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Paired Texts > Jared to the Rescue

by Carole Duncan Buckman

2015

We've identified these texts as great options for text pairings based on similar themes, literary devices, topic, or writing style. Supplement your lesson with one or more of these options and challenge students to compare and contrast the texts. To assign a paired text, click on the text to go to its page and click the "Assign Text" button there.

5th Grade Fable 880L
The Lion and the Mouse
  • Aesop
  • 620-560 BCE

In this classic fable by Aesop, the ancient Greek storyteller, a tiny mouse proves to a powerful lion that she is greater than she seems.

Pair “The Lion and the Mouse” with “Jared to the Rescue” and ask students to discuss how friendship develops in the two texts. How does the first meeting between the mouse and the lion compare to Jessica and Jared’s relationship at the beginning of “Jared to the Rescue”? What changes allows the characters to become friends in the two texts?

4th Grade Fiction 930L
The Rescue of the Tin Woodman
  • L. Frank Baum
  • 1900

In L. Frank Baum’s “The Rescue of the Tin Woodman,” Dorothy and the Scarecrow help the Tin Woodman.

Pair “The Rescue of the Tin Woodman” with “Jared to the Rescue” and ask students to discuss how friendships develop in the two texts. How does the kindness that Jared shows Jessica compare to the kindness Dorothy shows the Tin Woodman?

3rd Grade Short Story 530L
Jasmine Girl
  • Jey Manokaran
  • 2017

In Jey Manokaran’s short story “Jasmine Girl,” a girl gives the money she was saving to buy a doll to a friend in need. 

Pair “Jared to the Rescue” with “Jasmine Girl” and ask students to discuss how the characters show others kindness in the two texts. Why do Shanti and Jared help someone else in need in the two texts? How does showing kindness to another person strengthen Shanti and Jared’s relationship with the other characters?

3rd Grade Fable 540L
Zebra and Wasp
  • Clare Mishica
  • 2017

In Clare Mishica’s fable “Zebra and Wasp,” a zebra helps a wasp escape from a spider web.

Pair “Jared to the Rescue” with “Zebra and Wasp” and ask students to discuss the friendships in the two stories. How does Jessica and Jared’s friendship develop? How does this compare to Zebra and Wasp’s friendship? Why is showing others kindness an important part of friendship?

3rd Grade Short Story 580L
Reading to Max
  • Heather Klassen
  • 2016

In Heather Klassen’s short story “Reading to Max,” a boy reads to a special cat at the animal shelter. 

Pair “Jared to the Rescue” with “Reading to Max” to provide students with another story about cats. How does Jared help the kittens in “Jared to the Rescue”? How do Jared’s actions compare to what Ben does for Max in “Reading to Max”?

5th Grade Short Story 680L
Gren’s Ghost
  • Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick
  • 2015

In Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick’s short story “Gren’s Ghost,” a boy agrees to meet his classmate at a castle, unsure of what to expect.

Pair “Jared to the Rescue” with “Gren’s Ghost” to provide students with another story about unlikely friends. How does Jared and Jessica’s relationship change throughout “Jared to the Rescue”? How does this compare to the shifting relationship between Finn and Gren? How do Jared and Finn prove themselves to the other characters in the two stories?