Week 2 Book Reflection

REOL 536

Jumanji

Van Allsburg, C. (1981). Jumanji. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

I had never read this popular picture book by Chris Van Allsburg and I was delighted by the story. 

Summary:  Two bored children were looking for some entertainment after their parents left them home alone for the afternoon.  The children found a board game in the park with a warning note attached.  They ignored the warning and took the game home anyway.  As they began to play the game, wild animals and natural disasters began to appear inside their house!  Their house was being destroyed and they were in danger, but they had to keep playing because the game would not end until someone won.

Reflection:  The illustrations are realistic and, even though they are black and white, they are truly works of art; I can understand why this book is a Caldecott Award winner.  The genre of this book is fantasy because it could not happen in real life.  The plot is unique and creative with a very pleasant ending.  The characters are given a lot of depth because there are only two main characters; even though the events in the story are unrealistic, the children are very believable. 

 Classroom Connection:  This book could be used in first through fifth grade classrooms.  It would be easy to tie this book into a math lesson.  For example, game boards and spinners tie in well with fractions. Students could use fractions to determine their probability of landing on a certain spot on the game board.  They could compare fractions on spinners to determine which color they are most likely to land on when it is their turn.  This fits into the Common Core standards for third grade.   

·         Common Core Standard 3.NF.1:  Understand a fraction 1/b as the quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into b equal parts; understand a fraction a/b as the quantity formed by a parts of size 1/b.

·         Common Core Standard 3.NF.3d:  Compare two fractions with the same numerator or the same denominator by reasoning about their size. Recognize that comparisons are valid only when the two fractions refer to the same whole. Record the results of comparisons with the symbols >, =, or <, and justify the conclusions, e.g., by using a visual fraction model.

 Big Question:  If you found a game in the park with a warning label on it, would you take it home?  Why or why not?