Making Language Visible

By Dr. Ruslana Westerlund

Discover how ‘Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day’ uses place to structure narratives and enhance young writers’ skills.

Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) helps us look beyond a predetermined list of grammatical resources that are typically associated with temporal sequencing, such as first, next, then, and finally. Instead, we examine how time is actually constructed in a particular text. In Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, the story’s chronology is created largely through language of place: at breakfast, in the car pool, at school, and at the dentist. As Alexander moves from one setting to another, his day moves forward. The language of place therefore does more than tell readers where events happen; it also organizes when they happen and sequences the narrative.

In one of my recent trainings on the structure of simple narratives in elementary school, I used one of my favorite children’s classics, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. I used it to illustrate how an author uses the language of place to sequence a story.

No, the author does not rely primarily on the language of time to move the story forward. She uses the language of place. I’ve written about this here using other examples.

When we teach students to sequence narratives, we often give them a familiar list of temporal connectors:

First… Next… Then… After that… Finally…

These words can be useful in first grade, but they are not the only resources writers use to organize events, and we need to teach students to expand their meaning making potential through language. In authentic narratives, movement through time may be constructed “untraditionally”. A character’s movement from one place to another can provide the organizing structure for the entire story.

That is precisely what happens in Judith Viorst’s book.

Alexander’s day unfolds through place

Alexander’s story follows him across the locations of an ordinary day:

bedroom → breakfast table → car pool → school → lunch → dentist → shoe store → father’s office → home → bath → bed

Each new location introduces another episode—and another frustration. The places function almost like signposts, telling readers that Alexander has entered the next part of his day.

Viorst uses phrases such as:

• At breakfast
• In the car pool
• At school
• At singing time
• At counting time
• After school
• On my way downstairs
• At the shoe store
• At his office
• At dinner
• When I went to bed

Some of these phrases locate Alexander in physical space, while others identify an activity or situation. Together, they create a predictable movement through his day. The reader does not need first, second, and third because the changing settings establish the sequence.

This is an important insight for teaching writing: a narrative can move forward because the character moves forward.

Each place becomes a small episode

The story is not merely a list of unfortunate events. It is built through a repeating pattern:

Place or situation → frustrating events → Alexander’s reaction or judgment

At breakfast, his brothers receive prizes in their cereal boxes, but Alexander does not. He reacts by declaring that he will move to Australia.

At school, his teacher prefers another student’s picture, criticizes his singing, and notices that he leaves out sixteen while counting. Alexander concludes again that it is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

At the dentist, the dentist finds a cavity only in Alexander. Alexander responds that next week he will be in Australia.

Each location holds a small complication. Alexander then responds through a complaint, an exaggerated threat, or the repeated judgment that his day is terrible. These reactions create continuity across the episodes. The events change, but Alexander’s pattern of responding remains recognizable.

Place or situation	Frustrating events	Alexander’s response
Bedroom and bathroom	Gum is in his hair; he trips; his sweater falls into the sink.	He predicts that it will be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
Breakfast	His brothers receive prizes; he receives only cereal.	He announces that he will move to Australia.
Car pool	Other children get the window seats; Alexander feels crowded and ignored.	He complains, but no one answers.
School	His picture, singing, and counting are criticized.	He repeats his judgment about the day.
Friendship and lunch	Paul changes his friendship ranking; Alexander has no dessert.	He lashes out and again interprets the day as terrible.
Dentist	A cavity is found only in Alexander.	He says that next week he will be in Australia.
Errands and father’s office	He is hurt, blamed, denied the shoes he wants, and gets into trouble.	His frustration grows as the pattern continues.
Home and bedtime	He faces lima beans, an unpleasant bath, unwanted pajamas, and more disappointments.	He looks back and declares that it has been a terrible day.

This pattern helps young writers do more than recount disconnected events. It gives each episode an internal structure.

Place organizes the whole text

Language of place also contributes to the text’s cohesion. A phrase such as At breakfast does more than answer the question Where? It announces a new episode while linking that episode to the larger journey through Alexander’s day.

The sequence moves outward and then home again:

1. Alexander begins at home.
2. He travels to school.
3. He moves through several public places with his family.
4. He returns home.
5. He ends the day in bed.

This creates a complete narrative arc even though Alexander does not solve a large external problem. His movement through familiar settings supplies the structure. At the end, he returns to the place where the story began, but with a broader understanding: some days are difficult everywhere—even in Australia.

When students are taught only to search for temporal transition words, they may miss this larger organization. The text is chronological, but chronology is made visible largely through changes in setting and activity.

What students can learn from this mentor text

Using this book as a mentor text allows us to teach narrative organization at several levels.

At the whole-text level, students can notice how movement through places structures a complete day.

At the paragraph or episode level, they can examine the recurring pattern:

Place → Actions and Interactions → Reaction

At the sentence level, they can investigate how clauses are joined to accumulate problems and control pacing.

At the word and phrase level, they can study how place phrases, conjunctions, reporting verbs, and evaluative words help readers follow Alexander’s experience.

This is much richer than asking students to insert first, next, then, and finally into a predetermined template.

A classroom language investigation

After reading the story for enjoyment and comprehension, give students cards containing the major locations:

• At home in the morning
• At breakfast
• In the car pool
• At school
• At lunch
• At the dentist
• At the shoe store
• At his father’s office
• At home in the evening
• In bed

Ask students to sequence the cards and match each place with the frustrating events that occur there. Then add cards showing Alexander’s responses.

Students can use the completed sequence to explain how the author organizes the story:

The story moves forward as Alexander moves from place to place. Each place introduces a new problem, and Alexander reacts by complaining, imagining Australia, or repeating that he is having a terrible day.

Next, students can jointly construct an episode about a difficult—or wonderful—day:

At lunch, everyone else found a seat with a friend, but I had to sit at the end of the table and then I spilled my milk and while I was cleaning it up the bell rang, so I knew the afternoon was not going to get any better.

Students can then identify the work done by each resource:

• At lunch establishes the place and opens the episode.
• But introduces a contrast.
• And then adds another complication.
• While shows overlapping events.
• So connects the accumulated events to the character’s judgment.

Now students are not simply imitating a sentence. They are learning why the sentence works.

Teach students choices, not formulas

Students certainly need temporal language. But if we teach first, next, then, and finally as the universal structure of narrative, we risk turning a flexible genre into a formula.

Published writers have many ways to guide readers through a story. They move characters across places. They repeat patterns. They accumulate actions (NEXT BLOG). They shift verb tense. They return to a refrain. They alternate long, rushing sentences with short, emphatic ones.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day offers a powerful example of these choices working together. Language of place sequences the day.

When we make these patterns visible, students learn more than how to put events in order. They learn how writers design an experience for readers.

That is the difference between teaching students to complete a narrative formula and teaching them how narrative language works.

Cheering you on,

Ruslana

About the Author

Dr. Ruslana Westerlund is CEO at Westerlund Consulting, LLC. She works with schools, districts, and educational organizations across the globe to support the implementation of high-quality instruction that integrates language, literacy, and disciplinary learning. She is also an Executive Officer at LLEN North America (LLENA). Her work focuses on making language visible through the Teaching and Learning Cycle, the WIDA ELD Standards Framework (which she co-authored), and evidence-based approaches that provide multilingual learners with high challenge and high support.

Westerlund Consulting LLC is a certified Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) providing professional learning, curriculum design, instructional coaching, keynote presentations, and strategic consultation in disciplinary literacy, multilingual education, and language-focused instructional design. The company partners with educational organizations to build educator capacity and improve equitable access to rigorous, language-rich learning for all students.