Pirates on the Map Workbook — Elementary (Grades 2–4)

Sixteen true pirate and privateer stories, from Barbarossa to Jean Lafitte, written for elementary readers (Grades 2–4, ages 7–9). 128 pages.

Short sentences and big type for young readers, but every story is true. Each unit: a route map with numbered places and map tasks, six key words to match, a one-page reading, 8 multiple-choice questions, a fill-in-the-blank with a word bank, a timeline to put in order, and two think-and-write questions.

Privateer or pirate? It depends who you ask: every unit says who gave permission and who called them a pirate. Most of what people “know” about pirates comes from one 1724 book and from films, so every unit also asks what is fact and what is legend. Slavery and violence are named where they were part of the history, without detail.

Units:

1. Hayreddin Barbarossa
2. Francis Drake
3. Thomas Cavendish
4. Grace O'Malley
5. Piet Heyn
6. Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong)
7. Henry Morgan
8. William Dampier
9. Henry Every
10. William Kidd
11. Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy
12. Blackbeard (Edward Teach or Thatch)
13. Anne Bonny and Mary Read
14. Bartholomew Roberts
15. Ching Shih (Zheng Yi Sao)
16. Jean Lafitte

Ends with a “compare them all” chart, a big-question writing page and the answer key.

Multiple choice done fairly: the right letters are spread evenly over A, B, C and D, never three of one letter in a row, and the right answer is not usually the longest one, so guessing patterns don’t work. The word banks are mixed: some words don’t fit anywhere.

Every unit matches a free map tour on getridoftheteacher.com — a little ship sails the real route on a satellite map and tells the story — and the same questions are free as online quizzes at getridoftheteacher.com/history-quiz. Watch, then work.

Printable PDF, US Letter, answer key at the back. Instant download. Print and copy as often as you like for one home or one classroom.

Standards: Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework (2018): practice standards 1 and 3–6 (sources, point of view, evidence), 4.T3.1, WHI.T5.1–4; England’s National Curriculum (Britain 1509–1745, sources and interpretations).