Jabari Jumps
Picture Book Read Aloud
book summary
Jabari has just learned to swim and has decided that he is ready to jump off the diving board. He tells his dad that it looks easy and he is not scared at all. Jabari loses a bit of his confidence as he stands with his dad watching the other kids take their turns on jumping off the diving board. In a sign of encouragement, Jabarii’s dad squeezes his hand, and Jabari squeezes back Jabari stalls by deciding he needs to figure out what kind of jump he wants to do and then saying he needs to do some stretches before climbing up the diving board.
Jabari finally built up the courage to walk to the bottom of the ladder, but when he looked up and saw how tall it was fear overcame him…but he didn’t want anyone to know he was scared. His dad recognized that Jabari was scared and pulled him aside to reassure him that it was okay to feel scared. Jabari’s dad explained what he did when he felt scared. Jabari uses what his dad taught him and walked up to the diving board again. His dad’s strategy worked, and Jabari was able to jump off the diving board with confidence.
This book features a touching father son relationship and share that everyone gets scared…and that’s okay. It will be easy for students to make connections with Jabari’s experience.
suggested teaching point
On page 1, readers can use the illustrations to learn more about the characters.
One of the ways that readers can make inferences while they are reading is to look at the body language and facial expressions of the characters in the illustrations. Take a look at the illustrations of Jabari, his dad, and his sister, and make some inferences. What can you tell about their relationship? Where is the family going? How are the characters feeling? What evidence in the illustrations did you use to make your inference? Turn to your partner, and share your inferences.
Looking for more teaching points for this book and other similar books? Check out more Interactive Read Aloud Lessons HERE
