"What a Day It Was at School!" is an amazing poetry book for third through fifth graders! Jack Prelutsky does an amazing job, as always, of entrancing"What a Day It Was at School!" is an amazing poetry book for third through fifth graders! Jack Prelutsky does an amazing job, as always, of entrancing the reader in his stories and making one feel as if he/she is experiencing the day at school along with the characters. Doug Cushman's beautiful illustrations only add to Prelutsky's quality poems. Just to reference a few, "My Backpack Weighs A Thousand Pounds," "I Tried to Do My Homework,"I Made A Noise This Morning," and "I Drew a Yellow Unicorn" are some of my personal favorites! The poems are about a boy who's bookbag is so heavy that endlessly struggles with a heavy bookbag, and even though his teacher says he needs everything in it, that still doesn't make it easy. "I Made a Noise This Morning" is about how he accidentally passed gas, and all of the children in the class thought it was so funny (something everyone in the class can relate to!) and even though he felt bad about it, he knew it was actually impressive. Each poem is only around 15-30 lines long, with only a few words in each line, so it would be a great tool to use to introduce a poetry unit to younger children. Each poem has rhyming words and a format that makes it easy to follow, so the basics of poetry could definitely be displayed through this book! "What a Day It was at School" also could be used as a time for the teacher to read one poem each morning, maybe during the poetry unit, just to help the students transition from home to school, and provide entertainment through a quick read-aloud. Practicing with this amazingly animated book would also be a good way to develop inflection and tone on their own during independent reading! ...more