What a Day It Was at School!

This was a very engaging story about school. Each page was a poem about either lunch, homework, infirmary, class, etc. The author added a lot of humor to this story and also a lot of relatable moments that children, and even I can agree to. I really enjoyed the last page where the main character had to write a poem for class and he thinks he is not good at poetry. When throughout the whole book, he is speaking through poems! I think this book can be a good introduction to poetry and have the students write their own poem for school just like the main character had to do.

Summary
This is an illustrated children’s poetry book. All of the poems in this book are rhyming and have an elementary theme that children can relate to. The poet writes about topics from a typical school day such as field trips, music class, studying and the lunchroom. This is a great poetry book for children to start with because of the humor and fun the author puts in each poem.
Personal Reaction
I enjoyed this book of kid’s poems mostly because they were humorous and easy to understand. One of my favorite poems from the book was a poem about a spelling test and it is written from the student’s perspective and includes deliberately misspelled words that the student missed on the spelling test. This is something that a young show more reader could definitely relate to and understand that being perfect is not always necessary.

Classroom Extension
1. This would be a fantastic introduction for a poetry unit. The teacher could read the poems and have the students identify the rhyming patterns.
2. Another extension could be that the students can write their own poem about something school related. show less

This book of poems is all about this little boy’s day at school. His parent asks how his day was and he gives them his journal. In the journal he has poems that deal all have a school theme to them. There are poems about his backpack, tests, math, the cafeteria and so on. In the end, he is excited about the next day of school.

I thought this book was cute and funny. It would be a good way to read poetry in the classroom while keeping it light and funny. The children would be able to relate to the poems because they all have a school theme. Two of my favorite poems were I Wish I Had Studied Harrder and I drew A Yellow Unicorn. The first one is about how he should have studied more for his spelling test because he wasn’t doing so well show more on it. The whole poem is misspelled and it’s just a cute way to teach a little lesson. The other poem is interesting because it talks about how he drew a seven-legged elephant and a penguin wearing pajamas. It shows his creativity.

In the classroom, I would have the children draw their own silly animals, like a pink pig with purple spots and have them write a short poem about the animal they drew. Also, I would have the students write a poem about school and combine them to make a class poem book. show less

What a Day it was at School is another poetry book that I very much enjoyed. The book is composed of many different poems all about the animal's day at school. All of the poems seemed to be written in the same form on each page. This form is ABCB. I enjoyed this because it was consistent throughout the poems and I could almost make a beat of the poems while reading them in my head. The language of the book was also simple enough where students can easily find the rhyming words and can also read the book to themselves if it is given to them at the appropriate age. For example, "No one cares for teacher's pet, It's really sort of sad. he's always first to raise his hand, Which makes some people mad." Students can easily see that sad and show more mad rhyme when it is shown in poem format. I also liked that the different characters in the book were animals dressed in clothes. This is fun for students to see because the animals are wearing clothes, reading books, and doing things that children would do in school such as drawing, singing, and playing sports. show less

A very cute book of poems. With wonderful full page illustrations to follow along with the poems; Prelutsky creates a typical day in the life of his student who discusses all the wonderful things he did while having a few bumps in the way. He took a test he did not study for and faked sick because he missed homework. I think children can relate to this book very well.
www.jackprelutsky.com

This poetry anthology about a typical day at school has some very cute poems and some very true to life poems. I enjoyed reading it along with my 11 year old daughter who could identify with nearly every poem in the book.

Curriculum connection - Students could write their own poems about a part of their typical school day.

What A Day It Was at School is a book of poetry written by the well known author, Jack Prelutsky. It is based upon different occurrences and situations that take place at school.The book finds humor in music class, taking tests, field trips, homework, and many other school related activities.

I found much humor in the poems in this book especially the one titled My Backpack Weighs A Thousand Pounds. It made me laugh to think back to the days when as it said I felt as if I would fall backward from the weight of my school books. It, of course, is always more enjoyable to be retrospective on things that occurred in the past because when I was a student in the public school system, those occurrences were Earth shattering.

In the classroom, show more this would be such a fun book to share. I would have the students create their own poems in their journals about school. The student's would then share their poems with their classmates. We could also take their individual poems and create a classroom poem combining the students' multiple experiences. show less