The Book that Jack Wrote

Scieszka, Jon. (1994). The Book that Jack Wrote. D. Adel (Illus.). New York, New York: Penguin Books

Using cumulative rhyme, Scieszka takes classic nursery rhymes and creates a poem. The end result is a rather hilarious story with an effective and understandable rhyming scheme.

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 2 RL (4): Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

• This cumulative poem has a lot of rhyme and rhythm in it.

Grade 2 RL (5): Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.

• Not only is this poem cumulative, but it is also circular making it rather unique in this instance.

Grade 2 RL (7): Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

• The illustrations really illuminate what the story is telling in pretty clear visuals.

Grade 2 SL (1): Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups

• Students will work in small groups to create a visual timeline, sequencing the events in the story.

Adapted to the Classroom

Students will most likely have heard some of the nursery rhymes mentioned in this story like the cow jumping over the moon and Humpty Dumpty. If not, it may be necessary to establish that understanding, and can be done during the course of the reading of the book most likely. It may not be necessary for the teacher to do a read aloud for this one and may be more appropriate for small groups to read together. After all, the vocabulary is not too difficult for 2nd graders. Students should be actively thinking about the sequence of the story and how the beginning and the end relate.

After they have read the story and discussed the sequence, they will create a visual timeline to show that they understand how the story is sequenced. This can be done through visuals for each line; like a pie for the baker and an hat for the hatter. They may draw in the visuals too if you, as the teacher, believe that is something that your classroom can manage effectively. This activity will hopefully help students understand the circular motion of this story. 

Bloom's Taxonomy

Outline the sequence of events. (Analysis)

Create a visual map to go along with the sequence of events. (Synthesis)

Differentiation

There is some more difficult vocabulary in the story, so the teacher should be standing by and observing groups as they read. If a group gets stuck, the student should support the students; possibly guiding them through sounding it out, or asking if they've ever seen that word before. Students who have trouble reading should be put in groups with higher level readers who can support them through their reading.