Think aloud while reading, and ask students to notice the ups and downs of your voice as you read. Explain why your tone changes when reading a sentence with an exclamation mark versus a period. This strategy can be discussed in conjunction with the strategy of reading the text as the author would say it. As you explain to the students the importance of paying close attention to punctuation and phrasing, model how one or more of the following sentences would sound with proper prosody versus without paying attention to punctuation.

P. 2: “Small Saul loved the sea. He loved its calmness, its vastness, its blueness.” 
P. 6: “He did well in Navigation, but he lacked focus in Looting: The Basics.” 
P. 11: “. . . until a voice hollered from the only remaining ship at port: ‘Ahoy there! Climb aboard!’ At last, Small Saul would be a real pirate!”

Before reading the book, ask students what they know about pirates or what they have read or watched about pirates, and have them share some of their background knowledge. While reading sentences with possible unknown words, point out to students that the context of the sentence can help us figure out the meaning of a new word. Below are some examples from the book:

P. 6: “He was born to sing sea shanties, not to hold a sword.” 
P. 7: “Small Saul earned his Pirate Diploma.” (The context is that he’s going to pirate college.) 
P. 18: “Unfortunately, the result didn’t seem to intimidate anyone.” (The context is that Saul got a tattoo to try to appear tough.)

Some interesting word choices from the book are: vastness (p. 2), interpretation (p. 5), navigation (p. 6), looting (p. 6), mulled (p. 20), stewed (p. 20), engrossed (p. 21), and bland (p. 23).