Pirates Past Noon: Teacher Guide

Chapter 2

The Magic Tree House lands at the beach they saw on the open page of the book.

Lesson Plan

Pre-Reading

  1. Review Chapter 1
  2. Ask: What happened at the very beginning of the story?
  3. Ask: What was the last thing that happened in Chapter 1?
  4. Look at the title of Chapter 2 (“The Bright Blue Sea”)
  5. Ask: Where do you think the Magic Tree House will land?
  6. Ask: Have you ever been to a beach before? What was it like? How was the weather? What did you see?

Chapter 2

  1. Distribute and ask class to completeChapter 2 Vocabulary Worksheet
  2. Read Chapter 2
  3. Ask class to read Chapter 2 silently.
  4. Group Discussion
  5. Questions for Discussion:
  6. Ask: What did Jack and Annie see first when the Magic Tree House landed the beach?
  7. Ask: What did Annie want to do first? What did Jack want to do first? What would you have done first?
  8. Ask:Jack brought down his backpack, took off his boots and rolled up his jeans before wading into the water. Annie runs into the water with her boots still on. Why do you think that the author included these details?
  9. Ask: Why do you think Jack ran to the book after seeing the sailing ship?
  10. Ask:How do you think Jack and Annie were feeling after they read the title of the book? Why do you think that?
  11. Writing Activity
  12. Explain: The author includes many details about the beach to help us understand what it was like to actually be there. The author included a detail about what many of Jack and Annie’s senses were sensing at the beach.
  13. Ask: Can you name our five senses? (seeing, hearing, touching/feeling, smelling, and tasting)
  14. Write the five senses on the board
  15. Explain: The author explained that Jack smelled the saltwater, that the sunlight felt hot, that they heard the sound of waves, and that they saw the beach, the waves then eventually the sailing ship.
  16. Explain: Today we are going to write about what we see, feel/touch, hear, smell and taste when we are at the grocery store. (It’s okay if you can’t think of anything that you taste at the grocery store, but you will need to include details about each of the other four senses.)
  17. Distribute pieces of paper and have student begin writing.