Lesson: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - Judith Viorst : Analyzing Details and Drawing Conclusions, Summarizing, Cause and Effect

Objective:

Students will be able to make a “Book Box” based on a book they are reading in order to present major points within the story.

Students will be able to summarize the book they are reading in order to tell a friend what it is about.

Students will be able to complete a cause and effect map in order to help them summarize the story.

Lesson Plan:  Analyzing Details and Drawing Conclusions, Cause and Effect

DO NOW: Go to the class library and pick your favorite book.  Why is it your favorite?  Would you recommend it to a friend?  Why?

Opening:  As good readers, there are lots of things that we notice when we are reading a story:  problems and solutions, characters, setting, connections, etc.  A lot of times we miss the little things that may mean a lot to the story.  These items can symbolize something in the story or even be important to the characters.  Noticing these items and being able to describe their significance is another way for us to understand the story better.

We are going to be making “Book Boxes” to help us call attention to these items in stories and how they influence the story as a whole.  We are going to be focusing on how we can “sell” our favorite books to our friends; to do this we will be making summaries around these items (and their influence in the story).  We will also be focusing on the cause and effect relationships that arise within our stories.  These will be going on the “Book Boxes” as well. 

Direct Instruction (I DO):

Read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

While reading, think aloud about the key elements of the story (setting, characters, problem-solution, steps to a solution).

Model Your Book Box for the class:

A book box contains key objects from the story/lesson being read.

Choose five or more key items from the story/lesson and collect or make replicas of

these items to place in the box.

The items I chose for Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day are gum, Australia, a white shoe, a white piece of paper, and lima beans.

Why did I choose these items?

Explain to students that as you collect your items they are going to have to make a summary of the items and why they relate and may have influenced the story: 

Model writing a summary similar to those below:

Gum – The first bad event that happens to Alexander is waking up with gum in his hair.

This item serves as an example of an everyday object turning into an unfortunate event.

Australia – Every time something bad happens to Alexander, he wishes that he were in

Australia. He seems to have a fixation with this continent. This tells the students that

lots of people have places they would like to go or go to in their minds when they are

having a bad day.

White shoe – When Alexander goes to the mall with his family to buy shoes, they are out

of the style he wants so he gets stuck with ugly white ones. This item represents another

event that can turn bad. Most of the time getting new shoes is exciting, but some days

everything goes wrong.

White paper – At school, Alexander’s teacher did not like his picture of the invisible

castle. However, from the looks of it, Alexander didn’t put very much effort into creating

an invisible castle.

Lima beans – Alexander had lima beans for dinner, and he hates lima beans. Everyone

has a certain food that they don’t like. However, sometimes things we don’t like are

good for us.

These items will go inside the box.

Student need to decorate their boxes.  They should be colorful and should contain the title of the story on the top of the box.

Around the sides students are going to be making a cause and effect chain that will serve as another way to explain the story.

Model and explain cause and effect to students using Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. (see attached file)

How does one event lead itself to another? 

Model the cause and effect chain with Alexander.

Independent Practice (YOU DO):

Give students time to read their favorite book (preferablely a picture book on their level).

Students will collect the items needed or make illustrations on paper and include their summaries as to why this item in important.

After summarizing items, students will then analyze their books for cause and effect.

Last step is for students to decorate their boxes to go along with their books they choose.

Making the boxes may take more than a couple periods to complete.  Set aside some time each day for a couple days.

Closing:  Students will be given the opportunity to present their boxes to a small group or the whole class.