Ahoy, me hearties!

Who is the most favourite character of all kids?

Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy?

This makes pirate fancy dress party a good choice for building a creative lesson and letting the kids have some fun.

In advance, ask kids to think of a pirate costume. Let each child choose a character he would like to represent (it can be someone from "Pirates of the Caribbean" or "Treasure Island").

Advice children about their choice.

Schedule the lesson, letting your students know when their costumes will be needed.

The activities and tasks for the lesson will depend on the kids age and English skills.

• It can be discussion about the characters personality, for intermediate and advanced learners; brief introduction of each character, or identifying the key words for describing a character, for beginners and elementary level.

• It can be all kinds of guessing character games, adjusted for each level.

• Treasure hunt map can be used to practise giving directions and instructions.

• It can be group or team discussion about the ways to survive, if having been marooned.

• It can be discussion of the videos from Pirates of the Caribbean movie or any other pirate movie chosen by a teacher.

In other words, there is a vast number of activities which can be made up for the pirate theme by a creative teacher.

However, I'd like to share a couple more things.

First, the funny game based on the fact that pirates often go:"Arrrrrrgh!"

A teacher is to ask questions starting with "What is the pirates' favourite..."

Students need to guess that the words for the right answers are to have AR sound, and then think of such words to answer teacher's questions.

For example:

- What is the pirates' favourite vehicle?

- Carrr or carrrgo!

- What is the pirates' favourite country?

- Arrrgentina!

-What is the pirates' favourite pastime?

-Barrr crawling.

-What is the pirates' favourite way to come to agreement?

-Parrrley!

-What do pirates like counting to fall asleep?

-Starrrs!

Use your imagination to make a list of possible questions, adjusting them to your students level. Students are to use their imagination too; and the answers can vary. A teacher can reward the right answers with bonuses, announce and reward the winner of the game, or point out the funniest and the wittiest answers.

One more thing, the pirates vocabulary. It can be shortened for beginners and is better to be introduced in the beginning or in the middle of the lesson.

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buccaneer, bucko - a pirate

Davy Jones' Locker - sea bottom

skedaddle - to get away

flogging - punishment

swab the deck - wash the deck

Jolly Roger

ahoy - hello

matey - friend

Aye! - Yes!

me - mine

me hearties - my team

scurvy - a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C

scuttlebutt - gossip

Shiver me timbers! - the phrase is based on real nautical slang and is a reference to the timbers, which are the wooden support frames of a sailing ship. In heavy seas, ships would be lifted up and pounded down so hard as to "shiver" the timbers, startling the sailors. Such an exclamation was meant to convey a feeling of fear and awe, similar to, "Well Blow Me Down!", or, "May God Strike Me Dead" (Wikipedia)

seadog - seaman

Walk the plank! - Walking the plank was a form of murder or torture thought to have been practiced by pirates. The victim was forced to walk off the end of a wooden plank or beam extended over the side of a ship, falling into the water to drown, sometimes with bound hands or weighed down, often into the vicinity of sharks (Wikipedia).

plunder - defeat

monkey - small cannon

landlubber - land lover, derogatory name used by pirates to describe all non-seamen

blow the man down! - shoot him!

booty - treasure

avast! - Used by seamen as a warning, literally "look out", but often used by pirates as a greeting e.g. "Avast there ye old seadog".

dead man's chest - coffin

Arrrgh!

swallow the anchor - retire from sea

adrift - loose, not on moorings or towline

Blimey! - interjection expressing anger, surprise, excitement

bounty - award

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Making short skits to introduce each word is an engaging activity based on the vocabulary.

Prepare spreadsheets (matching the number of your students) with the words without their definitions, and a list of the words with definitions. Take two or three words to base the skit on, show the definitions to those who have volunteered to act, telling them to think of a skit to perform in several minutes in front of the class, demonstrating the meaning of each given word. Students with the best guesses can make up a group of actors for a skit to introduce another group of words.

Finally, I'd like to mention some good quotes from Pirates of The Caribbean movie, which can be used to spark conversation. It can as well be another guessing game like"Which character does the phrase belong to?"

If you lock away your heart, you've truly lost, mate.

(Jack Sparrow)

This is a dinghy, not my vessel. My vessel is magnificent, and fierce, and huge-ish, and... gone.

(Jack Sparrow)

What arrrrr you doing?

(Captain Barbossa)

Life is cruel. Why should the afterlife be any different?

(Davy Jones)

Every man has a price which he will willingly accept, even for that which he hopes never to sell.

(Lord Beckett)

You can mistrust me less than you can mistrust him, trust me.

(Jack Sparrow)

No cause is lost if there is but one fool left to fight for it.

(Will Turner)

Aaand, just one more tip - you can use music to set the atmosphere of your lesson. Choose something from Hans Zimmer works e. g. "Drink up, me hearties!"or "Davy Jones".

I hope, you see now that pirate theme is the right one for creating a fantastic lesson!