Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Expressing Opinions and Ideas): Home

Preschool-Age 6

PreK-K: Reading Engagement - Connect

• Explore connections through reading

K-2: Reading Engagement - Connect

• Recognize connections through reading

1 class period of 30 minutes

This lesson was created by Hope Hunter from Lucy Wortham James Elementary School. 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Alexander could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. He went to sleep with gum in his mouth and woke up with gum in his hair. When he got out of bed, he tripped over his skateboard and by mistake dropped his sweater in the sink while the water was running. He could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

How Do They Feel? Emotions Cards on pgs. 37-42 should be printed, cut and laminated.  Have enough emotion cards for each group to have a set.

Objectives:

• PK-K: Students will be able to explore connections through reading. 
• K: Students will be able to recognize connections through reading. 

I Can Statements

• I can talk about a book that reminds me of something I know.
• I can tell if a story feels like something I’ve seen or done.

Introduction

• Start by telling the students that the story you’re going to read is about Alexander, who is having a very bad day. He keeps saying he wants to move to a place called Australia.
• Explain that students will use a strategy called making connections where they will understand books better if they connect it to their own life, other books, or something they know from the real world. 
• As you read, ask students to think about ways Alexander could have prevented the bad things that happen to him throughout the day.

Modeling

• After reading the first page where Alexander gets gum in his hair, pause and ask, “How could Alexander have prevented this from happening?”
• Guide the students to recognize that Alexander shouldn’t have gone to bed with gum in his mouth.
• Encourage students to think about other situations in the story where Alexander could have made different choices. 
• Pause while reading to allow students to tell about the connections they have made to the story. Have they ever felt like Alexander or known someone else that did? Is there another book they have read that a character in the story had a bad day? How has someone you know reacted when they had a bad day? 

Activities

How Do They Feel? 

Emotions matching game

• Divide students into groups of 3-4. Hand out a set of Emotions Cards for each group.
• Explain that you will read different scenarios from the book, and each group will choose the emotion card that matches how they think Alexander felt in that situation.
• For example, "Alexander gets gum in his hair. How do you think he felt?" (Students choose a card showing frustration, sadness, etc.)
• After each round, ask groups to justify their choices. If different groups select different emotions, encourage them to express why their group chose that emotion.

After playing enough rounds as time allows, students can choose a coloring sheet. 

Closing

• Gather students together and ask them to share one thing they learned about emotions.
• Give students time to talk to a neighbor about a connection they made to the story. If there is time, allow a few students to share their connections. 

• Observe students during the emotions matching game to assess their ability to identify emotions and explain their choices.

• For students who struggle with identifying emotions, provide a visual chart with emotion labels for additional support.
• Advanced students can explain more complex emotions or suggest additional scenarios where Alexander could have made better choices.