| | | TEACHING TIP OF THE MONTH |
Arr! Be ye a fan of pirate films? If your favorite flicks include Pirates of the Caribbean, Hook, or heck, even Muppet Treasure Island, you more than likely know just how to get your swashbuckling on. Eye patch: check! Treasure map: check! Parrot: check! Disdain for landlubbers: check!
But if you've been paying attention to the news of pirates near Somalia, you know that movie pirates are a little different than the real thing. The way that pirates are usually depicted in movies today is based more on romantic ideals than reality. For all his bluster, Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean seems like a pretty harmless sort, whereas a real-life Somalian pirate isn't exactly someone you'd like to encounter on a relaxing ocean cruise. Click to continue.  |  | TRUSTED WEBSITES
Pirate activities for elementary schoolers await ye, matey! Click here.
You'll find lots of pirate crafts for classrooms on the Kids Craft Weekly site. Click here. | |
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ACTIVITY
Grab a GeograRead
High schoolers will enjoy Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates, by David Cordingly. For younger landlubbers, there's Caribbean Pirates: A Treasure Chest of Fact, Fiction, and Folklore, by George Beahm. |
Madagascar Mania
Madagascar: More than just an animated movie! This island nation off Africa's southeast coast is home to a wildly diverse array of animals, many of which are found nowhere else in the world.
Have students look at the following list of unusual animal species found on Madagascar and try to match each species to its description. Sorry, fans of the movie, but there are no giraffes on Madagascar (much less ones with the voice of David Schwimmer!). Click to continue.
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. . . Just How Long the Walk Home Can Be?
The decades between 1869 and 1969 were not a good time to be an indigenous inhabitant of Australia. If you were an Aboriginal Australian, by law, your children could be taken away from you and raised in institutions hundreds of miles away, forbidden to speak their native language or have contact with their families. It's a very sad story that's been told in some very good movies, including the 2008 epic Australia.
Another movie about the "lost generations," as those stolen Aboriginal Australian children are sometimes called, is the 2002 film Rabbit-Proof Fence. The film tells the true story of three young Aboriginal Australian girls who escaped in 1931 from the settlement to which they'd been abducted and walked back to their families--a journey of nearly 1,000 miles! Click to continue.
| | TRUSTED WEBSITES
The National Museum of Australia's "A Penny to Remember" game introduces students to a bit of the country's fascinating history. Click here.
This nifty online image collection lets kids search for Australia-related pictures, including some of the famous rabbit-proof fence itself. Click here. | |
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June 1, 1926
One of the most famous movie stars ever was born in Los Angeles, California today: Norma Jean Mortensen. What, that doesn't ring a bell? Maybe you know her by her professional name: Marilyn Monroe. June 6, 1933
The first drive-in movie theater opens in Camden, New Jersey. Three-quarters of a century later, fewer than 500 drive-ins remain--so go to one while you can! June 9, 1934
Click to continue. Here's a fun and tasty treasure map activity to try during a unit on pirates. Click to continue.
Want to get more teacher tips and free resources from Rand McNally? Click here.
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