Article
Robert Neubecker
Poetry,

Pirate Patter

Rhyming couplets explain the meaning of classic, quirky pirate terms

By Douglas Florian
From the December 2019 / January 2020 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will identify the author’s purpose in this rhyming poem. 

Featured Skill: Author's Purpose,
Common Core Standards
  • R.2, R.5, R.6, R.7, R.9, W.3, SL.1, SL.2, L.1
TEKS Standards
  • Grades 2-3:
    1a, 1c, 4a, 6g, 6h, 6i, 7e, 7g, 9b, 9f, 10a, 10c, 10d, 12a

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Author’s Purpose

The poet wants to inform readers of the meaning of pirate terms. How do the explanations help you understand the bolded words?

Ahoy, matey means Hello, my friend.

Heave to means come to an end.

A cat-o’-nine tails is a whip.

A man-o’-war is a sailing ship.

The Jolly Roger is the pirates’ flag.

A villainous person is a scallywag.

A pirates’ drink is called a grog.

A rotten pirate is a scurvy dog.

Aye means Yes, I do agree.

Davy Jones’s locker is the bottom of the sea.

Feed the fish means throw overboard.

A cutlass is a short, curved sword.

Pillage means to raid or seize.

There is no pirate word for please.

THINK AND WRITE

Learn more about these pirate terms and write your own poem with our Poetry Kit!

“Pirate Patter” from SHIVER ME TIMBERS. Text copyright © 2012 by Douglas Florian; illustrations copyright © 2012 by Robert Neubecker. Used by permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
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Can't Miss Teaching Extras
Watch This

In this entertaining 3.5-minute NBC News video, poet and illustrator Douglas Florian talks about what makes a good poem and what his creative process is like.

Teach This

Douglas Florian is also an abstract painter! Check out his colorful masterpieces with your students. Some are 8 feet high.

Watch This

Meet illustrator Robert Neubecker who talks about how his life and children inspired his work in this series of 10 brief interviews (the first few are the most engaging for kids).

More About the Article

Key Skills

Author’s purpose, rhyme, text features, key details, making inferences, drawing conclusions, expressing an opinion

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
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1. PREPARING TO READ

Set a Purpose for Reading (10 minutes)

  • Begin by reading the Author’s Purpose bubble for the class. Direct students to the nonfiction feature on page 4. This article describes the successful 20th-century treasure hunt for a pirate ship that sank in 1717. Remind students that pirates robbed ships that carried valuable items, such as gold, silver, spices, and silk. The pirate captain Sam Bellamy and his crew would likely have used the terms explained in this poem.
  • Have students look at the illustration that accompanies the poem. What are the kids doing in the picture? What mood or feeling does this picture create? Direct students to the skull and crossbones flag in the picture. Then point to the skull and crossbones flag on page 5 of the nonfiction article. Remind students that a skull and crossbones symbol on a black flag was used in the 1700s by many pirate captains. How are the two images of the skull and crossbones the same? How are they different?

2. READING AND DISCUSSING

  • Read the poem for the class, play our audio version, or use Text-to-Speech. As students listen, ask them to think about the different pirate terms that the author explains in the poem.
  • Point out that scurvy is a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C in one’s diet. Pirates suffered from scurvy because they couldn’t keep the fruits and vegetables that contain vitamin C from rotting on their ships.
  • Project or distribute the Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions and discuss them as a class while students refer to the poem in their magazines.

Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions (15 minutes)

  • How does the poet explain the meaning of “Ahoy, matey”? (author’s purpose) He explains that the term means “Hello, my friend.”
  • What are the rhyming words in lines 3 and 4? (rhyme) The rhyming words are whip and ship.
  • How does the picture help you understand what a “Jolly Roger” and a “cutlass” look like? (text features) The picture includes a pirate’s flag, which is a “Jolly Roger.” It also shows kids dressed as pirates waving short, curved make-believe swords.
  • Based on the information in this poem, what would you call a rotten pirate? (key details) The term for a rotten pirate is a scurvy dog.
  • Why do you think there is no pirate term for “please”? (drawing conclusions) Because pirates robbed ships, they took what they wanted rather than asking politely.
  • Which of the pirate terms explained in this poem do you like the most? Why do you feel this way? (expressing an opinion) Answers will vary.

3. SKILL BUILDING

  • Call on a volunteer to read the Think and Write box.
  • Distribute our Author’s Purpose Skill Builder. Students can work on them in small groups.

Text-to-Speech