Sample Unit - Year 2 "Pirates"

Pirates

Inspiration Day:  Pirate Day! Come dressed as pirates and have a day involving lots of (organised) role play; games; problems solving - eg: you're abandoned on an island - how will you make a raft?  

Mantle of the Expert: Company hired to create a "Museum of Piracy" - including portraits of pirates, information about them,  artefacts eg: doubloons and other coins made in clay; models of winches (made in D&T); stories about pirates etc.
At the end of the unit the “museum” may be open for visitors – parents, other children etc.

History

1a,b;2a,b;3;4a,b;5;6b
Investigate the lives of pirates through the ages - Blackbeard
William Kidd, Sir Francis Drake, Mary Read, Anne Bonny
What did it mean to be a pirate? What was life like for pirates? What were the ships like? Investigate types of sailing ship – galleons etc
NB: video conferencing on the theme is an ideal way of bringing the subject to life. The national maritime museum is also a good source of information

Geography

1a,b,c,d;2a,c,d,e;3a,b,c,e;4a,b
Identify the seas which pirates travelled, which ports did they visit?
Why were they travelling those particular routes?
Make their own "Treasure Island" maps - invent an island and record physical features using symbols and a key. These can then be displayed as part of MoE museum.

PSHE and Citizenship

1a,b,c,d,e;2a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i
4a,b,c,d,e; 5a,b,c,d,f,g,h
POS related to cross curricular work; also discussions of rights and wrongs of life as a pirate; the harshness of punishments like walking the plank etc 

English/Drama

En1:1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11
En2:1,2,3,4,5,6,7
En3:1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12
Reading and writing for research in other subjects; humorous poetry about pirates; stories about pirates
Role play life aboard ship; writing of stories as a result of drama
Writing imaginative descriptions of pirates - inspired by fictional pirates (read appropriate extracts from novels etc)
Captions written for items in museum for MoE
A good source of stimulation for writing is the use of extracts from films about pirates – the extracts will have to be selected with care, but will evoke atmosphere and provide an excellent context for description. Eg: “Hook”, “Pirates of the Caribbean”, “Muppet Treasure Island”,“Treasure Island”.

Art

1,2,3,4,5
Look at pirate ships on DVDs - eg:appropriate extracts from "Pirates of the Caribbean" - also look at historical works of art depicting tall ships
Design pirate flags and sails; Make "doubloons" and other coins using clay -with imaginative designs
Paintings of the sea - in various moods
"Portraits" of pirates! These will be displayed in “museum”.

Music

1,2,3,4,5
sea shanties - rhythm for sailors to work to.
These should be recorded and played during visits to the “museum”

ICT

1,2,3,4,5
ICT for cross curricular research and presentation; animation of stories written in English
Labels and information for museum (MoE)

Science

NB: This unit relates to the Design and Technology and must be taught prior to the D&T.
Sc1:1,2
Sc4: Physical processes 2a to find out about and describe the movement of familiar things
Sc4:2b that both pushes and pulls are examples of forces
Sc4: 2c to recognise that when things speed up, slow down or change direction there is a cause (eg: push or pull) 

Design and Technology

1,2,3,4,5
Refer to QCA Unit 2C "Winding up"
Design and make winch mechanisms for the pirates' ship - to work sails, anchor 

The completed models will be placed in the “museum” – alongside the designs