Book Bag Activities for
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

• Viorst, Judith (1972). Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Illus. by Ray Cruz. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks.

Rationale:

• I chose this book because I think it provides a humorous look at the bad kind of days that everyone experiences. This book is written from a child’s point of view and deals with bad and annoying incidents that are more likely to happen on a bad day within a student’s life. I think this book demonstrates that the expression of feelings, even if they are bad ones from a bad day, is not a bad thing if no one else is getting hurt, and it helps you to feel better. The best form of this expression is often the kind of writing which is demonstrated in this book, and in the end, leads to a more positive outlook about the bad day, as seen at the end of this book.

Information about the author:

• Judith Viorst has written both fictional and non-fictional pieces for children and adults. She has a degree in History from Rutgers University, and she is a graduate of the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute where she works as a research affiliate.
• She started her writing career as a poet and has written six collections of poems for adults. Her most famous children’s book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, was based on her youngest son, Alexander, and has sold over two million copies.
• Today, Judith Viorst lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband Milton who is a political writer. She gives lectures on many different topics, including children’s literature, and enjoys spending time with her three sons, Anthony, Nicholas, and Alexander, and her two grandchildren.

Questions to use with the story:

• Before Reading: Name some things you think might happen during Alexander’s bad day. What are some things that have happened to you on the worst day you’ve ever had?
• During Reading: - What are some of the bad things that have happened to Alexander so far? What do you think will happen to Alexander next?
• After: - What do you think was the worst thing that happened to Alexander on his bad day? Could Alexander have done anything to make his day a little better?

Ten activities to use with the story:

• Personal Narrative - Students will be asked to think about one of the best or worst days that they have had in their lives. They will spend a few minutes writing down phrases or words that describe scenes, situations, objects, feelings, and emotions from this day. They will then be asked to write the story of this day, including specific scenes, thoughts, opinions, emotions, and feelings. This activity could be completed before or after the reading of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very BPersonal Narrative - Students will be asked to think about one of the best or worst days
• Australia Report - Students will be placed into groups and asked to come up with a group report on Australia, a place that Alexander often wishes to move to in the book. Each group member can be given a different job such as researching its location and distance from the United States, its culture, its physical landscape, its plant and animal life, and its important cities or features. The group could then make an oral presentation to the class, using any kinds of visual aids, such as maps or posters that they feel are necessary.
• Adjective Activity - Students will work on their use of well thought out and descriptive adjectives to describe things similar to the way Alexander’s bad day is described. Each student will come up with at least five objects or events that they wish to describe. Then, with some thought, research, and the use of a dictionary or thesaurus, they will come up with at least three descriptive terms for each object or event they have chosen. The teacher can model this task for the students before they begin.
• Create New Scenes - After the book is read, students will be paired up to discuss and create a few more scenarios or events that could be added to Alexander’s awful day. The pair of students will record their new book scenes on paper. One or both of the students in the pair can even draw pictures to illustrate their new scenes. The whole class will then gather together once all of the pairs are finished, and new scenarios for the book will be shared and discussed. At the end of the sharing session, , students could even vote for their favorite new scenes.
• Teeth Tales - Students will do research on dentists, teeth, and cavities, and find out what might have been the cause of Alexander’s cavity and how it could have been prevented. They will be put into groups to do this research, each group researching a different category including dentists, teeth, cavities, and oral hygiene. Students will then report their findings to the entire class. Students can present their findings in the form of an oral report, a skit, or even an oral hygiene demonstration. After the presentations, the class might even take a field trip to a dentist's office to view some of the things that they researched.
• Parent Job Interviews - Students will interview their parents about their jobs. Students will come up with a minimum of five questions to ask their parents about their work and their jobs. After the students have completed their interviews, they will write a report about their parents’ jobs and what they do at work all day. They might even share these reports with the class or, like Alexander, get a chance to go to their parents’ place of work and see first hand what they do all day if that is possible.
• Cereal Surveys - Students will survey their class or even their school to find out who eats what brand of cereal and what brand of cereal contains a prize in a certain month versus what brand of cereal does not. They will use charts to gather the information from their survey. They will then graph this information to give them a good idea of how many people received a prize in their cereal boxes like Alexander’s brothers did, and how many people were like Alexander, and did not.
• Sneaker and Stripes Problem - Students will be asked to come up with all of the different possible combinations of sneaker color and stripe color that sneakers could come in if they were given three possible colors, red, blue, and white, for the sneakers and the stripes. This will utilize students’ problem solving skills and serve as a good time to teach some problem solving skills that tie into Alexander’s experience with sneakers, stripes, and colors at the shoe store.
• Career Reports - Students will be put into small groups that will each be given a different profession or career to research such as a dentist, a doctor, a salesman, or a businessman. Students will utilize books, the Internet, or even personal interviews to gain their information. The groups will then give a report to the class, and if possible, the class could go and watch some people with these careers work. Just like Alexander, they could go to a dentist’s office, a shoe store, or an office.
• The Wonderful, Great, Very Good, Not Bad Day Story - After reading the book, students will be placed into pairs or small groups and be asked to write a creative story about a very good day that Alexander could have after his very bad day. They will brainstorm and come up with some good and unique situations, events, and feelings that Alexander could experience. They will then place these in the form of a story and share them with the class.

Props:

• map of Australia
• cereal boxes that offer prizes
• sneaker boxes
• lima beans
• night light.

Bibliography of other related books:

• Mayer, Mercer. Just a Bad Day. New York: Golden Books, 1998.
• Viorst, Judith. Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1980.
• Viorst, Judith. Alexander, Who’s Not (Do you hear me? I mean it!) Going to Move. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
• Viorst, Judith. Super-Completely and Totally the Messiest. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001
• Viorst, Judith. The Good-Bye Book. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992.
• Viorst, Judith. My Mama Says There Aren’t Any Zombies, Ghosts, Vampires, Creatures, Demons, Monsters, Fiends, Goblins or Things. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1977.

Assessment Plan:

• For assessment on this book, I would require thoughtful answers, either written or oral, to questions based on the six different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy such as:
  • Knowledge: Where did Alexander want to go and move to throughout the entire book to get away from his bad day?
  • Comprehension: Explain why Alexander got scolded by his mom outside the dentist’s office.
  • Application: If you were Alexander, what are some things you would do to help make sure your next day was better?
  • Analysis: Look at Alexander’s words when Paul says that Alexander is only his third best friend, and identify some of Alexander’s feelings at that moment.
  • Synthesis: If Alexander’s night light hadn’t burned out, he hadn’t bitten his tongue, and the cat wanted to sleep with him at the end of the day, how would that have changed the end of this story?
  • Evaluation: Decide which event in Alexander’s day was the most horrible and tell why.