Pre-Reading Activity
Different Times,
Different Places, But All Courageous and Adventurous
- Social Studies
- Art
- Music
- Geography
The four titles in
this unit span a time period from a 1,000 years ago to just
300 years ago, introducing students to warriors of both Eastern
and Western worlds, fighters of land and sea. After reading
and discussing the four books, students may be broken into teams
-- Knights, Ninjas, Pirates, and Vikings -- with each assigned
to various tasks. Begin with a fact-finding assignment, then
move on to the hands-on portion.
Fact-Finding...
Have students research
the topic of the team to which they've been assigned. Have them
create an Information Chart to be shared with classmates, using
details they've found in the school library and on the Internet,
as well as information from the four books. Chart entries for
each warrior group might include such categories as:
- Time
- Place of Origins
- Travel Destinations
- Missions/Goals
- Clothing/Armor
- Living Quarters
|
- Weaponry
- Rituals
- Art/Music
- Unique Characteristics
- Famous Names
|
Encourage the collection
of maps, illustrations, photographs, or other visual materials.
Then, have each student group present their charts to the class.
Help them facilitate and enhance full-group discussion to compare
and contrast important aspects of each of the four groups.
Classroom
Connections
Activities
for use with
Viking
Ships at Sunrise
- Make a Viking shield by cutting large circle shapes out
of posterboard or oak tag. Attach a hand grip in center and
decorate with paint and/or glued construction paper.
 Use
the Brother Michael's
Serpens Magna* activity to help students create
a cover for Brother Michael's handwritten book.
Activities
for use with
Night
of the Ninjas
- Create a ninja sword, cutting the shapes of a short, straight,
single-edged blade and straight hilt out of posterboard. Wrap
the blade in aluminum foil and paint the hilt to achieve desired
effects.
Print
out the Ninja Puppets
activity* and share with your students.
- Have them cut out ninja shapes and mount them on sticks
to create shadow puppets for a "behind-the-sheets" demonstration
of how these "shadow warriors" slid in nature's darkness.
Or let them color the figure for a fun class puppet show.
Activities
for use with
Pirates:
A
Nonfiction Companion to Pirates Past Noon
Will the Real Buccaneer Please Stand?
Have students research true facts about pirates. Then have them
write those facts and some nonfacts-or legends-about pirates
on separate strips of paper, marking them "F" for fact or "L"
for legend. Place the strips in a treasure chest and ask three
students to pick slips from the chest and read each aloud. Have
the class vote on who they felt presented the most true pirate
facts.
" X" Marks
the Spot!
- Social Studies
- Map Skills
Discuss the significance of grids and how the pirates would
have benefited from using a grid when locating buried treasures.
Provide students with their own grids and have each of them
draw an imaginary island. Have them draw objects that would
be on the island, including an "X" to mark the spot of a treasure
chest. With a partner, students can play a modified form of
the board game Battleship, where they try to locate the different
objects on their opponent's island. Or, collect and then randomly
pass out the islands to the class. Have each student give the
coordinates of the items drawn on the island that they were
given.
Shiver Me Timbers!
Study the chapter "Pirate Ships". Have students draw and label
the parts of a sailing ship. Reference pages 62 and 63 or click
here
. Discuss why pirates would be attracted to their type of
sailing ship (sloops, schooners, brigantines, or barques). Display
the ships from least to greatest masts.
Knot so Fast
Pirates sailed the seas and had to be good sailors in order
to attack other ships and gain control of them. To be quick
and efficient for their surprise attacks, they mastered knot
tying to keep the sails up. Students can learn how to make different
kinds of knots. Use this link to untie the secret of knot tying:
http://www.realknots.com/knots/index.htm
Assign each student a different type of knot to learn to tie
and provide string. After the students have learned the art
of tying their knot, they can teach a classmate how to do it.
Teaching ideas
provided by Jamay Johnson, second grade teacher, and Melinda
Murphy, media specialist, Reed Elementary School, Cypress Fairbranks
Independent School District, Houston, Texas.
Activities
for use with
Pirates
Past Noon
- Decorate a shoe box with paints and other materials to resemble
a pirates treasure chest. Fill with "treasures" that might
be found in Captain Kidd's chest.
- Create Jolly Roger Pirate flags with black/white construction
paper or felt. Attach to a wooden rod for "hoisting."
Hand
out the Find
Captain Kidd's Treasure maze* to your class.
Activities
for use with
Knights
and Castles:
A
Nonfiction Companion to The Knight at Dawn
Please Pass
the Salt!
Discuss the main food groups of today and compare
them with the food eaten during medieval times. Also compare
place settings and utensils. Then have students design menus
illustrating the similarities and differences between a modern
and a medieval feast.
The Royal
Family Feud!
Jack and Annie have been studying the concepts of feudalism
and social class. Divide the class into teams and have each
team create a poster of the social classes represented in a
pyramid. Write facts about each social class on index cards.
Have students flip the cards and decide which facts apply to
which class. The side that first completes its pyramid is the
conqueror.
Dressed to
Kill!
The system of coats of arms is called heraldry. Ask
students to list the characteristics that best describe themselves
and to choose symbols or pictures that represent those traits,
such as a lion to show bravery. Then have them create their
own coats of arms.
Is Chivalry
Dead?
Is Chivalry Dead? Jack and Annie are amazed
at the rules that existed during the Middle Ages. Brainstorm
with the class about good and bad manners. Discuss the difference
in manners of medieval times and those of today. Which medieval
rules should be brought back today, if any? Have students role-play
variousscenarios to exemplify chivalrous behavior.
Knights
& Castles Crossword
Decisions!
Big Decisions! Research helper
Answer
key
Teaching ideas
provided by Jamay Johnson, second grade teacher, and Melinda
Murphy, media specialist, Reed Elementary School, Cypress Fairbranks
Independent School District, Houston, Texas.
Activities
for use with
The
Knight at Dawn
- Make a knight's helmet by cutting off the top of a gallon-sized
milk jug. Cut and shape the remaining piece and cover with
foil cut into strips or scallop shapes. Decorate with scraps
of paper or other materials.
- Construct a model of a Medieval Castle using cardboard,
posterboard, paper towel tubes, Legos or other available materials.
Check
out Knight at Dawn
Word Search* for a great classroom activity.
East Meets West,
Land Meets Sea
Curriculum Tie-ins
- Creative Drama
- Social Studies
Have students think
about how knights, ninjas, pirates, and vikings acted during
the time they were alive. Then bring them to life in improvisational
skits, pairing students in a series of role-playing combinations:
Knight/Ninjas, Pirate/Viking, Knight/Viking, Pirate/Ninja. Performances
may be given a fun personal touch with topics, such as: My
ship is better than your ship; a warrior's home is his castle;
a book is a treasure greater than gold.
Certificate
of Achievement
Teaching ideas
by Rosemary B. Stimola, Ph.D., professor of children's literature
at City University of New York, and educational and editorial
consultant to publishers of children's books.
* All activities
require Adobe
Acrobat
|
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