The Polar Express Elementary Lesson Plans
Christmas and Train Themed Reading, Vocabulary and Science Unit
Dec 3, 2008
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg [Houghton Mifflin, 1985] is a winter themed children’s book about a boy’s nighttime journey to see Santa. Teachers can use the book as the basis of a Polar Express themed unit to teach vocabulary, reading prediction and comprehension, and science lessons.
Polar Express Adjective Vocabulary Bulletin Board
Primary teachers can use The Polar Express create an interactive bulletin board to teach students new vocabulary. The Christmas themed book by Chris Van Allsburg is full of descriptive adjectives that help the reader become immersed in the train ride.
Teachers can choose eight to ten words from the story and write each one on a train graphic. The meaning of each of the words is then written on blank train graphics. The bulletin board is decorated with craft paper and a border.
The definition trains are stapled to the bulletin board under the title Polar Express-ions. Velcro circles are placed on the back of the new adjective vocabulary trains and in the space next to the definitions. Students match the adjective trains with the definition trains.
The Polar Express Train Story Map
Elementary students can use a train shaped story map to aid in comprehension of The Polar Express. The teacher writes the parts of the story on a train outline. The students fill out the title, author, characters, setting, introduction, conflict, and conclusion as they read and discuss the story.
The Polar Express Train Ticket Prediction Activity
Primary teachers can set the stage for reading comprehension by having students predict what will happen in the book The Polar Express. Before reading the story each student will get a train ticket for the story that they write their prediction on.
The teacher begins the lesson by showing the illustrations to the class and having the students use the drawings to predict the plot of the book. The train ticket with a destination of the North Pole and the illustrations of The Polar Express gain students’ attention and gets them excited to read the story.
The Polar Express North Pole Research Project
Teachers can use The Polar Express as an introduction for a science lesson about the North Pole. Students can work in pairs to use the school library and internet to research different aspects of the North Pole such as its weather, climate, and animal life.
The Polar Express Pajama Party Activity
Another way to get students excited about reading The Polar Express teachers and librarians can host a pajama party. Houghton Mifflin has put together a Polar Express Pajama Party guide for teachers that outlines many fun activities that can be done with elementary students.
The Polar Express Movie Frozen Bell Activity
Kindergarten teachers at Ride-out Elementary School in Middleburg, FL read The Polar Express every year with their students. At the conclusion of the unit the students drink hot chocolate while watching the animated movie based on the book.
As the movie concludes the principal visits each classroom with packages of frozen bells from the North Pole for the students. The students are very excited to receive the bells and usually call out, “We believe!”
Elementary teachers can use The Polar Express to teach students reading and science themed lessons. Teachers can use fun activities such as an interactive bulletin board and a pajama party to motivate students and increase their academic success.
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