© 2013 Usborne Publishing Ltd. Not for commercial use.

Percy and the Pirates • Teacher’s notes

About the storyPercy and his family work hard on their farm by the sea, but they never have enough to eat. To add to their meals, Percy decides to try his luck at fi shing. He rows out, drift s off to sleep and then wakes in a panic: his leaky boat is sinking. He appeals to a passing ship, only to discover it’s a pirate ship. The pirate captain gives Percy a choice: join his crew or be eaten by sharks. So Percy becomes a reluctant pirate and quickly learns the ship’s main rule – steal for the captain and put all the treasure in his chest.

When crewman Sam Scurvy keeps some treasure for himself, the captain rumbles him and makes him walk the plank. The same fate awaits Willy Weevil and Ronny Rum. Soon only Percy and the captain are left . Percy is ordered to board a ship and come back with their treasure, but he ony fi nds maps. He turns one into a treasure map and takes it to the captain, who immediately goes in search of the treasure. At the spot marked X, the greedy captain digs and digs, and is soon trapped in his own deep hole.

Triumphant, Percy steers the ship home. He returns the stolen goods to their rightf ul owners and is given a handsome reward – enough to feed his family for life.

About the authorRussell Punter was born in Bedfordshire, England. When he was young, he enjoyed making up and illustrati ng his own stories. When he grew up, he studied art at college before becoming a graphic designer and writer. He has writt en over forty children’s books, including a cannonade of pirate tales.

Author: Russell Punter

Reader level: Intermediate

Word count: 1005

Lexile level: 340L

Text type: Adventure story

Key wordsYour students might not be familiar with some of these words, which are important in the story.

p15 shipmatep16 mott o bellowed treasure chestp18 spott edp19 swung chasedp20 ordered pouredp21 locker roaredp24 sparklingp31 spare

p5 branch fi shing rodp6 sardines rowed bayp9 sinkingp10 alongside grabbedp11 grin rescuedp12 growled fi ercep13 choice crew

Key phrasesp4 to come up withp8 to spring a leakp17 to walk the plankp18 to lead the att ackp22 to be gobbled upp34 or elsep35 empty-handedp39 couldn’t waitp42 let me at [something]p43 to make something upp46 to set sailp47 Three cheers

Usborne English

p34 tricks warnedp35 searchp36 wigglyp37 waterfall cabinp38 chuckledp39 greedyp42 shovelp44 rage trappedp46 att ackedp47 grateful reward

© 2013 Usborne Publishing Ltd. Not for commercial use.

Percy and the Pirates • Teacher’s notesBefore readingYou could start the lesson by playing a game (a version of “Simon Says”). Tell the class that you’re the pirate captain and they are your crew: they have to act out your orders, but only if you start by saying “Captain Crook says...”, otherwise they are out and have to sit down. You’ll need to demonstrate the acti ons fi rst; you might want to write them on the board. Start slowly and then speed up.

“Climb the rigging” – mime climbing up a rope ladder.“Ship ahoy” – mime looking through a telescope.“Scrub the deck” – get on your hands and knees and mime scrubbing with a brush.“Hard a’ port!” – lean to the left ; or “Hard a’ starboard!” – lean to the right.“Walk the plank” – walk in a wobbly line, one foot in front of the other.

Now ask the class if they’d like to be pirates. Find out why, or why not [a life of adventure, but also violent and dangerous outlaws]. Introduce the story of Percy, who didn’t want to be a pirate...

p21 Why do you think Sam kept some coins for himself? Is the ship’s mott o fair?

p29 What do you think Ronnie will do with the silver coins?

p33 How would you describe Captain Crook?p37 What do you think of Percy’s idea? What

does he hope will happen?p45 Do you feel sorry for Crook?p46 Would you have given the treasure back?p47 Does Percy deserve a reward?

p2 Would you like to live in a house like this?p3 How about working hard in a fi eld all day?p6 How would you describe Percy from what

you’ve read so far?p9 What kind of ship is it? How can you tell?p12 Why is “Crook” a good name for a pirate?p13 Which would you choose?p17 What might happen if you walk the plank?p19 Does Sam Scurvy look as if he enjoys being

a pirate?

During reading: you might like to ask some of these questi ons.

Reading or listeningYou can listen to the story on CD or read it aloud to the students, take turns to read or read together silently. Each double page spread in the book is one track on the CD, so that you can pause between tracks or repeat tracks if your students need it. The fi rst reading is in a Briti sh English accent, and it is followed by an American English reading. The words are exactly the same. Aft er the story, there is a short selecti on of key phrases that can be used for pronunciati on practi ce.

Aft er readingAsk the class what they think of Percy. Would they have done the same as him? How else could he have escaped from Captain Crook and the sharks? Do you think Percy’s family will believe what’s happened?

In small groups, ask the students to take it in turns to be Percy, telling the story of his adventures with the pirates to his family. You could set a ti me limit (of two to three minutes, say) to encourage the students to sum the story up quickly and concisely.

What were the names of the diff erent ships the pirates att acked? [The Crimson Cutt lefi sh, The Pink Prawn, The Blue Blowfi sh, The Red Herring] Try making up your own ship names using a colour followed by the name of a sea creature; see if you can use the same initi al lett er for both words.

Did you knowIn English, the phrase ‘a red herring’ means a false clue that leads someone to draw the wrong conclusion, just as the fake treasure map leads Captain Crook to a place where there isn’t any treasure at all.