Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits

Teaching with Heart and Creativity

All Aboard The Polar Express

Polar Express Day was a blast!  If you are planning yours soon I am going to take you through our day and show you what we used.  Then I would love to hear what you do so I can add to it next year! Please share!

The Polar Express Experience!

First of all what could be more fun then wearing your pajamas to school?!?

 Okay, so before the actual festivities started we had Morning Meeting, Spelling Test,
and 1 round of Daily Five (I know I am just all about business…geez)
 But the Polar Expressing started at 9!
They cut out their tickets and got in line to board the “train”.  The train was just their chairs in little sets of 2 on the rug.
I was the official hole puncher and they LOVED my flair.
We are all on board now with our tickets.  Time for the Story!

Barnes and Nobles

This month, Barnes and Nobles is featuring The Polar Express as their free read aloud.  The author Chris Van Allsburg is narrating.  Here’s the Link  or you can read it yourself with all YOUR dramatic flair.

They Believe!!!  After the story ended I pulled out a bell for everyone.  They were so excited that they could hear it
and boy did we hear it…all day!!! (ok after 20 minutes I made them take them off!)

We did a couple little activities but barely had time for much with our working morning.  This is what we did:  We used Pitner’s Sequencing Freebie  and then I found a maze and a word search on the Polar Express Website that were also free.

We had hot cocoa like the kids on the train.  (only cost me 7 dollars for all this!) Just put water in your crockpot and dump the hot cocoa mix in…stir and keep your crock pot on warm.  Perfect!  We had gingerbread marshmallows because is was gingerbread week and of course we had to top it with whip cream.  I forgot the candy canes at home!  I was going to put one in there but we didn’t miss them at all.
They were so sweet and I got lots of extra hugs today for my efforts.
We watched the movie on the smartboard and they begged to stay in the train to watch it!  We did it in 30-45 minute sittings broken up by recess and specials.  It worked out perfectly.  They stayed very interested in the movie.  (I was worried with my young firsties this year)

THE BEST CARAMEL POPCORN

Then I came home and made THE BEST CARAMEL POPCORN IN THE UNIVERSE!  Jessica from my world made by hand blogged about it and I had all the ingredients in my pantry…so it was only a matter of time!!!!  My husband is going to flip out when he gets home from the gym!  It’s his favorite treat!

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    2. yum! we are doing our polar express day the last day before break – and we're having nachos too! lol..I know – weird. but it's tied to their A.R. goals and I wanted to do it before I left for maternity leave. BUT I also just saw this idea for a North Pole Float!!! umm…TOTALLY doing it! It's vanilla ice cream with gingerale (so it stays white), and you can add red or green sugar crystal thingies on top if you want… yum!
      wait – I think I have all that now…here I go to check that out! haha!

      ♥ Jen Ross
      The Teachers' Cauldron

      Reply

    7. OK, now I want some of that tasty temptation!!! YUM. I have to hop over to Jessica's next.

      Our Polar Express day is this week – PJs and all! The year Joshua was in 1st we actually went in school bus "trains" to see it at the movie theater! That next year we got a big screen in our cafeteria with surround sound, so now the firsties all go in there together for their Polar Express ride. They also enjoy their hot chocolate and popcorn as a grade level in there.

      The teachers put their bells in the freezer so that when the package from the North Pole is delivered later that day they're cold to the touch. It's so magical!!! The Santa letters are in there, too. One year I got to write them because my favorite teacher asked me to do it and it was great fun to personalize each one. Believe!!!

      Thanks for making that day so special for those little angels.

      Barbara

      Reply

    10. I can't believe I wasn't already following your blog! I love your Polar Express ideas! I get to have PJ day TWICE next week, since I have 3 different groups of pre-schoolers.

      I am definitely going to be making some tickets, using a hole punch, making a chair train, AND listening to the story read aloud! Perfect!

      Creating & Teaching

      Reply

    12. Hello,

      I teach high school Spanish and I do El Expreso Polar! I was wondering how long it takes the hot chocolate to heat up. I teach 5 classes so I'd have to keep making new batches. I love the idea of the straw! 🙂

      Reply

    15. Love it! We've been celebrating for the past five years and it's been so fun! I decorate my door as the front of the train, we have a reindeer food bar where kids make food to sprinkle on their lawn, give out bells attached with a "believe" tag and I just made a packet of activities for it. This year I will have them look for rhyming pairs in the song "When Christmas Comes to Town" and then practice reading aloud for fluency work. Thanks for sharing the Barnes and Noble link!

      Reply

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