Judy and Peter Shepherd find a jungle adventure game called Jumanji, which someone has abandoned in the park. After taking Jumanji home, they find a warning: "Do not begin unless you intend to finish." When they begin to play, they discover that anything that happens in the game also happens in real life!

This unit has been developed with activities and worksheets that are aligned with the Texas Essential Skills and Knowledge for easy curriculum integration.  There is a video where the story is told in American Sign Langauge by Russell Harvard to help Deaf and Hard of Hearing students make better connections with the story and text to increase their literacy skills.

 About the Author

Length of Activity: 20 minutes
Directions: Chris Van Allsburg is the author of many books, including Jumanji.  Use the internet to learn more about him and answer the questions.

 Character Changes

Length of Activity: 25 minutes
Directions: Select two character traits that describe each Judy and Peter.  Find evidence to support your selection using the book.  Use the page number and write in complete sentences.

 Comprehension Game

Length of Activity: 30 minutes
Directions: Play the game Jumanji.  The first player to reach FINISH wins.

 Context Clues

Length of Activity: 15 minutes
Directions: Use context clues from the sentences to write a definition for each of the underlined words.

 Continue The Story

Length of Activity: 20 minutes
Directions: At the end of the story Jumanki, Daniel and Walter picked up the game Jumanji in the park.  Daniel and Walter's mother mentioned that her sons do not read game instructions.  Imagine you are Chris Van Allsburg and continue writing Jumanji to include Daniel and Walter's experience.

 Diary Entry

Length of Activity: 25 minutes
Directions: Imagine that you are Judy or Peter, and you just finished playing the game Jumanji.  Write a diary entry sharing your experiences.  Use the graphic organizer first, then edit your work using the checklist and write your final copy.

Dictionary

Length of Activity: 30 minutes
Directions:  After reading the story, go through the book and select five words you are unfamiliar with.  Write them in the spaces provided.  Use a dictionary to find the definition that you feel best fits the word and write a sentence of your own using the word.

 Figurative Language

Length of Actvity: 20 minutes
Directions: Read the sentences from the story and explain what they mean by drawing a picture and using words.

Inferences

Length of Activity: 20 minutes
Directions: Make four inferences while reading the book Jumanji. 

Predictions

Length of Activity: 30 minutes
Directions: After reading, or the teacher reading, the first 2 pages of Jumanji, write how you predict the remainder of the story will unfold.  Be specific and use details.

 Spelling Edits

Length of Activity: 15 minutes
Directions: Each sentence has a word that is spelled incorrectly.  Underline the word that is incorrectly spelled and write the correct spelling on the line provided.

Timeline

Length of Activity: 25 minutes
Directions: Write the events of the book Jumanji on the timeline in choronological order.  Your timeline should have a minimum of 8 events.

Venn Diagram

Length of Activity: 15 minutes
Directions: Use the Venn Diagram to compare the book Jumanji and the movie Jumani to one another.

 Verb Tense

Length of Activity: 15 minutes
Directions: Correct the verbs in the story.