1. Comprehension Lesson Plan
Book: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very
Bad Day, by Judith Viorst, illustrated by Ray Cruz
Targeted Skills: vocabulary, prediction, cause and effect
Grade Level: 3
Duration: 2 days, 10-40 minutes each day
Objectives: TLW:
 discover meaning through vocabulary using schema and context clues.
 use schema to make predictions.
 differentiate between cause and effect.
Materials: scissors, glue, construction paper, red and blue colored pencils, outline
of Australia, the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad
Day, cause and effect sentence strips, white board, cause and effect chart, table
top items, cause and effect game, cause and effect matching worksheet, cause
and effect tree project, and Your Terrible Day worksheet
Vocabulary: invisible, cavity, scolded, scrunched
Day 1 (Whole Group)
Before:
The teacher will:
 Vocabulary Introduction-Introduce the 4 new vocabulary words-invisible, cavity,
scolded, and scrunched- to the students. Thoroughly define new words one at a time and
give an example of the word being correctly used in a sentence. Review the words with
the class and give synonyms for each new vocabulary word to promote total
comprehension of each new word. Divide the students into 4 groups and give each group
1 of the 4 new vocabulary words without showing it to the other three groups. Explain
the activity and rules such as: each group will come up to the front of the class and act

2. out their vocabulary word to the rest of the class much like charades, the students
presenting are not allowed to talk or use written print to convey their word, and only the
other 3 groups sitting down may talk to guess the correct vocabulary word. The group
that answered correctly will go next to present their word. If the group that answered
correctly has already presented, the teacher will chose the next group. Continue until all
4 groups have presented.
 Anticipatory set-On a table in the front of the class, lay out items such as: picture of mad
face, a piece of gum, cereal box toy, a blank piece of paper, a plan white shoe, and a can
of lima beans. Hand each student an outline of Australia and have a stack of magazines
at the front of the classroom. Students will gather around the table and look at all the
items shown. Ask questions such as: “Look at all the items and think what connection
can you make between them?”, “What do you think a can of lima beans has to do with a
white shoe?”, “What do you think Australia has to do with a piece of gum?” Hold up the
picture of the mad face and ask the following questions, “What emotion does this
represent?”, “Do any of these item make you feel this way?”, “What causes you to feel
that way?” Then, ask students to go through the magazines and cut and paste items
that they think they would find in Australia. Compare and discuss each student’s choices
and pictures, “Why did you choose this?”, “What other things can you think of that you
might find in Australia?” Picture of the outline of Australia from:
www.enchantedlearning.com
 Read name of book, author, and illustrator.
 Ask students prediction questions about book. “What kind of face does the person on the
book have?”, “Does the title go with his face and emotion?”, “What connections can you
make with the items we have and the book cover?”, “Based on the cover and the items
we have what do you think the book is about?” Close by saying, “Keep thinking about
your predictions as we read through the book and see if they are true.”

3. During:
The teacher will:
 Stop throughout the book to make predictions. Ask on page 1, “There is a piece of gum in
book that causes Alexander to have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. What do
you think will happen next to Alexander?” Ask on page 6, “What connections can you
make with the items we have and the story so far?”, “What item do you think we will see
next?”, “Do you think Alexander’s day will get better?” Ask on page 25, “Do you think
Alexander will go to sleep mad? Or do you think something good will happen?”
After:
The teacher will ask the following questions:
o “What happened to Alexander throughout the day that made him have a terrible,
horrible, no good, very bad day?”
o “What would you of done if all those things happened to you?”
o “How would you describe Alexander’s personality based on his actions in the
book?”
o “How does Alexander’s family and friends feel about him? Why?”
 Compare predictions made during to what actually happened in book.
 Go over the vocabulary learned.
Assessment: The teacher will use observation of students for indication of
mastery of skill.
Day 2
Minilesson
(Whole group)
The teacher will:
 Say, “Today we are going to learn about cause and effect.”
 Write “cause” and “effect” on the board. Define cause as “why something happens” and
define effect as “what happened after because of the cause”. Picture of the cause and
effect definitions from: www.buggyforsecondgrade.blogspot.com

4.  Explain to the students that there are also some clue words which can help you identify
cause and effect such as so, so that, since, if, reason, and because.
 Give an example of cause and effect from the book, Alexander and the Terrible, and
identify the cause and effect for the class.
 Say, “Alexander went to sleep with gum in his mouth. Now there is gum in his hair.”
 Ask, “Why did Alexander have gum in his hair?”
 Say, “The cause for having gum in his hair is going to sleep with gum in his mouth.”
 Ask, “What happened because Alexander went to sleep with gum in his mouth?”
 Say, “The effect of going to sleep with gum in his mouth is having gum in his hair.”
 Give another example from the book and ask the class to identify the cause and effect.
 Say, “Alexander fell into a puddle of mud and got muddy.”
 Ask, “What is the cause of Alexander getting muddy?”, “What is the effect of Alexander
falling in a puddle of mud?” (The students should answer the falling in a puddle of mud is
the cause and getting muddy is the effect.)
 Then, use cause and effect sentence strips for more practice of cause and effect to the
class. Ask the students to identify the cause and effect in each sentence. Continue until
all the sentence strips have been used. Picture of sentence strips from:
www.pintrest.com
(Small group)
The student will:
 Reread story in pairs. (I want a copy of the cover of book.)
 Be handed the Cause and Effect matching game. Picture of the game from:
www.lakeshorelearning.com

5.  The teacher will explain the rules:
o All the cards will be laid face down. The cards are either a cause (blue card) or an
effect (red card).
o The players will take turns lifting up one blue and one red card. If the cards are a
cause and effect of each other, the cards will go on the player’s individual cause
and effect chart. If the cards are not a cause and effect of each other, the player
will put the cards back, facing down.
o The first player to fill their individual cause and effect chart wins.
 The teacher will model by taking the first turn and let the students continue with the
game.
 The teacher will assist students with the rules of the game, correct the students if their
cards are not a cause and effect of each other, and explain why it is not correct.
 Continue the process until the game is over.
(Individual)
The student will:
 Be given a cause and effect worksheet that was prepared by the teacher with 10
complete sentences. Each sentence will have a cause and effect; the order of the cause
and effect will be mixed and include some of the clue words previously discussed in the
minilesson.
 The student will use a red colored pencil to circle the cause in the sentence and use a
blue colored pencil to circle the effect in the sentence.
 The teacher will grade using a percentage in order to determine if the student needs
further review.
Assessment: The teacher will assess the student for mastery of the skill.

6. Assessment
Name: ________________________________________________Date:____________________
Read the sentences below. Use a red color pencil to underline the cause in each sentence. Use
a blue color pencil to underline the effect in each sentence.
1. The cow started to get hot, so it went to lie down under a tree.
2. Gabriel got a new toy because he saved up his allowance.
3. I bathed my cat and now my cat does not like me.
4. If I put my tooth under my pillow, then the tooth fairy will give me money.
5. Since I got in trouble in school, I can’t play videogames.
6. I got an A on my test because I studied.
7. If I do all my chores, my mom will give me ice cream.
8. Lisa gave her dog food because he was hungry.
9. David saved money so that he could buy his mom a birthday gift.
10. You will take the test again if you do not pass.
Rubric:
10/10= 100% Excellent
9/10= 90% Good
8/10= 80% Satisfactory
7/10= 70% Unsatifactory
6/10 or less is failing

7. Literacy Centers
 Literacy Center 1 (High): The students will write a short paragraph using cause and
effect in order to describe their own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day (minimum
of 5 sentences with a minimum of 3 cause and effects). Then, the student will paste the
paragraph on a colored piece of construction paper and decorate it like Alexander and
the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Example from: www.pintrest.com
 Literacy Center 2 (Average): The students will be handed a cause and effect worksheet
from: www.docstoc.com. The students will be given a word bank of 10 causes and 10
effects and will have to match them to the correct effect of that specific cause. The
worksheet provides 2 fun ways of identifying cause and effect.
 Literacy Center (Low): The students will be given a cause and effect tree project from:
www.pintrest.com. First, the students will fill the cause and effect tree trunk with their
name and other personal information. Second, the students will fill each tree branch
with a cause and the tree leaf with its effect. The students will continue until the tree is
complete. Then, the students will cut out all the tree pieces and paste them together on
a piece of colored construction paper. The cause and effect tree is a creative way for
them to practice cause and effect and also provides the teacher with a cute idea for a
bulletin board.

8. Literacy Center 1 (High)
Name: ________________________________________________Date:____________________
A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Instructions: Write a short paragraph of 5 or more sentences to describe your own terrible,
horrible, no good, very bad day. Use at least 3 cause and effects in your paragraph. Then, paste
your story on a piece of construction paper and decorate it to go along with your story.
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9. Literacy Center 2 (Average)
Name: Date:
CAUSE AND EFFECT
For each statement in the effect column, match the statement from the Cause
column. Write the letter of the cause on the line next the effect.
Effect Cause
____ 1. The cat got wet. A. Mom burned the pizza.
____ 2. She was crying. B. Forgot to set my alarm clock.
____ 3. It tasted gross. C. He studied very hard in school.
____ 4. I went to school late. D. Billy spilled water on the floor.
____ 5. James made good grades. E. Sally fell off her bike.
____ 6. He bought a new toy. F. Susie studied all day.
____ 7. He was mad. G. He forgot his lunch.
____ 8. So she got an A H. Jack saved his money.
____ 9. He was hungry. I. He didn’t get picked to play.
____ 10. Got gum in her hair. J. Went to sleep with gum.

10. Literacy Center 3 (Low)
Name: ________________________________________________Date:____________________
Fill in the tree with cause and effects. Write a cause on the tree branch and write its effect on
the leaf on the same branch. You can use the extra leaves to decorate the tree after you have
completed the cause and effects.