Good Days and Bad Days: Feelings, Problems, and Solutions
Grade/age: K–3 Subject: Literature, Writing, Social-Emotional Skills Time: 2–3 sessions
Using Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day as a literature connection, students examine how a character responds to frustrating events. Students are not required to disclose private feelings or personal experiences.
Learning Objectives
- Identify a character's problem, feelings, actions, and possible responses.
- Distinguish between a feeling and an action taken in response.
- Generate more than one reasonable response to a common classroom frustration.
- Write or dictate a short response with a beginning, middle, and ending.
Procedure
- Read and notice: Create a chart: What happened? How did the character feel? What did the character do? What else could the character try?
- Model: Think aloud about a fictional problem such as losing a game, making a mistake, or having a plan changed.
- Problem-solving cards: Pairs identify a fictional problem and generate two safe, respectful, practical responses.
- Writing: Students create a fictional “good day/bad day” scenario with a problem, feeling, response, and possible solution.
- Optional role-play: Act out fictional scenarios using words or gestures. Drawing or narration may substitute.
- Reflect: Complete “When a plan goes wrong, a person can _____.”
Assessment
Assess identification of the problem and feeling and at least one reasonable response. Assess writing for sequence and clarity rather than personal disclosure.
Differentiation
Use picture cards, sentence frames, oral dictation, partner discussion, and drawing. Provide quiet alternatives to role-play.
Teacher Note
This is literature instruction first. Avoid presenting the story as a clinical mental-health lesson or requiring students to reveal difficult personal experiences.