Jack and the Jungle: Teaching Sequence 1
Objectives
By the end of the lesson, children should be able to:
• Make inferences from the text.
• Recognise simple metaphors.
• Classify animals using a Venn diagram.
Skills needed
• The children should be reading simple texts and
inferring meaning and should be able to follow
simple diagrams.
• For this lesson, the children should have read
and enjoyed the story.
Introduction
The focus in this lesson is exploring how the same
thing can be represented in different ways through
a character’s imagination. The children are also
asked to classify animals into wild, tame or both
using a Venn diagram.
Recap on the story briefly, ensuring the children
understand the plot. Point to the title of the story
and then turn to p.6. Ask the children: What is a
jungle like? (Hot, dangerous, wild.) What would you
expect to find in a jungle? (Creepy crawlies, fierce
animals, lots of trees and plants.) Elicit from the
children what they would be most afraid of if they
entered a jungle and then ask: What did Jack think
was in the ‘jungle’? (A snake, a wolf, three tigers and
a giant.)
and B.) Point to the example of ‘wolf’, ensuring the
children grasp why it has been written in circle A.
Carry out a similar exercise with the next animal
in the list, ‘cow’, this time ensuring the children
grasp why it should be written in circle B. Then ask
them to write ‘cow’ in the correct place. Now refer
to ‘rabbit’, which can be classified as both wild and
tame, and ask the class: Where do you think ‘rabbit’
should go? Encourage them to give reasons for their
choices and make sure all the children understand
why C is the appropriate place for ‘rabbit’, before
they write it down.
The children can then complete question 1 with
you as a class, or in pairs. Read the remaining
animal names aloud if necessary. Once the question
has been completed, discuss the answers as a class,
focusing on the section C and the reasons for
placing the animal names there. (The animals that
fit into C are ‘rabbit’, ‘snake’, ‘mouse’ and ‘rat’.) Ask
the children to complete question 2 on their own.
Next steps
• The children can use Venn diagrams to
classify other objects (for example, ‘fruit’ and
‘vegetables’, or ‘old’ and ‘new’).
• Carry out a drama lesson in which the children
alternately act out being wild animals then
pets, or fierce animals then timid animals (for
example, a lion followed by a mouse).
Returning to the text
Turn to p.26 and ask the children to describe the
illustration, then comment: But I thought it was a
jungle! Elicit from the children that the jungle is a
garden, and was only a jungle in Abbie and Jack’s
imagination. Draw attention to Jack’s thoughts on
p.16 and ask: What does Jack think he hears Abbie
doing? (Fighting a wolf.) What do you think she is
really doing? (Playing with her dog.) Refer to pp.12,
18 and 20 and ask the children to explain what the
snake, cats and Abbie’s mum represent, noting if all
the children understand. Ask the class to describing
the differences between the wild animals and the
pets in the story.
Write the words ‘wild’ and ‘tame’ on the
whiteboard and ask the class what the words mean,
clarifying as needed. (Make sure they understand
that farm animals as well as pets can be regarded
as ‘tame’.) Distribute Activity Sheet 1, ‘Wild or
Tame?’ Explain the instructions for question 1
and the function of the circles A and B, and the
middle section C. (You can explain by saying that
the overlapping section C is a little bit of both A
White Wolves Teachers’ Resource
for Guided Reading – Year 2
Jack and the Jungle
© A & C Black 2010
Activity Sheet 1: Wild or Tame?
1 Read the list of animals. below Then write the wild
animals in circle A and the tame animals in circle B.
Write the animals that can be wild or tame in the
middle section, C. The first one has been done for you.
wolf cow rabbit tiger puppy sheep bear snake hedgehog cat mouse lion lamb kitten dog zebra gorilla rat
A
B
C
wolf
2 Write a sentence to say what kind of pet you have or
would like to have.
White Wolves Teachers’ Resource
for Guided Reading – Year 2
Jack and the Jungle
© A & C Black 2010
Jack and the Jungle: Teaching Sequence 2
Objectives
By the end of the lesson, children should be able to:
• Empathise with different characters.
• Identify character traits and compare two
characters.
• Complete a simple table.
Skills needed
• The children should be able to read simple texts,
•
infer meaning and empathise with different
characters. They should be able to complete
simple tables with help.
For this lesson, the children should have read
and enjoyed the story.
Introduction
The focus in this lesson is on empathising with
characters in a story and recognising the similarities
and differences between two characters. The
children are also asked to record character traits
in a simple table.
Carry out a brief thought-tracking exercise with the
class to encourage empathy. Ideally, the children
should sit in a half-circle in front of you. Ask them
to shut their eyes and recall a picture of Jack. Pick a
child at random and ask: How did Jack feel when he
was on his own at the beginning of the story? (Bored,
fed up, lonely.) Then choose another child to say
how Jack felt at the next point in the story so that
they understand that his feelings vary (for example,
see his feelings of annoyance on p.4). Carry out the
same exercise, focusing on the character of Abbie.
Returning to the text
Encourage the children to look in closer detail at
the range of Jack’s feelings. Refer to the illustration
on p.7 and ask: How does Jack feel here? Why? (He’s
worried because he has lost his ball, but he is also
scared because he thinks it’s lost in the jungle.) Ask
the children to work through the story selecting
other pictures that describe how Jack feels. Try to
elicit thoughtful comments. (For example, a child
might look at p.15 and say that Jack is frightened.
Point out that he is also worried about Abbie,
referring to the comment ‘ “Be careful,” said Jack,
under his breath. “Wolves bite.” ’)
Also point out that the characters share similarities
and ask the class if they can think of any. There
are several pages (such as, pp.6, 11, 14 and 18) that
show that both characters have vivid imaginations
and the illustration on p.27 suggests a mutual
friendliness. Guide the children towards these pages
and discuss how the characters behave.
Distribute Activity Sheet 2, ‘Jack and Abbie’. Read
the instructions for question 1 and ensure the
children know what to do. Refer to the example,
bored, and ask: Why do you think this has been written
under Jack? (Jack was bored at the beginning of
the story.) Ask the class which character the next
word, ‘unafraid’, should be written under and why.
(Abbie, because she likes adventures.) The children
should record the word in the right-hand column
under ‘Abbie’ and cross it off the list. Refer back to
question 1 and remind the class of the instruction:
‘If you think a word fits Jack and Abbie write it
under both pictures.’ Providing the children’s
reading and reasoning skills are sufficiently
good, they could complete the question in pairs.
Alternatively, take them through the worksheet as
a class, dealing with one word / phrase in the list
at a time. Remind the children to cross off
each word or phrase as they go, to encourage
organisational skills.
Next steps
• Ask the children to describe Abbie’s mum as she
•
appears on pp.26 and 30, comparing her to the
portrayal of the giant on p.20.
Discuss with the children how they would feel
if they were in the story. Ask them if they would
behave in the same way as Jack or Abbie. Or
would they behave differently from either? The
children can share their ideas as a class.
Once you think that the children have a rounded
view of Jack, focus on Abbie and work through the
story in the same way, but this time encourage the
children to see how her behaviour contrasts with
Jack’s. (For example, she is depicted climbing trees
on pp.11 and 13, which indicates an adventurous
nature, as opposed to Jack’s timid one.)
White Wolves Teachers’ Resource
for Guided Reading – Year 2
Jack and the Jungle
© A & C Black 2010
Activity Sheet 2: Jack and Abbie
1 Read the words below. Choose the words that tell you
about Jack and write them under his picture. Then do
the same for Abbie. If you think a word fits both Jack
and Abbie, write it under both pictures.
bored unafraid worries lonely teases kind friendly makes up stories scared likes fun gets
cross likes adventures good at thinking of ideas
Jack
Abbie
bored
White Wolves Teachers’ Resource
for Guided Reading – Year 2
Jack and the Jungle
© A & C Black 2010