THIRD READING: ANALYSIS – Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

During this reading, your child and you have prior knowledge of how the text and picture fit together. Now, your interaction with the story will move to a higher level of thinking. The activities and questions below are considered “higher order thinking.” Activities and questions like these give the brain practice in being open to new ideas and creative thinking habits. Open-ended questions strengthen the brain by building new synapses.

For this reading you have the choice of how you read the story:

~reversing roles. Your child tells/”reads” the story, and you become the listener and questioner.

~ alternating the reading of pages with your child.

~pausing to allow your listener to fill in the next word or complete the sentence.

~jointly read: “….terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day” together.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

~Could this story really happen?

~In what sequence did the terrible, horrible, no good very bad events happen to Alexander? (from waking up to bedtime) If the story continued, predict what would happen next?

~Why did Judith Viorst write a story about a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day? Is there a lesson we can learn from the story?

~Did Alexander behave appropriately? Is there any time in the story when he could have behaved differently? Would this have helped to make the day better? Did he make good choices?

~What did Alexander’s mother say to help him solve his problem? Could she have said something that would have helped him to solve his problem?

~Does Alexander remind you of anyone? How are Alexander and you alike and different?

ACTIVITIES:

~Let’s predict that Alexander wakes up the next morning to the start of a great day! Write a story about his great day. What would the title of your story be? Make it similar to the title of the book with four descriptors for a wonderful day when everything goes well.

~You can also write a story about a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day in your life. How would your day go badly from the time you wake up until the time you fall asleep?

SECOND READING: READING THE TEXT – Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

A you read the text, you will notice that some of Judith Viorst’s sentences are very long. Read them as she has them written. Only pause when you come to a comma (a short pause) or a period (a longer pause). Ms. Viorst’s purpose was to make the text sound as a child would say it. For instance on page 1, Alexander doesn’t stop until he has finished his long statement. The effect is to make the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad events that happen to him really stand out.

Pages 2 – 3:

Read the sentence without pause.

~Why does Alexander want to move to Australia? (If the child has no prior knowledge of Australia, share that it is on the other side of the world. Very, very, very, very far away!)

Pages 4-5:

After reading the pages, discuss:

~On page 4, car pool (a small group of people sharing a ride in the same car)

~On page 4, scrunched and smushed (crowded together very tightly, not enough room for everyone to fit comfortably)

~On page 4, carsick(having an upset tummy from riding in the car)

~How would you feel if you were scrunched and smushed in the backseat of the car?

Pages 6 – 11:

While Alexander is at school:

~On page 6, discuss invisible (impossible to see, not visible). Why wouldn’t Mrs. Dickens like Alexander’s invisible castle?

~On page 9, discuss tack. (a short, sharp pointed nail)

~What does Alexander say to Paul? Why? Have you ever had a similar situation with your best friends when you felt left out?

~predict (make known in advance, especially on the basis of special knowledge).  Can you predict if Philip will share one of his cupcakes with Alexander? (No, because nothing good is happening to him today.)

Pages 12 – 21:

After school, let’s see what happens to Alexander.

~On page 13, Discuss cavity (a soft, decayed part of a tooth). Is having a cavity a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing?

~On page 14, crybaby (a complainer who cries easily)

Is Alexander a crybaby? Does he have a good reason to complain and cry?

~Why didn’t anyone in his family answer him when he told them about his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day?

~On page 19, sneakers (shoes with rubber soles; tennis shoes) Use the clues in the illustration. (in a shoe store to buy sneakers) What is another word that names the same type of shoe as sneakers?

~On page 19, Alexander says he isn’t going to wear his new shoes. Is there another way that he could solve his problem?

~On page 20, discuss Alexander’s day. Did Alexander do anything to cause the problems at his dad’s office?

Page 22 – 27:

At home,

~are the things that happen to Alexander terrible, horrible, no good, very bad things?

~how could he turn some of the things that he thinks are terrible into things that are ok with him?

~his mom says some days are terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days. Is she right?

Page 28:

Are there terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days in Australia?

FIRST READING: ILLUSTRATIONS – Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

During this reading, you will be focusing on the pen and ink illustrations. Older editions of the story are in black and white. A special edition was done in 2009 in which Alexander is in digitally enhanced color.

As you look at each illustration, you will be asking the same questions. The purpose of the questions is to look for information in the illustration that the reader can connect to personal knowledge to form predictions. All of these predictions will combine to answer the question “Why did Alexander have such a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day?”

(Predictions require the reader to announce in advance what is going to happen based on evidence and personal knowledge.)

When looking at the each double-page spread as you go through the reading, ask:

~Where is Alexander?

~How does he look like he is feeling?

~In this setting, what could happen that would make his day terrible, horrible, no good and very bad?

Here are examples of how we take these questions and apply them to the first few pages. Please use these examples to start the conversation with your listener as you go page by page in the first reading.

Page 1:

~Where is Alexander? ( It looks like he is in his bedroom.)

~What does the look on his face mean? (My three-year-old grandson said, “He looks mad because he has to clean up his room.”)

~Would that make his day a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day? (“Yes!”)

~Who’s telling us the story? (Alexander)

Pages 2-3:

~Where is Alexander? (My grandson said, “In his house.”)

~What does the look on his face mean? (“He’s mad.”)

~Can we predict what could be happening here to make Alexander’s day so bad? (“He doesn’t have any food.”)

Repeat these three questions as you move through the book. Now, you have your predictions.

The next time we read, we’ll find out if our predictions about Alexander’s day are correct.

by Judith Viorst

As you read about Alexander’s day, both your listener and you will empathize with Alexander. Many times, you’ll being saying, “Oh, no! Poor Alexander.” Or “I know how he feels.” Don’t worry. No serious problems befall Alexander. His day is full of little things that add up to make him feel bad about his day. One of the points that I like to make when I read this book to my grandson, Alexander, is that all of these little things don’t have to upset him. It’s all about attitude. As you will see in the Third Reading, a great discussion can be had about looking for the positive in tough situations. Alexander may not be able to change the situation, but he can change his attitude. It’s human to have days like this, as we all know. However, it’s your attitude that can change the day around.

The Reading Comprehension Best Practice that fits well with this story is Making Predictions. During the First Reading, you will have fun looking at the details in the pen and ink illustrations, and predicting what the text will say about what causes the looks on Alexander’s face. When you read the text in the Second Reading, you’ll use Alexander’s own words to validate your predictions. You will be reinforcing that good readers use the evidence found in the actual text to confirm or alter their predictions.

Judith Viorst’s picture book was honored as an American Library Association Notable Book in 1972. Along with other awards, it has been made into a musical at the Kennedy Center. Disney Studios is making a movie about Alexander’s day staring Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner as his parents.

You’ll have a wonderful time reading about Alexander’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.