We love the book Jabari Jumps. It makes such a great mentor text for teaching reading strategies and introducing different types of writing. It is a simple story but one all students can relate to. If you teach social emotional learning in your classroom this is definitely a good book to add to your library. - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
Jabari is at the pool with his father and sister. He has just finished swimming lessons and passed his swim test. Today is the day he will jump off the diving board for the first time and he is really excited. However, when he gets in line to climb the ladder, Jabari starts to feel nervous. He lets other kids go before him, takes a rest, remembers to do his stretches, and even decides tomorrow is a better day for jumping.
Thankfully, his father is there to help. He explains that it is okay to be a little scared and explains it helps to take a deep breath and tell yourself you’re ready. Jabari starts to climb up the tall ladder once more and steps out onto the diving board. After a deep breath, he leaps into the air and falls down into the water. Everyone is happy when he emerges from the water and Jabari is ready to jump again.
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
We’ve gone through Jabari Jumps and selected the best strategies and skills for teaching elementary students. Here are some of our ideas for using this book as a mentor text in the classroom
- Practice inferencing! This book is a great way for students to practice their inferencing skills especially for younger students.
- Help students use their visualizing skills as they listen to the story without looking at the pictures.
- Use the book as a mentor text for writing narrative stories.
- Ask students to write about their opinions regarding swimming and jumping off diving boards.
- Teach a lesson on the different types of sentences using examples from the book.
- Engage students in activities using synonyms.
- Teach a lesson on managing stress and anxiety.
- Have a class discussion on bravery.
NO-PREP PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES:
If you are looking for “ready to go” activities for the first day of school, be sure to check out the book companion. With it you’ll receive all of the following resources to align with this specific book:
- comprehension questions
- 30 writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
The hardest part of teaching a read aloud is having time to plan them. It takes a long time to look through a book, decide what skills it can teach and then plan your lessons. We believe read alouds are so important which is why we’ve designed these activities in hopes that it can allow teachers to do read alouds more often. Teachers are loving how comprehensive and easy to use they are!
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- After the Fall by Gaia Cornwall
- The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
- There Might Be Lobsters by Carolyn Crimi
- Flight School by Lita Judge
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TRY OUT A SAMPLE COMPANION
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