True Stories

Oxford Level 13 ’s Last Stand Teaching Notes author: Gill Howell Synopsis: Blackbeard was known for his cruelty. He developed such a fearsome reputation that when a ship from the was sent out to capture him, the crew was terrified. Lieutenant Robert Maynard was determined to do his duty. Although the pirates had bigger guns, Maynard had determination and a cunning plan. Social and historical context: has existed throughout history. The was between 1650 and 1720 when there were many thousands of pirates at sea. Many pirates operated in the Caribbean and along the Atlantic coast of North America due to the high numbers of ships laden with goods, gold and that travelled between North and South America and Europe. Some governments gave licences to pirates when they were at war. These pirates, known as , were free to attack any ship belonging to the enemy.

Comprehension strategies = Language comprehension • Comprehension strategies are taught throughout the Teaching Notes to enable = Vocabulary development pupils to understand what they are reading in books that they can read independently. In these Teaching Notes the following strategies are taught: Questioning, Clarifying, Summarising, Imagining

Group or guided reading Introducing the book (Questioning, Clarifying) Talk about pirates the children have heard of. What did pirates do? • Read the introduction and find out Blackbeard’s real name. Which name is more intimidating? Ask the children to find the glossary. Read the words and check their pronunciation. Ask them to explain the meaning of any words they already know before reading the definitions. During reading Interrogate texts to clarify understanding and deepen response. Make notes on and use evidence from across a text to explain events or ideas. (Questioning, Clarifying, Summarising) Read the first sentence of Chapter 1 to the children. Ask: How does the narrator feel about Blackbeard? While they are reading the book, encourage the children to think about the character of Robert Maynard. What words can they find in the text and from their own store of vocabulary to describe his personality? Point out the words ‘hold’, ‘mast’ and ‘sloop’ in the glossary. Ask the children what other words they know that relate specifi cally to ships and sailing. Ask them to look out for nautical words in the text (‘ship’, ‘deck’, ‘cabin’, ‘crew’, ‘first mate’, ‘sail’, ‘boat’, ‘anchor’, ‘rigging’,’ oars’).

© Oxford University Press 2014 True Stories Independent reading • Ask the children to read up to the end of Chapter 3. (Clarifying, Summarising) Ask them to find the answers to the following questions: How did Robert Maynard feel when he read the letter? What made Blackbeard such a fearsome pirate? Why did Robert Maynard laugh when his crew said Blackbeard was a devil? How did the mist help Maynard and his crew? • Ask the children to complete reading to the end of the story independently. Check that children: • are able to segment and blend to read new words • can deduce and infer how or what the character thinks and feels, based on descriptions in the text. Returning and responding to the text (Summarising) Ask the children to describe Robert Maynard’s character and show evidence in the text to support their answers. (Clarifying, Imagining) Ask them to describe their answers to the questions about the first three chapters. (Clarifying) Ask the children to suggest how life at sea is different now from the Golden Age of Pirates. Can the children recognise features of the text that tell them this is a historical text? Speaking, listening and drama activities Create roles showing how behaviour can be interpreted from different viewpoints. (Questioning) Invite children to take turns to be Robert Maynard, Blackbeard and the first mate, Munroe. Invite them to sit in the hot seat and describe the events from their own viewpoints. Ask the children to say how their viewpoints differ and affect their descriptions. Encourage the others to ask questions about the events and how the characters felt and thought. Writing activities Use settings and characterisation to engage readers’ interest. Vary the pace and develop the viewpoint through selection of detail. • Ask the children to re-read pages 22–27, the scene in the mist before the battle. • Ask them to think about how the scene would be different if told from Blackbeard’s point of view. • As a group, think of descriptive phrases to describe what Blackbeard hears and sees. • Ask the children to rewrite the scene from Blackbeard’s viewpoint. • Encourage the children to read their descriptions aloud and compare them with the scene in the text. How are they different? Can the children think of imaginative words and phrases to describe the scene?

© Oxford University Press 2014 True Stories Cross-curricular links • Blackbeard’s battle with Robert Maynard took place in 1718. Find out who was king or queen of Britain at that time. Which century was that? How long ago did the battle take place? • Find information in the pictures that show us this event happened a long time ago. Use a dictionary to find the definitions of ‘cannon’ and ‘sloop’. • Blackbeard sailed through the waters of the Caribbean and the New coast. His hiding place was Ocracoke Bay, . Find North Carolina on a map of the USA. Find the Caribbean in an atlas or on a globe.

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