This is one of my favorite books for children. The Polar Express is about a young boy who doesn't know if he still believes in the magic of Christmas. He is woken by the hissing steam of this large, black train that is heading to the North Pole! He decides to get on the train and while he is riding, he meets other children close to his age who still believe. They ride through little towns and forests and even see the polar ice caps! Does he truly believe in Santa and the magic of Christmas?
I read this every year to my preschoolers and they love it! It's full of beautiful illustrations, alliteration, and is very well written. It describes every aspect of the book through descriptive words that show, as well as tell the story. It's a fun book to read during the holidays with children and there are so many activities that go along with this book! Pajama day is a must when planning to read this book, as well as having a snack of hot chocolate and candy bars!
South Carolina State Standard for ELA
Standard 1-1 The student will read and comprehend a variety of literary texts in print and nonprint formats.
Indicator 1-1.2 Use pictures and words to make and revise predictions about a given literary text.
With this book I would have my class choose descriptive words (adjectives) from the text and illustrate the definition of the word. Then, I would have the students look up the words in the dictionary and illustrate the actual meaning. Then the students would compare the two definitions.
Websites
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/thepolarexpress/tg/polar.shtml
http://www.theteachersguide.com/polarexpress.htm
http://www.teachingheart.net/polar.html
No comments:
Post a Comment