| Sure, they're pirates, but you won't
believe what buried treasure they're looking for. With a map in one hand and a dictionary
in the other, these brigands scour uncharted waters for grammatical gold: complete
sentences, parts of speech, contractions, subject-verb agreement, and correct punctuation
and capitalization. Pirates is a great way to energize
your language arts curriculum. Your students will love instead of hate antonyms. No more
confusing or confounding synonyms. They'll sell their cell phones and exchange them for
homophones. They'll know declarative sentences. How can they ever fail again to identify
interrogative sentences? They'll thrive on exclamatory sentences! Go ahead, let our Pirates
from Grammar Island teach them imperatives!
CHARACTERS:
CAPTAIN COMMA
SHMITTY
DOWNING
KEEPERS of SENTENCES:
DECLARATIVE
INTERROGATIVE
IMPERATIVE
EXCLAMATORY
COLLECTOR of SYNONYMS
COLLECTOR of ANTONYMS
CREWMEN
OFFICIALS from the Capital Capital
PUNCTUATION PIRATES
ADVERB LIBRARIAN
ADJECTIVE LIBRARIAN
SCOUTS
QUEEN
SERVANT
and a CHORUS comprised of all students who are not
playing roles on stage at the time.
FLEXIBLE
CASTING:
From 11-40 students. Use as many Punctuation Pirates, Scouts, Sentence Keepers, etc. as
desired. One stucent can easily play several roles if needed, and individual roles can be
doubled up. Note that all roles can be played by either boys or girls; see our comments on
page 35 of the Teacher's Guide. |
(Entire CLASS faces audience and sings:)
CLASS:
We're gathered here today for you Song 1
To tell a pirate tale
And we may have the strangest crew
That ever has set sail.
While other pirates search for gold
To fill their treasure chest
The heroes of our story have
Good Grammar as their quest!
They're Pirates from Grammar Island
Pirates from Grammar Island
They will fuss and they will fume
'til everyone knows who from whom
Pirates from Grammar Island.
They don't say "Arrrg" or "That's me ship"
They don't ask "Who ye be?"
The subjects of their sentences
And all their verbs agree.
They're out to save all synonyms
And they love homophones
And every double negative
They send to Davy Jones!
They're Pirates from Grammar Island
Pirates from Grammar Island
They will fuss and they will fume
'til everyone knows who from whom
Pirates from Grammar Island.
They will fuss and they will fume
'til everyone knows who from whom...
(EVERYONE gasps for air)
Pirates from Grammar Island.
(CLASS takes its place.CAPTAIN COMMA, SHMITTY,
and DOWNING enter or step forward; CAPTAIN holds a
treasure map:)
SHMITTY: Captain Comma, sir,why did you put ashore here?
CAPTAIN: Were doing what us Pirates from Grammar Island
always do. Here look.
(CAPTAIN points to spot on the treasure map. THEY ALL
look at it.)
DOWNING (looking): Wow. The treasure map says this place is
loaded with grammar.
SHMITTY: (pointing to map again): And right here, on this
X, we'll find all eight parts of speech.
CAPTAIN: Exactly.
(FOUR GUARDIANS of SENTENCES enter. They wear
signs that read: DECLARATIVE, EXCLAMATORY,
IMPERATIVE, and INTERROGATIVE.
DOWNING: Hey, look, someone's coming.
DECLARATIVE: We are the Keepers of the four main kinds
of sentences. I guard Declarative sentences, sentences
that makes a statement. And this is the Keeper of
Interrogatives.
INTERROGATIVE (to PIRATES): Who are you? Where did you
come from?
(pulls a photo out of pocket)
Would you like to see a picture of my pet moose?
IMPERATIVE: Stop asking questions!
DECLARATIVE (gesturing to IMPERATIVE): That's the
Keeper of Imperatives. He gives commands.
EXCLAMATORY: I can't stand it! I'm always last! This stinks!
DECLARATIVE (gesturing to EXCLAMATORY): And this is the
Keeper of Exclamations...he's filled with strong feelings.
SHMITTY: So, what do you all do?
IMPERATIVE: Tell them!
EXCLAMATORY: Ooh, I can't wait!
INTERROGATIVE: Can I go first?
DECLARATIVE: You certainly may.
INTERROGATIVE:
What can I say? Song 2
Where do I start?
Donıt you like my question mark?
Why is there air?
Why is it cold?
Why do I sound two years old?
ALL FOUR:
The declaratives make a statement
Exclamations shout at you
Interrogatives ask a question...but
Imperatives are saucy
They're commanding and they're bossy
Just telling you what to do.
EXCAMATORY:
This is so fun!
I'm feeling proud!
Holy smokes I sure am loud!
I gotta shout!
I gotta scream!
Think I had too much caffeine!
ALL FOUR and CHORUS:
The declaratives make a statement
Exclamations shout at you
Interrogatives ask a question...but
Imperatives are saucy
They're commanding and they're bossy
Just telling you what to do.
IMPERATIVES:
Clean up your room!
Finish your food!
Sit up straight and don't be rude!
Stand over there!
Pick up your clothes!
Donıt put carrots in your nose!
ALL FOUR and CHORUS:
The declaratives make a statement
Exclamations shout at you
Interrogatives ask a question...but
Imperatives are saucy
They're commanding and they're bossy
Just telling you what to do.
Just telling you what to do.
CAPTAIN (to SHMITTY and DOWNING): I'll take these
Keepers to our ship. On Grammar Island we need all
four kinds of sentences.You two start searching
for those parts of speech.
(SENTENCES and CAPTAIN exit.)
DOWNING: How are we supposed to do that?
SHMITTY: Here come a couple locals. Let's ask them.
(COLLECTORS enter)
DOWNING (to COLLECTORS): Hi there, we're Pirates
from Grammar Island.
SYNONYM: Welcome. Iım a Collector of Synonyms.
DOWNING: I LOVE synonym. Especially synonym toast.
And those synonym rolls with the icing? Theyre the best.
SYNONYM: Synonyms, not cinnamon. Words that mean the
same thing. Identical. Alike. Parallel.
SHMITTY: Well, maybe you can tell us what it's like
around here.
SYNONYM: It's a friendly land. Neighborly. Amicable.
ANTONYM: And hostile, angry, malcontent.
SYNONYM: Just ignore him. He's a Collector of
Antonyms. Let me tell you about our land.
SYNONYM:
It's burning and it's torrid Song 3
It's sweltering and hot
ANTONYM:
It's freezing something horrid
It's cold in every spot.
SYNONYM:
Don't don't listen to him...he's an antonym
He's an antonym.
It's waterless and arid
It's withered up and dry
ANTONYM:
So wet you cannot bare it
I wouldn't tell a lie.
SYNONYM:
Don't don't listen to him...he's an antonym
He's an antonym.
Don't donıt listen to him...he's an antonym
He's an antonym.
BOTH:
Synonyms all mean the same
But antonyms just don't
SYNONYM:
When I say yes, of course you will
ANTONYM:
I'm here to say you won't!
SYNONYM and HALF OF CHORUS:
The land is high and soaring
ANTONYM and OTHER HALF OF CHORUS:
The land is rather low
SYNONYM and HALF OF CHORUS:
The wind is loud and roaring
ANTONYM and OTHER HALF OF CHORUS:
So quiet when it blows.
SYNONYM and COMPLETE CHORUS:
Don't don' listen to him...he's an antonym
He's an antonym.
Don't don't listen to him...he's an antonym
He's an antonym.
Don't don't listen to him...he's an antonym
He's an antonym.
(COLLECTORS exit. CAPTAIN enters, in a hurry,
with THREE CREWMEN following.)
Song List
Click on the song name to hear samples in
mp3 format. Please note that internet song samples have low fidelity and rest assured that
the CDs we sell sound much better. Problems hearing the music?
Visit our Audio Help page.
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| Vocabulary
Terms from Pirates from Grammar Island |
synonyms
apostrophe
comma
colon
adverb
verb
declarative
rhetorical question
antonyms
homophones
parenthesis
articles
semi-colon
noun
interjection
interrogative
contractions
capital letters
punctuation
adjective
conjunction
exclamatory
double negatives
proper nouns
dangling participle
possessives
pronoun
|
preposition
imperative
General Vocabularly:
crew
quest
fume
horrid
supersize
purloin
splendid
ponder
Davy Jones
locals
saucy
arid
italicize
plunder
scout
rebel
caffeine
amicable
cinnamon
soaring
hoard
trolling
brutal
|
parallel
torrid
hostile
gawk
scour
eBay
doomed
malcontent
fuss
sweltering
capital
Bahamas
sea-way
disastrous
King James
President McKinley
Captain Kirk
withered up
"put ashore"
"walk the plank"
"out to sea"
"money in the bank"
|
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Teacher Reviews
To submit your own review, just e-mail it to ron@badwolfpress.com Be sure to include
your school name and what grade you teach.
"Pirates was an instant hit from the
first reading of the script--pirates are popular with all age groups. I also found it
engaging my students for some otherwise dull language arts topics. After internalizing the
songs, they would come up and quote or sing from the script each time they found an
example in their reading or language study."
---Debbie Lindemann, Teacher (3rd grade), Rancho School, Livermore, CA
"The grammar songs really hit the mark in
terms of teaching students important skills. The combination of humor and concepts really
reaches the students. We LOVE the plays!"
---Wendy Ulrich, Teacher (4th grade), Joe K. Bryant Elementary, Anna, TX
"This is my 7th year directing a show. It
has become a highlight of 2nd grade and a wonderful memory for the students. Each year
older students begin to ask me what show we are doing, and when...My students perform each
number with gusto. When they are having so much fun, and learning too, how can it
fail?"
---Helena Signore, Teacher (2nd grade), Holy Trinity School, Comstock Park, MI
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