Joanna Marie, or Jo, can jump as high as a basketball rim. During a basketball game where she is the only girl playing, Jo shows off her talent and makes new friends. The boys are amazed by her ability to block shots and ask her to join their team. Though nervous at first to reveal she is a girl, Jo enjoys playing basketball with her new friends.

1. What Jo Did
Written and Illustrated by:
Charles R. Smith, Jr.

2. Summary
Imagine that you could
jump as high as a
basket ball rim. That’s exactly
what Joanna Marie, or Jo, could
do. Jo makes new friends when
she shows off her talent during
a basketball game in which she
is the only girl.

3. Study Skills
Genre: Fiction
Comprehension Skill:
Cause and Effect
Comprehension Strategy:
Prior Knowledge
Comprehension Review Skill:
Draw Conclusions
Vocabulary: Prefixes and Suffixes

4. Genre: Fiction
Fiction often has
characters and events
that seem real. Try to
picture this story taking
place where you live,
with people you know.

5. Comprehension Skill Tested –
Cause and Effect Te112
An effect is something that happens.
A cause explains why it happens.
Writing may include clue words such as
because, in order to, so, and as a result to
link causes and effects.
If these words are missing, readers need to
think about cause-and-effect relationships on
their own.

6. Comprehension Skill Review –
Draw Conclusions TE 153
When you draw conclusions,
you use details and what you
already know to form opinions
or make decisions about
characters and events.

7. Vocabulary Strategy
Suffixes -able and Prefixes -un
Suffixes and prefixes have
their own meanings.
The prefix -un means “the
opposite of ________” or
“not_____”, as in unhappy.

8. Vocabulary Strategy
Suffixes -able and Prefixes -un
The suffix –able means “able
to be ____ed,” as in enjoyable.
The suffix –less means
“without _____,” as in painless.
You can use suffixes as
prefixes to help you figure out
the meanings of words.

9. Review Questions
1. What does Joanna do to
T.J.’s jump shot? Why does
he react the way he does?
2. Why do the boys ask Joanna
to play ball?
3.Why do you think she hid the
fact that she was a girl?

10. Review Questions
1. What is the theme or “big idea” of
this story?
2. Which boy changes his attitude the
most about Joanna? What are
some ways it changed?
3. Why does T.J. tell her to leave her
hat at home at the end of the story?

11. Vocabulary - Say It
fouled
hoop
jersey
rim
marveled
unbelievabl
e
speechless
swatted

12. More Words to Know
backboard
dribbling
dunk
accept
learn
nervous

13. unbelievable
incredible; hard to
think of as true or
real

14. swatted
hit sharply or
violently

15. speechless
not able to talk

16. rim
an edge, border, or
margin on or around
anything

17. marveled
was filled with wonder;
was astonished

18. jersey
a shirt that is
pulled over the
head, made of a
soft, knitted cloth

19. hoop
a ring or round flat
band

20. fouled
in sports, made an
unfair play
against

21. backboard
in basketball,
the flat, elevated
surface of wood, glass,
or plastic on which the
basket on a basketball
court is fastened

22. dribbling
moving a ball
by bouncing it

23. dunk
to shoot a basketball
by leaping, so that the
hands are above the
rim, and throwing the
ball down through the
netting

24. nervous
easily excited
or upset,
restless; uneasy

25. accept
to receive with
liking and
approval

26. learn
to become able
by study or
practice

27. I was so nervous
and scared I
dropped the ball.

28. I was so nervous
and scared I
dropped the
ball.

29. We need to accept
each other as we
are and be kind.

30. We need to accept
each other as we
are and be kind.

31. How would you
like to learn how
to play?

32. How would you
like to learn
how to play?

33. He was
unbelievable
under the basket!

34. He was
unbelievable
under the
basket!

35. The ball bounced
off the rim.

36. The ball bounced
off the rim.

37. Max swatted the ball
away and kept it out
of the basket.

38. Max swatted the ball
away and kept it out
of the basket.

39. I have always
marveled at the way
he can play ball.

40. I have always
marveled at the way
he can play ball.

41. Her performance
tonight left me
speechless.

42. Her performance
tonight left me
speechless.

43. He was fouled by
the other player
and did not make
his basket.

44. He was fouled by
the other player
and did not
make his
basket.

45. He was bouncing the
ball down the court
toward the other
team’s hoop.

46. He was bouncing the
ball down the court
toward the other
team’s hoop.

47. Lots of boys want to
wear Peyton
Manning’s jersey
number.

48. Lots of boys want to
wear Peyton
Manning’s jersey
number.