LESSON #1

All Hands on Deck

I. DEFINE OBJECTIVES AND CONTENT

LESSON OBJECTIVE

Students will discover facts about Blackbeard by interacting

in a technology driven scavenger hunt. Students will use
the information gained after instruction to create a video
diary from their perspective as first day pirate.

POINT TO PONDER

The higher you move up in your career, the happier you

are.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

How does career hierarchy affect self worth?

CONTENT

I.

Outline the content you will

teach in this lesson.

A.

Origin

1.

Most likely British

2.

Born before 1690

3.

Real name: Edward Teach

Blackbeards Early Years/Pirate Apprenticeship

a. Last name unknown. Last name also known as Thatch,

Thach, Tach, Tash, Drummond
b. Nickname acquired in 1716 because of his terrorizing
acts
B.

Early Career

1.

Hired as an English privateer during 1702-1714

a.

Occurred during Queen Annes War

b.

Allowed to keep stolen goods per Queen Anne

Buccaneers, Beware! A Day in the Life of Blackbeard and his Brigade

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c.

Out of a job when the war ended in 1714

2.

Joined Caribbean pirates in 1716

a.

Met Benjamin Hornigold-captain

b.

Became his mentor

c.

Eventually became Hornigolds right hand man

II.

Under the Reign of Blackbeard

A.

Crewmembers

1.

300-400 total men

2.

150 men living on any given ship

3.

Jobs

a. Captains, mariner officers, skilled craftsmen, seamen,

surgeons, and clergy
b.

Most important job was the navigator

c.

Monthly pay ranged from 5 livres to 100 livres

i.

Cabin boys received the least

ii.

The captain garnered the most pay

II. PRE-PLANNING

What will students

UNDERSTAND as a result
of this lesson? How does
this connect to the
Essential Question?

Students will understand the history of Blackbeard as they

learn about his background and origin. During todays
lesson students will also learn about his early career as a
privateer. Lastly students will learn about the crewmembers
and workings of a pirate ship. This information will be very
important due to them needing to know how to gain ranks
during the week. Understanding the career hierarchy will be
valuable as well when considering the essential question.

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What will students be able

to DO as a result of this
lesson?

Students will be able to navigate using a scavenger

hunt to find specific information.

Students will discuss struggles of climbing the pirate

ranks through video diary technology.

III. PLANNING

HOOK
Describe how you will
grab students attention
at the beginning of the
lesson.

TIME: 10 minutes

Teachers will be dressed as pirates and will pretend to

be the ship captains. Students will be immediately
immersed in the simulation as they are ordered to
complete lower level pirate tasks such as running gun
powder, mopping the deck, manning the rigs.

Pirate decorations will be around the room and Yo Ho

will be playing in the background, welcoming students to
truly become part of the simulation.

As students enter the room, they will be recruited as

pirates. Students will be given an envelope containing
information about their pirate. Packets will include a form
where students will create their own pirate name, and
job description (rank), pay, and boat location will already
be pre selected.

BE CREATIVE.

INSTRUCTION
Explain Step-by-step
what you will do in this
lesson. Be explicit
about ties to Points to
Ponder, Essential
Question, and
Interactions here.
Include ALL support
and teaching materials
with your unit.

TIME: 40 minutes

Teachers and students will introduce themselves.

After the introductions, students will be asked questions

through Plickers to see what they already know about
Blackbeard (to establish pre existing/ background
knowledge)
o Plickers Questions

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o 1. True or false: Pirates treasure chests were

full of gold and jewels.
o 2.

What animal guarded Blackbeards treasure?

o 3. True or false: Blackbeard steered the pirate

ship.
o 4. What was the name of Blackbeards famous
ship?
o 5. True or false: Was Blackbeard considered
the most feared pirate?

Students will watch the Video Clip (2:57)

http://www.history.com/videos/queen-annesrevenge#queen-annes-revenge

Questions:
o 1.) Why is Blackbeard is an icon of piracy?
o 2.) How many pirates were under his command
at one time?
o 3.) How does investigating a ship wreck help
scientists learn more about history?
o 4.) What was odd about the cannons that were
found?

Students will gain insight on all aspects of Blackbeard

from this educational video from the History Channel.
This clip covers the background of Blackbeard all the
way up to the excavation of the Queen Annes Revenge.

Teachers will introduce Pirates of the Carolinas to the

students.

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Overview: The object of the game is to become the greatest

pirate by the end of the week. Students will earn plastic, gold
coins through various challenges and answering questions to
fight their way through piracys ranks. Throughout the week,
they will have the opportunity to buy new boats, overtake
another players boats, overtake cities, or purchase fate
cards, which could either result in a positive or negative result
once they reach a certain ranking, which is described below.

Game pieces/Board : The board game will be on a tri-fold

board, and the game board will be a map. As students progress
through the game, they will be earning game pieces that will be
boats, which will be placed on thumb tacks. Boats will be
laminated pieces of paper with velcro name plate attachments.

Ranks: All students will begin with their game piece on the main
boat, Perspective. Students will begin at the lowest rank
(which is indicated in their envelope). Once students gain 15
coins they can gain a boat. (Students will be given a new cut
out boat) Once theyve gained 20 coins, they can overtake
someone elses ship and make it their own. Once theyve
gained 25 coins students will become a captain and are able to
overtake cities.

0 Coins
o Swabbie
o Powder Monkey
o Cabin Boy
o Rigger

10 Coins
o Mate

15 Coins

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o Sailing Master (allowed to gain a boat)

20 Coins
o Quarter Master (allowed to overtake another
ship)

25 coins
o Ship Captain (allowed to overtake cities)

Fate Cards: Students may decide to purchase fate cards

throughout the week. These cards contain different positive and
negative fates. Examples:
o The plague-get rid of your ship
o You get to win a ship

Pirate Store: IF a student loses their ship they will need to buy a
new one. Students may purchase:

Pirate Store
o 10 coins= to buy a new ship
o 10 coins = to buy a fate card
o 15 coins = to buy a city
o 10 coins = to buy someone elses boat

Challenge: Photo Scavenger Content Hunt

Students will get in teams of two and be given an Ipod touch.
They will use the app GooseChase, which is a way to generate
picture scavenger hunts. Questions will be loaded on to the app
about Blackbeard, and the answers will be found throughout the
building. Students will take pictures of the answers they found

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to document evidence. The next clue will be a picture and a

question to find the next answer. The app keeps track of team
rankings and a time limit can be set. Teachers will give students
15 minutes to answer as many questions as they can in the
time frame. Students will then come back to the room and we
will go over the answers and discuss them through a
SmartBoard activity. Students will earn coins based on the
scavenger hunts rankings. The pictures and set-up will need to
be taken on Sunday before camp because we will not know the
exact layout until we are given our classroom. We plan on
putting two clues in each of the following locations: gym,
cafeteria, outside, library, hallways. The clue to find the next
answer will be the corresponding picture of the location. The
questions that students will answer are found below in the
assessment and materials section.

Link to the GooseChase app:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn5WvG023CM

ASSESSMENT

TIME: 20 minutes

(Performance Task)
What will the students
DO to demonstrate that
they have mastered the
content? Be specific
and include actual
assessment with unit
materials.

Video diary #1
At the conclusion of each day, students will create a video diary
segment through the perspective of their pirate character using
an app called My Video Diary 8.0. They will each have their
own IPod touch to film themselves. A rubric will be provided to
assess the video diaries of each student. Students should
demonstrate insightful interpretation of their character
supported through a discerning use of facts learned from
instruction. The length of each video should be one to two
minutes.
The question that students will be asked to answer is what are
the trials and tribulations of moving up in the ranks?
As students finish, they can count their coins earned for the day

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and participate in the Pirates of the Carolinas board game.

DOES THE ASSESSMENT ALLOW YOU TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THE

STUDENTS HAVE MET YOUR STATED LESSON OBJECTIVE?
YES OR NO

ASSESSMENT AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

Insert ALL materials here including Assessments and Instructional Materials.
Explicitly LIST any additional files for this lesson. Be sure that ALL materials have been
submitted for this lesson.

Plickers Questions
1. True or false: Pirates treasure chests were full of gold and jewels.
2. What animal guarded Blackbeards treasure?
3. True or false: Blackbeard steered the pirate ship.
4. What was the name of Blackbeards famous ship?
5. True or false: Was Blackbeard considered the most feared pirate?

Scavenger Hunt Questions

1. What was Blackbeards real name?
2. When was Blackbeard nicknamed? Why?
3. Where was Blackbeard most likely from?
4. When was Blackbeard born?
5. Who was Blackbeards mentor?

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6. When was he hired as a privateer?

7. How many crewmembers were under Blackbeards reign?
8. How many pirates were on a ship at one time?
9. What are some of the jobs on a pirate ship?
10. What was the most important job on a pirate ship?

Letter for 1st day:

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Video Diary Rubric:

Criteria

20 - 17

Highly developed use of structure and vocabulary with a perceptive

awareness of purpose, context and audience
Insightful interpretation of character supported through a discerning
use of facts gained from instruction.

16 - 13

Excellent manipulation of tone, pace and clarity.

Developed use of structure and vocabulary with an sustained

awareness of purpose, context and audience
Interpretation of character substantiated through an appropriate
selection of textual evidence

12 - 9

Purposeful use of tone, pace and clarity.

Sound use of structure and vocabulary with an awareness of purpose,

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context and audience

8-5

Analysis of character supported with reference to the instruction.

Appropriate tone, pace and clarity.

Basic awareness of purpose, context and audience

Description of character supported with some reference to the

instruction.

4-0

Mostly appropriate tone, pace and clarity.

Limited awareness of purpose, context and audience

Description of character supported with limited reference to the

instruction.

Problematic use of tone and/or pace and/or clarity.

Board Game Materials

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