School Poetry - What a Day It Was at School!

1. Bibliographic Citation

Prelutsky, Jack. 2006. What a Day It Was at School! New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 9780060823375 

2. Summary and Book Review

This collection of rhyming poems is written from the point of view of a little boy, illustrated as a cat, whose mother asks him about his day at school on the first page. He tells her to read his journal full of all the silly poems he wrote about his day. We follow the little boy through his day at school from music class to PE to the cafeteria to the nurse’s office and through all of the subjects at school. Each page brings a new poem with cartoonlike acrylic illustrations that bring the poems to life. The majority of the poems are two stanzas long with the longest,
“Show-and-Tell,” at four stanzas long. Elementary school students will be able to relate to the subject matter in these poems, especially “My Backpack Weighs a Thousand Pounds,” “I Made a Noise This Morning” (we all know what that noise could be), or “I Know How to Add” in which the little boy just cannot master fractions. I can see these poems being used in a classroom as a fun introduction to various subjects throughout the school day. I do feel some poems are stronger than others, but students will enjoy this silly collection of school poems. One of my favorites is “I Wish I’d Studied Harrder” in which the little boy fails his spelling test and misspells many words in the poem itself too. The illustrations show him playing video games, eating ice cream, and playing soccer instead of studying.

I Wish I’d Studied Harrder

I wish I’d studied harrder

For our spellink test today.

I’m sorrie that I didn’t,

Now I’m feeling some dismaye.

I’d like to get a passing graid,

But don’t beleeve I will –

I think I got Whyoming wrong,

And Chyna, and Brazill.

Though I don’t want to make misteaks,

I make them awl the same.

It’s no one else’s fawlt but mine,

I have to take the blaime.

I tried to spell Cunneddykit,

But really, I just gessed…

If I had stoodied harder

Then I mite have passed this test.

3. Awards/Reviews

*Texas Armadillo Readers’ Choice Award Nominee 2007-2008

*Horn Book Starred Review 2007

*Positive reviews in Booklist, Children’s Literature, and Kirkus Reviews

4. Activities

This book could be used in a variety of ways in the classroom. I can see a teacher reading “I Know How to Add” as in introduction to the new concept of fractions in math class or reading “A Classmate Named Tim” before PE class. “I Wish I’d Studied Harrder” could be used as an editing activity in language class. The teacher could make copies of the poem for the students to correct the spelling mistakes. Finally, “I Have to Write a Poem for Class” could be used as an ice breaker to writing poetry. The little boy finally realizes that writing poetry isn’t as hard as it seems.

5. Related Books

*There’s No Place Like School: Classroom Poems by Jack Prelutsky ISBN 0060823380

*Frist Day Jitters and Last Day Blues both by Julie Danneberg ISBN 9781580890618 and 9781580891042

*Lunch Money and Other Poems About School by Carol Diggory Shields ISBN 9780140558906