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Dora the Explorer - Pirate Adventure

In this children's video, Dora and her friends are about to put on a pirate play, until their costumes are stolen by real pirates. The premise of this fun children's musical tale is to follow a map, find the pirates and the costumes, and happily resume their play.

I actually enjoyed this video almost as much as my Pre-K class that I showed it to. First of all, I loved that Dora and her crew are bi-lingual. Interspersed within the dialog is a smidgen of"Holas", "Attencions", and some "Donde estas?". My Spanish speaking students perked up as they heard their familiar language, while my English speaking students easily picked up some new words.

The video also teaches math and map skills, as the children were encouraged to count along, following land marks to get to the final hiding place of the pirates. Directionality is taught amid all the singing and dancing, as children are encouraged to find certain objects and the unanimous response from them was "Behind you."

Pirate Adventure is very participatory, with the viewer singing and following along. Dora continuously talks to the viewer, asks questions, and pauses while waiting for the children to respond orally. There was a refrain throughout the show and the children were happy to join in the repetition, by chanting "Give us back our treasure!"

The children watching Dora the Explorer- Pirate Adventure were very attentive and responsive and I was so pleased that beside the obvious entertainment value in the singing and the dancing, the children were learning both math and literacy skills. Again, I especially liked the value of Spanish being used, as it empowers the Spanish speaking child to hear his native tongue, and it broadens the English speaking child in accepting a larger world outside of himself.

Written by: Janet Pope

Reviewers Rating: 8.5
Reader's Rating: 9.00
Reader's Votes: 1

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