Magic Tree House #4 Pirates Past Noon

The kids were really excited to read Pirates Past Noon, because pirates are considered super cool in today's culture. However, after reading and learning the history of piracy their thoughts shifted a lot!

The story Pirates Past Noon is based in the Caribbean and we took the opportunity to not only learn about the Caribbean Islands and Sea but also about tropical climate. We ended up expanding our knowledge on different climate zones, the equator and Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, land forms, fresh water vs. salt water, how to read and follow maps and all about boats with our fun pirate ship craft fashioned from everyday household items.

We also touched on climate change and what we can do to protect our planet. To be honest, when we start a new unit I have a very vague plan. Every morning I come up with new topics to cover that relate to our unit and I like to incorporate topics that are relevant in our world today. Tackling climate zones and how climate is changing was very important to me, because we live in So Cal and climate change is very apparent as we grapple with our on-going drought and raging wildfires. The kids are now more aware and more concerned about taking care of the environment than they were when we started the unit.

We found ourselves spending less time on pirates and more time on geography with this book. The kids were really interested in the different climate zones and which animals and plants thrived in those ecosystems.

You can download the Pirates Past Noon workbook pages to add to your MTH History and Geography Notebook. The file includes vocabulary words, writing activities, and kid friendly information and activities on the Caribbean, climate study, and the history of piracy.



Climate Zones coloring page included in the download.
Readings on the Caribbean and climate zones incl. in the download.




Books we checked out from our local library:
  • Magic Tree House Pirates Past Noon By: Mary Pope Osborne
  • Magic Tree House Research Guide: Pirates by: Will & Mary Pope Osborne
  • Lives of the Pirates. Swashbucklers, Scoundrels (Neighbors Beware!) By: Kathleen Krull & Kathryn Hewitt
  • King Fisher Knowledge: Pirates & Smugglers
  • You wouldn’t want to be a Pirate’s Prisoner! By: John Malam
  • Abigail Adams: Pirate of the Caribbean. By: 
  • Steve Sheinkin (Fiction Reading)


Non-fiction books on Jamaica, Cuba, Bahamas, Haiti, and Dominican Republic.


Videos:
I also created a playlist of short educational videos on YouTube to go along with our unit:  Pirates Past Noon Short Videos


Fun Activities:

 I am a huge fan of Art Hub for Kids on YouTube. Mr. Hubs is an awesome teacher and the kids have found everything they ever wanted to draw on his page. We use Art Hub for Kids in every unit that we do. I highly recommend subscribing to their YouTube channel. Below are some drawings my youngest made by following Art Hub for Kids videos.


   

Fun Field Trips to take with this unit:

Maritime Museum- If you live anywhere near the coast you should be able to find one. We visited the one in San Diego where they had real full-size ships we could explore on. Once or twice a year they have a Pirate Adventure Day. https://sdmaritime.org/

Pirates Dinner and Show- We weren't able to go to this unfortunately, but it was on our wish list. The reviews are great. However, with kids it is recommended to go to the day time show when they are performing for schools as the show is catered to a younger audience and alcohol is not served.. https://piratesdinneradventureca.com/

Aquarium or Zoo: After learning about the different species that live in different climate zones it's fun paying them a visit :)




Pirate Ship Craft


I honestly do not like to spend a lot of money on purchasing materials for crafts, so I do my very best to recycle and reuse. Recently, my kids were into eating different types of cereals so I bought a variety pack of mini cereal boxes. I figured the boxes were a good size so each day I would fold them up and collect then in a ziplock bag. One morning the kids asked if they could make a craft and I pulled out those little boxes to make pirate ships! The directions are below:

To make one ship:

2 mini cereal boxes
Black construction paper
Brown construction paper
2 straws
Tape/glue
Felt or paper for pirate flag

 1. Keep one whole box aside. Cut 1/3 of the second box off.


2. Cut the 1/3 piece in half. 
 3. Tape the pieces together with one box in the center, the 2/3 box piece standing in the back, and the two small pieces positioned to make a triangle in the front.
4. Cover the bottom and sides of the ship with brown construction paper and the top with black construction paper.
5. Poke two holes in the top part and push through the plastic straws. 
6. Cut out white paper rectangles and cut slits to slip on to the straws.
7. Make a skull and bones flag with felt or paper.




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