Mentor Text Alert: Jabari Jumps

Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall is an amazing picture book! It is great for teaching skills such as persevering through a challenge, facing your fears, and supporting each other. The text will lend itself well to discussions around fears that kids may have and how they can overcome those fears either on their own or with support.

In this book, the boy is so excited to jump off the diving board, but then he realizes that he is quite frightened. The book explores how he overcomes this fear and ultimately has success. It really does demonstrate to kids that they can do anything.

Common themes include: courage, perseverance, supportiveness, and so on. Remember, any theme can work as long as you have evidence from the text to support it!

Included below is a sampling from this text. I highly recommend adding it to your library ASAP! (Also, my version is from First Book marketplace. Check it out for discounted texts for teachers in Title 1 schools. It is the best!)

Mentor Text Alert: Field Trip to the Moon

WORDLESS PICTURE BOOKS ARE MY JAM!

Yes, I said it. I love them. No matter the grade level I was teaching, I relied heavily on wordless picture books for teaching many comprehension strategies. Most notedly, questioning and retelling. Also inferencing. Really, anything!

I love John Hare. His other wordless picture book that I am obsessed with is Field Trip to the Ocean Deep. These books are gorgeous. Beautiful pictures, intriguing stories, and they really get kids thinking. My 2-year old is completely engaged and rereads them over and over. Teachers at school are using them for questioning strategies during virtual learning. Check them out! 

Below is a sample from Field Trip to the Moon. I ordered this through First Book marketplace. I teach in a title 1 school, so I am able to sign up for a membership through First Book and order wonderful texts and supplies at a steep discount. If you have not visited this website, it is dangerous but amazing. I routinely order giant boxes of books for a fraction of the price!

How do kids become better readers?

How do kids become better readers?

They read.

How do kids develop a love of literacy?

They read.

How do kids develop their vocabulary?

They read.

How do kids develop their imagination?

They read.

How do kids learn to value books and stories?

They read.

How do kids develop their focus and concentration?

They read. (Anything! Picture books, baby books, chapter books, etc.)

How do kids learn the difference between real and make believe?

They read.

How do kids further their language development?

They read.

Read to your kids every day. (We read 5 books minimum after each meal, and 5 books minimum before nap or bed. That's just read alouds.) Let them explore books. You might have to get comfortable with some books getting ripped or "loved" beyond repair. Sometimes that happens. Encourage them to read to each other, even if it is reading the pictures or retelling the story if they are not yet ready to read the words. Read every day, as much as you can. That's my Ted Talk. :)

Five for Friday

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching this week for Five For Friday! 

FLASHLIGHT FRIDAY

I still love it.

And so do my kiddos.

We spend 15 minutes every Friday reading in the dark, with flashlights, all around the classroom. It's so popular that one little girl came into my room on the first day of school and brought in her own flashlight because she had heard about it from one of my former students and was excited!

It's definitely a lot of fun!

And even kiddos who don't always choose to read during Daily 5 are pretty engaged during Flashlight Friday!

STICK PUPPETS!

Yep, we used stick puppets earlier this year to retell our Greek myths. It was tons of fun, and some kids STILL pull them out, months later, to retell Greek myths that they really enjoyed. 

GONOODLE.COM

Still love me some GoNoodle. Last year I used it as an incentive to pack up quickly so we could watch a video before the end of the day announcements came on. This year I have a special the last half hour of the day, so my kiddos are dismissed right from special! They don't even come back to the room! So, I throw this up during indoor recess and it's always a big hit. They love taking turns choosing videos to watch.

I even have a few girls who talk Irish Step Dancing classes. They throw up Call Me Maybe and do their class dance! They're teaching the other girls, too!

GoNoodle.

Keeping kiddos occupied during indoor recess all year!

Does anyone else love Trivia Crack?
I do.

It's addictive.

I have the app on my phone and play whenever I get the chance. Play against your friends and get competitive answering silly trivia questions about everything and anything!

And a little Lucy for the road!