How are some of these repetitive phrases similar to onomatopoeias?.What is the effect of repeating phrases like “step over step” and “pumped the water out of him and pushed the air into him”?.What is the point the author is trying to make when poor little Chang has to repeat his brother’s name over and over again?.He pumped the water out of him and pushed the air into him, and pumped the water out of him and pushed the air into him…Īfter reading, we might ask our students to think about some of these ideas:.Step over step, step over step he went into the well, picked up little Chang, and step over step, step over step brought him out of the well.Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo.Some of the words and phrases repeated in this story include: Still, it’s fun and advantageous to talk about how repetition can be used for effect in writing. Like stringiness, repetition is one of those techniques I don’t want my students practicing very often because it can easily be overdone. I think it’s because of the repetition picture books often contain. Repetition! Repetition! Repetition! I wasn’t expecting my two-year old and four-year old to love this story so much, but they do. Why does the author use such a wordy, redundant phrase: “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day”? Why and how is this more effective than only using one modifier?.How would the mood and tone be different if this paragraph were punctuated more formally?.What effect does the lack of punctuation have on the reader?.Why does the author smoosh so many thoughts together using coordinating conjunctions?.
Possible questions we could pose to students might include: I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there’s gum in my hair and when I got out of bed this morning I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake I dropped my sweater in the sink while the water was running and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I tell my students this type of writing is never acceptable in formal research papers, but it has its place in creative writing. This book would be perfect for teaching students the concept of “wordy” or “stringy” sentences. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
In this post, I’m going to discuss a few ideas I have for using children’s literature to teach more mature concepts. I decided it was time to fix any deficiencies in their picture book upbringing and introduce them to these books myself. It always makes me sad when I mention one of my favorite picture book titles to my students and they look at me with a blank stare. Why can’t I use these books I adore so dearly to teach my students high school level concepts!?! That was the beginning of my love affair with using children’s books for older students. Really, it shouldn’t have been such an “Ah ha!” moment, but it was. As a high school teacher, for a while I was sad that I wasn’t able to teach the literature that truly made me love reading at such a young age…then I had an epiphany. There are very few things in this world that I love more than picture books. “A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.”
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