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speech and language teaching concepts for Jabari Jumps in speech therapy
Frequent Speech Sounds:

/j/ initial (Jabari, jump)
/b/ medial
/r/ medial

Themes:

Summer
conquering fears

Book Details:
Diverse Characters: Yes
Age Recommendation: Early Childhood, Elementary

Jabari Jumps

By Gaia Cornwall

Working up the courage to take a big, important leap is hard, but Jabari is almost absolutely ready to make a giant splash. Jabari is definitely ready to jump off the diving board. He’s finished his swimming lessons and passed his swim test, and he’s a great jumper, so he’s not scared at all. “Looks easy,” says Jabari, watching the other kids take their turns. But when his dad squeezes his hand, Jabari squeezes back. He needs to figure out what kind of special jump to do anyway, and he should probably do some stretches before climbing up onto the diving board. In a sweetly appealing tale of overcoming your fears, newcomer Gaia Cornwall captures a moment between a patient and encouraging father and a determined little boy you can’t help but root for.

This sweet Summer book can be used in speech therapy to address social/emotional topics like fear and bravery. It is also great for targeting inferencing and predicting. Discover more of the speech and language teaching concepts for using Summer in speech therapy below: 

Key Teaching Concepts

Narrative Structure:

complete episode

Narrative Concepts:

vocabulary
theme/message
character analysis
illustration study
inferencing
social/emotional
predicting
adjectives
verbs (mental state)
verbs (irregular and regular past tense)

Vocabulary:

diving board, scared, ladder, rest, stretches, surprise, breath, edge

Character Analysis:

Jabari overcomes his fear of diving off the diving board with the help and encouragement from his dad.

Social/Emotional:

fear
bravery
encouragement

Does anything make you feel scared?
Does anything or anyone help to make you brave?

Grammar:

verbs (mental state)
verbs (present tense)
adjectives
verbs (irregular and regular past tense)

Text Features:

different spacing for emphasis
animated text
exclamation points
italics

Inferencing:

Why is Jabari scared?
How do you know that Jabari is scared?
Are the other children enjoying being in the pool?
How does Jabari show bravery?
How did Jabari’s dad feel in the end?

Predicting:

Will Jabari jump off the diving board?
What will happen when he decides to jump off?
Will he do it again?

If you are interested in seeing other summer books to use in therapy, then check out the Seasonal Teaching Points Book List for a printable copy.