Introducing the Book
In preparation, write the vocabulary words and the following words on cards or slips of paper to be reviewed: pirates, Caribbean, Greece, Viking, Africa, China, Asia

On your board or on a piece of chart paper, write the word nouns as a large heading. Draw a three-column table labeling each column as person, place, and thing.

Explain that the story they'll read today is about pirates or thieves of the seas and the different types of boats they used. Explain that it's based on true facts and is therefore a non-fiction story.

Read through all of the vocabulary words and noun cards you've written. Point out these are all nouns that they'll find during reading. Have them position the nouns in the correct columns as people, places, or things, explaining that a noun can be easily identified as a person, place or thing. You might also introduce the capitalization rule of proper names as nouns versus general nouns that aren't capitalized, i.e., Viking versus pirate.

Skim and Scan
Share the cover page with students by pointing out the title, the author, and the picture. Indicate the posted list of nouns and remind them to watch for these words as they read. Explain that these words will be used to describe the different types of boats that pirates used.