeremy with them thinking he will be a big help burying their treasure chest full of gold. Jeremy enjoys his time with the pirates until a storm helps him decide he wants to go home. Jeremy decides he knows the perfect place to bury the treasure - in his own backyard.

Focus: The focus of this story is to show that while being away from your parents on an adventure is a good thing, sometimes it doesn‘t take long before you begin to miss your parents and your family.

Comments and Questions:

Cover: Hold off reading the title until you give the students time to look over the cover illustration. Ask the students what the little boy and the man are dressed like. (pirates). Ask what other items do they see that makes them think of pirates. (parrot, sail in the background) Read the title.

Title Page: Show the title page and ask students what the little boy is doing? (playing pirate) How do you know the little boy is playing pirate? (sword, hat, boots).

Pages 4 So what’s going on? (A pirate ship is coming to shore and the little boy’s parents aren’t paying attention).

Pages 8 What has Jeremy been digging in the sand with? (toy shovel, plastic shovel).

Pages 10 So what is going on here? (The pirates are taking Jeremy back to their ship with them). How does Jeremy feel about going with the pirates? (happy) How can you tell Jeremy is happy? (He is smiling). Do you think this is a big adventure for Jeremy? Why?

Pages 14 Do you remember why Captain Braid Beard and the other pirates took Jeremy with them? (To help bury their treasure).

Pages 18 Show picture. Uh oh! What happened to the soccer ball? (The shark ate it).

Pages 20 What do we know about pirate’s teeth? (They are green). Why are pirates teeth green? (No one makes them brush their teeth).

Confused means to not understand what someone is talking about or make something hard to understand? What does it mean when it says that Braid Beard looked confused? (He didn’t know what Jeremy mean when he ask about books).

Pages 24 Jeremy was really happy and excited to go on this adventure with the pirates, but how is he feeling now that he has no one to tuck him into bed and there is a storm? (scared, frightened). . So what have we found out? (Jeremy enjoyed his adventure with the pirates at first, but now he is afraid).

Where is Jeremy taking the pirates to bury their treasure? (His own backyard).

Fix the page by putting a “P” on Jeremy’s soccer jersey so that the students can see the whole word “pirates”. What do you think Jeremy’s soccer shirt says? Let’s sound it out. (P - I - R - ATES. PIRATES)! So what is the name of Jeremy’s soccer team? (The pirates). Is that a good name for Jeremy’s soccer team? (yes).

Wrap-up: What do you think Jeremy learned from his adventure with the pirates? (It was fun at first, but he began to miss his family). Do you think it was a good idea for Jeremy to lead the pirates to his backyard to bury the treasure? (Yes, he will be rich if he wants to dig it up. Yes, maybe the pirates will come back and Jeremy can go on another adventure with them). Vocabulary: adventure confused gulp

Adventure: In the story Jeremy went off on an adventure with the pirates. An adventure is an exciting event. Say the word adventure.

 I am going to name some things. If you think they could be an adventure, say, “That could be an adventure.” If you don’t think they could be an adventure, say, “No way.”

Going to the planet Mars (adventure)

Going to the grocery store (no way)

Climbing the highest mountain in the world (adventure)

Going to the dentist (no way)

Flying on an airplane to the other side of the world (adventure)

 What is something that you could do or a place where you could go that would be an adventure? Start your sentence with “For an adventure I would…” (for an example, going with pirates to bury treasure, going on a boat ride down a river).

What’s our word: adventure

Confused: In the story Braid Beard was confused when Jeremy ask about books. Confused means to not understand what someone is talking about or to make something hard to understand. Say the word confused.

 Let’s think about things that might confuse us. Which of these things makes you feel confused or to not understand what is being talked about.

Building with blocks (no)

Finding your way around a big building (yes)

Playing in the park (no)

How the motor in your parent’s car works (yes)

What’s our word: confused Gulp: In the story the shark gulped the soccer ball. Gulp means to swallow without chewing or to swallow something fast. Say the word gulp.

 Think about something that you like to eat, that you would gulp down. I’m going to say some things. If you like them and would gulp them down make a gulping noise (demonstrate gulping sound). If not, say “Yuck!”

Candy (gulp) glue (Yuck)

Birthday Cake (gulp) dirt (Yuck)

Tires (Yuck) Ice cream (gulp)

What’s our word? gulp

We talked about these three words: adventure, confused, and gulp. Let’s thing about them some more.

 Who in the story went on big adventure with the pirates. (Jeremy)  How might you feel if I told you to do a math problem that you had never seen before? (confused).  Who in the story gulped down the soccer ball? (The Shark).