arrrrr matey

Did you know today is “Talk Like a Pirate Day”? Our school celebrated our monthly reading goal with Pirate Day activities.

Many of the teachers (and some of the students) dressed up. Sorry, no pictures, but I will tell you that I had an awesome (and quite uncomfortable) parrot on my shoulder along with my pirate garb.

The students in my class made a treasure map for their kindergarten reading buddies. They counted how many paces it would take to get to each destination and drew their map. Then they took their kindergarten friends on a treasure hunt. The kids got little trinkets (gum, a feather, a jewel) at each stopping place. Then they got a Pirate snack (snack mix) at the end.

In the afternoon we went to 5 different stations:

1) Pirate Ship Races (scooter relay race)

2) Pirate Training which included  swabbing the deck (using a broom to move a beach ball around cones), walk the plank (balance beam), Peg Leg race (hop on one leg) and untie knots

3) Talk Like a Pirate (they learned sign language for pirate phrases)

4) Make Your Own Jolly Roger (flag)

5) Make a Pirate Hat

Here’s my pirate modeling his pirate hat (and pirate shirt!)

We had a great day!! The kids loved it and I think most of the teachers and staff did too!

Then after I got home from work, I found my own Pirate’s booty (that’s pirate talk for loot).

This summer I entered a drawing at the Intel website for teachers. I submitted a response to the question “How has technology bridged the gap for students with special needs?” I used our experiences with Nate in my answer and my name was drawn as the winner. I was told I would receive a flip video camera and a mini tripod. The tripod arrived a few weeks later, but not the video camera. I emailed the contact person and he said I should have gotten the camera and he would look into it. Well, after 2 months or more went by, I had pretty much chalked it up as a loss. Then out of the blue last week I received a follow-up email and then another email stating that my prize had been shipped, along with some extra goodies as an apology for the glitch. So I got a waterproof case for the flip video and a $50 Amazon gift card!!! So exciting!!