To check for understanding and review vocabulary at anytime after reading, you might ask:

• Which ship did the Corsairs use? Where were the Corsairs from?
• Who used a ship called a galley?
• Which ships had a hull? a mast? a prow, a bowspirit?
• Why are pirates notorious?
• Why might pirates be called barbarians?

Word Work
Initiate a discussion about the vocabulary in the glossary. Have students go over each word and put each definition in their own words.

Introduce Worksheet 2.

Learning through Visual Devices
Using diagrams of each ship in the book, go over how the diagram labels the parts. Draw a simple boat shape on the board or on chart paper. Have students label the parts including the hull, masts, bow/prow, and bowspirit. They can add other boat parts that they know even if they're not mentioned in the story. For example, they might say oars, starboard side, crow's nest, etc.

Writing Link
Ask students to talk about what a modern pirate ship would be like. Have them write a brief paragraph or two about their perfect modern day pirate ship. Then have them illustrate or create a collage to show the parts of the ship. Collect the modern-day ships in a class book and take time to compare the details of the olden-day ships to the new.

Assessment

• Review students' completed comprehension worksheets to assess if they understood the reading.
• Have students write sentences or paragraphs using selected words from the vocabulary list or word work examples from the lesson to demonstrate their understanding of word meaning.