It has been a while since I've posted anything on my teaching blog. Shame on me. I've been very busy with my classes, and now I can't believe that it is only 3 weeks until the Christmas holidays! I have so much to do and so little time to achieve it.
Recently, my nursery class has been interested in Pirates, so, as you do, we have been reading Pirate stories, making a pirate ship, dressing up, making treasure maps, and following treasure maps to "x marks the spot." I don't have the photos at home with me just now, but I'll try to post some later. Our role-play area is set up as a shop, and the other day the money was "stolen" and a treasure map left behind. The children had to follow the footsteps on the map to retrieve the money - and a few other goodies. A teacher friend of mine had this fantastic treasure chest she let me borrow for the event. The children loved following the map and finally seeing what was hidden in the chest.
Pirates is such a fun and rich theme to use as a springboard for children's learning. Directional language with maps, mapping skills practiced by making their own maps and following others, sorting out treasure, experimenting with boats that float/don't float... the list could go on and on. And let's be honest: who doesn't like to talk like a Pirate?
