Pirate Names

Level One: Grade Prep

Discussion
Read a picture story book about a pirate and lead the discussion into pirate names. Make up a list of names that would suit a pirate or famous pirate names.
What do pirates do? Where do they live? What do we know about pirates? Why do they dress the way they do? Why do you think a lot of pirates grow a beard and have scars on their body?

Materials
Plasticine, Straws, Sequins in a Jar, Creative Bead Box, Cardboard Sentence Strip Coloured
If you were a pirate what name would you have?

How to write a pirate’s name in Plasticine

1. Practise making long sausage shapes by rolling a ball of Plasticine with your hands. Try to make them the same thickness. What do we need to do to achieve that?
2. Manipulate the sausage shapes to form the letters of your pirate name. Some students may need help here with letter formation. They might just trace over the letters written down on a Sentence Strip.
3. Press the Plasticine letters down on to a Sentence Strip and decorate each letter with glittery objects that a pirate might discover in a treasure chest.

Treasure Chest

Level 2: Grades One and Two

Discussion
Read to the class the picture story book “Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson to lead the discussion into pirates and buried treasure. Where did they find the buried treasure?
What type of things might you find in a treasure chest? If the treasure chest was at the bottom of the sea what might be swimming around it? Look at images of tropical fish and discuss the colours and patterns some of them have. What other creatures might we find at the bottom of an ocean?
Talk about ways we can change a ball of Plasticine or other modelling media, e.g. squeeze, flatten, roll, pinch etc.

Materials
Plasticine, Cellophane, Multi Purpose Paper 250 x 380 mm, Zart Drawing Blocks, Sequins in a Jar, Creative Bead Box, PVA, Paper Plate 23 cm, Laser Glitter, Pearl Beads Christmas Mix, Corrugated Card

How to make a Treasure Chest and Sea Treasures

1. Glue a sheet of Cellophane down on to a Paper Plate, roughly trim around the edges to cut away the excess.
2. Experiment with rubbings using the side of a Drawing Block over Multi Purpose Paper to create a textured surface. Place the paper over different textured surfaces and drag or push the Drawing Block away from your body in one direction. This action will create a textured print over the paper. Try putting colour on colour to see what happens as you take the rubbing.
3. Choose one of the rubbings you think might suit the bottom of the ocean and tear it into long strips.
4. Glue the strips to the Cellophane covered plate.
5. Roll, squeeze, flatten, add on and pinch a ball of Plasticine to create some sea creatures and a treasure chest.
6. Decorate the sea creatures and treasure chest with sequins and beads.
7. Press or glue the decorated creatures and treasure chest to the ocean floor you have created.

 

Pirate’s Parrots

Level 3: Grades Three and Four

Discussion
Long John Silver from Treasure Island fame had a parrot on his shoulder called Captain Flint. Do all pirates have a pet parrot? Why do you think pirates might like to have a parrot?
Look at pictures of parrots and discuss their markings, colour and size. Research through books or the internet the vast range of parrot species. What makes them different?
How might we create a texture on a model of clay or Magiclay to resemble feathers?

Materials
Paper Magiclay, Ocaldo Blocks, Poly Egg 50 mm, Pearl Beads, Emu Feathers, Guinea Fowl Feathers

How to make a Pirate’s Parrot

1. Smear a ball of Paper Magiclay over the surface of a Poly Egg until it is covered and resembles the body of a parrot.
2. Use the Paper Magiclay to build up areas of the parrot such as its eyes, beak, feet and wings. Press in some beads for its eyes.
3. Press a variety of feathers into the modelled body for its tail and crest.
4. Press into the surface of the modelled body a texture to create a feathered appearance. What might you use to create this textured surface?
5. Paint the parrot using the bright colours of Ocaldo Blocks and set aside to dry.
6. Give your parrot a name.

Pirate

Level 4: Grades Five and Six

Discussion
The word Pirate conjures up images of a one arm, one legged, bedraggled, bearded, one eyed, heavily tattooed, earring wearing man. Why? Ask the students to research the history of pirates, the stories fictional or non fictional, the films that have been made about pirates and see if that description is always true. What female pirates have there been? Are there still pirates today? If so where are they? Do they still go on treasure hunts?
From the research students will be able to come up with their own imagery of a pirate.

Materials
Poly Cone 20 cm, Toothpicks, Poly Ball 40 mm, Paper Magiclay, Oil Pastels, Felt, Chenille Stems, Merino Wool Tops, Pearl Beads, Aluminium Craft Wire, Corrugated Card Metallic, Prockey Marker, material scraps, Supertac, Lill Pins

How to make a Pirate

1. Use Oil Pastels to colour a Poly Cone in a pattern that might resemble what your pirate would wear.
2. Use Felt to create two tapered sleeves wrapped around Chenille Stems.
3. Pin the sleeves to the Poly Cone where the arms would be.
4. Model a head shape with Paper Magiclay, building up cheeks, forehead, nose, ears, etc.
5. Create an eyelid over a Pearl Bead and press into the eye socket, repeat this if your pirate has two eyes.
6. Add on rings, hats, beards and other decorative features to the head.
7. Use a Toothpick to join the head to the Poly Cone body.
8. Model two hands to attach to the Chenille Stem arms; one might be modelled from Paper Magiclay and the other a wire hook.
9. Add other features such as a scarf, hat and dagger.
10. Give your pirate a name.