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Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - Teaching Notes
F 1 2 Standard Membership Worksheets English Language for Expressing & Developing Ideas Text Structure & Organisation Engaging With & Responding to Literature Analysing, Interpreting & Evaluating Creating Texts Language for Interacting With Others 1 Page

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - Teaching Notes

Comprehensive teaching notes supporting the Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Character Book Study. The guide provides lesson sequencing, curriculum links, differentiation suggestions, discussion prompts and teaching ideas to support the exploration of emotions, resilience, perspective, character development and the author's message. The notes are designed to help teachers confidently deliver the unit as either a sequential mini-unit or a collection of stand-alone lessons.

Learning goals

  • We are learning to use appropriate interaction skills to respond to others in a familiar environment.
  • We are learning to understand how texts work on screen and in print, e.g. reading left to right, top to bottom.
  • We are learning that in narrative and informative texts, the words and pictures work together to create meaning.
  • We are learning to use and build vocabulary through speaking and listening and discussing new words on many topics.
  • We are learning to use comprehension strategies, such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising and questioning to make meaning.
  • We are learning to create and edit short written texts to record and report ideas and events using capital letters, punctuation and correct spelling of CVC words.
  • We are learning to recognise the impact that facial expressions and gestures have when asking for and providing information, making offers, exclaiming, requesting and giving commands.
  • We are learning to use nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs to structure a sentence and make it more vivid.
  • We are learning to understand the different purposes of images in various text types and how they contribute to meaning.
  • We are learning to use comprehension strategies to find literal and inferred meaning in texts.
  • We are learning to create, re-read and edit short written and multimodal texts to report on a topic, express an opinion or recount an event using capital letters, punctuation and correct spelling.
  • We are learning to recognise formal and informal language and understand the appropriate use of each.
  • We are learning to use nouns to represent people, places, objects and ideas and to identify the articles and adjectives to build noun groups or to express verbs as verb groups.
  • We are learning to identify visual representations of characters’ actions, reactions, speech and thought processes in narratives and to consider how these images affect the meaning of the words.
  • We are learning to use comprehension strategies to find literal and inferred meaning in texts and begin to analyse texts by drawing on our knowledge.
  • We are learning to create short imaginative, informative and persuasive multimodal texts using text structures, language and grammatical features appropriate to the audience and purpose.
  • We are learning that in narrative and informative texts, the words and pictures work together to create meaning.
  • We are learning to use and build vocabulary through speaking and listening and discussing new words on many topics.
  • We are learning to use comprehension strategies, such as retelling, making inferences and finding key words to make meaning from multimodal texts.
  • We are learning to edit texts for meaning, spelling, capital letters and full stops, for ourselves and others.
  • We are learning to construct texts using software including word processing programs, e.g. MS Word.
  • We are learning to create short imaginative, informative and persuasive texts to explore, record and report ideas using familiar words and beginning writing knowledge.
  • We are learning to recognise the impact that facial expressions and gestures have when interacting with others.
  • We are learning to explore different ways of expressing emotions.
  • We are learning to understand the difference between commands, statements and questions (both open and closed).
  • We are learning to use nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs to structure a sentence and make it more vivid.
  • We are learning to understand the different purposes of images in different text types and how they contribute to meaning.
  • We are learning to use comprehension strategies to find literal and inferred meaning in texts.
  • We are learning to create texts for a purpose that show our understanding of the connection between writing, speech and images.
  • We are learning to edit our texts and make changes to improve meaning, spelling and punctuation.
  • We are learning to use software, e.g. MS Word to construct texts and add images.
  • We are learning to use common nouns, proper nouns and pronouns to represent people, places, objects and ideas, e.g. love, time, and beauty, and to use this knowledge of nouns and adjectives to build noun groups.
  • We are learning to identify representations of characters’ actions, reactions, speech and thought processes in narratives and to consider how they affect the meaning of the words.
  • We are learning to create short imaginative, informative and persuasive texts using text structures and language features appropriate to the audience and purpose.
  • We are learning to re-read and edit text for spelling, sentence punctuation and text structure.
  • We are learning to use software, e.g. MS Word or PowerPoint to construct texts which include visual and audio elements.

Curriculum alignment

AC9EFLA04 9 Understand conventions of print and screen, including how books and simple digital texts are usually organised AC9EFLA08 9 Recognise and develop awareness of vocabulary used in familiar contexts related to everyday experiences, personal interests and topics taught at school AC9E1LY05 9 Use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising and questioning when listening, viewing and reading to build literal and inferred meaning by drawing on vocabulary and growing knowledge of context and text structures AC9E1LY06 9 Create and re-read to edit short written and/or multimodal texts to report on a topic, express an opinion or recount a real or imagined event, using grammatically correct simple sentences, some topic-specific vocabulary, sentence boundary punctuation and correct spelling of some one- and two-syllable words AC9E2LA01 9 Investigate how interpersonal language choices vary depending on the context, including the different roles taken on in interactions AC9E1LA08 9 Compare how images in different types of texts contribute to meaning AC9E1LA07 9 Understand that words can represent people, places and things (nouns, including pronouns), happenings and states (verbs), qualities (adjectives) and details such as when, where and how (adverbs) AC9E1LA01 9 Understand how language, facial expressions and gestures are used to interact with others when asking for and providing information, making offers, exclaiming, requesting and giving commands AC9E2LA07 9 Understand that in sentences nouns may be extended into noun groups using articles and adjectives, and verbs may be expressed as verb groups AC9E2LA08 9 Understand that images add to or multiply the meanings of a text AC9E2LY05 9 Use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring and questioning to build literal and inferred meaning AC9EFLY06 9 Create and participate in shared editing of short written texts to record and report ideas and events using some learnt vocabulary, basic sentence boundary punctuation and spelling some consonant–vowel–consonant words correctly AC9EFLY05 9 Use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising and questioning to understand and discuss texts listened to, viewed or read independently AC9EFLA07 9 Explore the contribution of images and words to meaning in stories and informative texts AC9E2LY06 9 Create and edit short imaginative, informative and persuasive written and/or multimodal texts for familiar audiences, using text structure appropriate to purpose, simple and compound sentences, noun groups and verb groups, topic-specific vocabulary, simple punctuation and common 2-syllable words AC9EFLA01 9 Explore how language is used differently at home and school depending on the relationships between people ACELA1786 8.4 Explore the different contribution of words and images to meaning in stories and informative texts ACELY1661 8.4 Create short imaginative and informative texts that show emerging use of appropriate text structure, sentence-level grammar, word choice, spelling, punctuation and appropriate multimodal elements, for example illustrations and diagrams ACELY1662 8.4 Re-read student’s own texts and discuss possible changes to improve meaning, spelling and punctuation ACELY1664 8.4 Construct texts that incorporate supporting images using software including word processing programs ACELA1461 8.4 Understand that language varies when people take on different roles in social and classroom interactions and how the use of key interpersonal language resources varies depending on context ACELY1660 8.4 Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning about key events, ideas and information in texts that they listen to, view and read by drawing on growing knowledge of context, text structures and language features ACELA1468 8.4 Understand that nouns represent people, places, concrete objects and abstract concepts; that there are three types of nouns: common, proper and pronouns; and that noun groups/phrases can be expanded using articles and adjectives ACELA1453 8.4 Compare different kinds of images in narrative and informative texts and discuss how they contribute to meaning ACELA1469 8.4 Identify visual representations of characters’ actions, reactions, speech and thought processes in narratives, and consider how these images add to or contradict or multiply the meaning of accompanying words ACELY1670 8.4 Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to analyse texts by drawing on growing knowledge of context, language and visual features and print and multimodal text structures ACELA1452 8.4 Explore differences in words that represent people, places and things (nouns, including pronouns), happenings and states (verbs), qualities (adjectives) and details such as when, where and how (adverbs) ACELY1671 8.4 Create short imaginative, informative and persuasive texts using growing knowledge of text structures and language features for familiar and some less familiar audiences, selecting print and multimodal elements appropriate to the audience and purpose ACELY1672 8.4 Re-read and edit text for spelling, sentence-boundary punctuation and text structure ACELY1674 8.4 Construct texts featuring print, visual and audio elements using software, including word processing programs ACELY1651 8.4 Create short texts to explore, record and report ideas and events using familiar words and beginning writing knowledge ACELA1433 8.4 Understand concepts about print and screen, including how books, film and simple digital texts work, and know some features of print, for example directionality ACELA1428 8.4 Explore how language is used differently at home and school depending on the relationships between people ACELY1652 8.4 Participate in shared editing of students’ own texts for meaning, spelling, capital letters and full stops ACELY1650 8.4 Use comprehension strategies to understand and discuss texts listened to, viewed or read independently ACELY1654 8.4 Construct texts using software including word processing programs ACELA1444 8.4 Understand that language is used in combination with other means of communication, for example facial expressions and gestures to interact with others ACELA1437 8.4 Understand the use of vocabulary in familiar contexts related to everyday experiences, personal interests and topics taught at school ACELA1787 8.4 Explore different ways of expressing emotions, including verbal, visual, body language and facial expressions ACELA1446 8.4 Understand that there are different ways of asking for information, making offers and giving commands
EN1-3A old Composes texts using letters of consistent size and slope and uses digital technologies ENe-6B old Recognises that there are different kinds of spoken texts with specific language features and shows an emerging awareness of some purposes for spoken language ENe-3A old Produces most lower case and upper case letters and uses digital technologies to construct texts ENe-2A old Composes simple texts to convey an idea or message EN1-1A old Communicates with a range of people in informal and guided activities demonstrating interaction skills and considers how own communication is adjusted in different situations ENe-4A old Demonstrates developing skills and strategies to read, view and comprehend short, predictable texts on familiar topics in different media and technologies EN1-9B old Uses basic grammatical features, punctuation conventions and vocabulary appropriate to the type of text when responding to and composing texts EN1-7B old Identifies how language use in their own writing differs according to their purpose, audience and subject matter EN1-4A old Draws on an increasing range of skills and strategies to fluently read, view and comprehend a range of texts on less familiar topics in different media and technologies ENe-8B old Demonstrates emerging skills and knowledge of texts to read and view, and shows developing awareness of purpose, audience and subject matter EN1-2A old Plans, composes and reviews a small range of simple texts for a variety of purposes on familiar topics for known readers and viewers ENE-SPELL-01 new Applies phonological, orthographic and morphological generalisations and strategies to spell taught familiar and high-frequency words when creating texts ENE-CWT-01 new Creates written texts that include at least 2 related ideas and correct simple sentences ENE-PRINT-01 new Tracks written text from left to right and from top to bottom of the page and identifies visual and spatial features of print ENE-UARL-01 new Understands and responds to literature read to them ENE-HANDW-01 new Produces all lower-case and upper-case letters to create texts ENE-RECOM-01 new Comprehends independently read texts using background knowledge, word knowledge and understanding of how sentences connect ENE-VOCAB-01 new Understands and effectively uses Tier 1 words and Tier 2 words in familiar contexts ENE-OLC-01 new Communicates effectively by using interpersonal conventions and language with familiar peers and adults EN1-OLC-01 new Communicates effectively by using interpersonal conventions and language to extend and elaborate ideas for social and learning interactions EN1-VOCAB-01 new Understands and effectively uses Tier 1, taught Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary to extend and elaborate ideas EN1-RECOM-01 new Comprehends independently read texts that require sustained reading by activating background and word knowledge, connecting and understanding sentences and whole text, and monitoring for meaning EN1-CWT-01 new Plans, creates and revises texts written for different purposes, including paragraphs, using knowledge of vocabulary, text features and sentence structure EN1-UARL-01 new Understands and responds to literature by creating texts using similar structures, intentional language choices and features appropriate to audience and purpose EN1-SPELL-01 new Applies phonological, orthographic and morphological generalisations and strategies when spelling words in a range of writing contexts EN1-PHOKW-01 new Uses initial and extended phonics, including vowel digraphs, trigraphs to decode and encode words when reading and creating texts EN1-HANDW-01 new Uses a legible, fluent and automatic handwriting style, and digital technology, including word-processing applications, when creating texts
VCELY230 Create short imaginative, informative and persuasive texts using growing knowledge of text structures and language features for familiar and some less familiar audiences, selecting print and multimodal elements appropriate to the audience and purpose VCELA167 Understand the use of vocabulary in familiar contexts related to everyday experiences, personal interests and topics taught at school VCELY233 Construct texts featuring print, visual and audio elements using software, including word processing programs VCELY222 Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to analyse texts by drawing on growing knowledge of context, language and visual features and print and multimodal text structures VCELY231 Reread and edit text for spelling, sentence-boundary punctuation and text structure VCELA215 Identify visual representations of characters’ actions, reactions, speech and thought processes in narratives, and consider how these images add to or contradict or multiply the meaning of accompanying words VCELA145 Explore the different contribution of words and images to meaning in stories and informative texts VCELY153 Use comprehension strategies to understand and discuss texts listened to, viewed or read independently VCELA216 Understand that nouns represent people, places, things and ideas and include common, proper, concrete or abstract, and that noun groups/phrases can be expanded using articles and adjectives VCELA142 Understand concepts about print and screen, including how books, film and simple digital texts work, and know some features of print, including directionality VCELA200 Understand that there are different ways of asking for information, making offers and giving commands VCELA235 Understand that language varies when people take on different roles in social and classroom interactions and how the use of key interpersonal language resources varies depending on context VCELY197 Construct texts that incorporate supporting images using software including word processing programs VCELA165 Explore how language is used differently at home and school depending on the relationships between people VCELY195 Reread student's own texts and discuss possible changes to improve meaning, spelling and punctuation VCELY194 Create short imaginative and informative texts that show emerging use of appropriate text structure, sentence-level grammar, word choice, spelling, punctuation and appropriate multimodal elements VCELY161 Participate in shared editing of students’ own texts for meaning, spelling, capital letters and full stops VCELY163 Construct texts using software including word processing programs VCELY160 Create short texts to explore, record and report ideas and events using familiar words and beginning writing knowledge VCELY186 Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning about key events, ideas and information in texts that they listen to, view and read by drawing on growing knowledge of context, text structures and language features VCELA199 Understand that language is used in combination with other means of communication VCELA180 Compare different kinds of images in narrative and informative texts and discuss how they contribute to meaning VCELA201 Explore different ways of expressing emotions, including verbal, visual, body language and facial expressions VCELA179 Explore differences in words that represent people, places and things (nouns, including pronouns), happenings and states (verbs), qualities (adjectives) and details such as when, where and how (adverbs)

Australian Curriculum covers QLD / SA / WA / NT / TAS / ACT.

Differentiation

Modifications

Adapt lessons for whole-class, small-group or individual instruction, provide additional oral discussion opportunities or adjust writing expectations to suit student needs.

Extensions

Extend discussions by comparing Alexander with characters from other picture books who experience challenges or setbacks.

Teach it your way

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Linked resources & worksheets

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