Skip to main content

The Polar Express

Genre: Fantasy

Title: The Polar Express

Author & Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg

Awards: Caldecott Medal

Age Range: 5-8 Years Old


Summary: On Christmas Eve, a young boy went outside when he saw a train in front of his house. The conductor invited him on board, which he accepted the invitation because they were going to the North Pole. When they arrive at the North Pole, the train took the children to see Santa. Santa gave out the first gift to a young boy. After that, Santa took off on his sleigh to deliver presents. When the children got on the train the boy noticed that he lost his gift. However, on Christmas morning Santa left his gift under his tree. 


Evaluation: I would use this book with grades 1st through 5th. The Polar Express is one of my favorite stories and it would be a great book to read during December. For younger students, I would have them write a letter to Santa asking for one thing they want for Christmas and have them include a picture. For older students, I would let them watch the movie, then they would write an essay to compare and contrast the movie and the book. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Love That Dog

  Genre: Poetry, Fiction Title: Love That Dog Author: Sharon Creech Illustrator: None Awards: Texas Bluebonnet Nominee  Age Range: 9-11 Years Old Summary: Jack journals most days about what is going on in school and at home. He mainly talks about the poems the teacher reads in class. Some of the poems he does not like because he does not understand them. While other poems, he is really interested in such as the poems by Walter Dean Myers. He likes Mr. Myers poem so much that he decides to write one very similar to his about his dog, Sky. Jack writes many poems that his teacher puts up on the board, some he chooses to keep anonymous while others he asks the teacher to include his name on. Jack did not want the poem about Sky posted at all because he was worried that it was bad he used a lot of Myers words. One day Jack wrote a letter to Walter Dean Myers asking if he could come visit their school. It took about a month for a response, but Mr. Myers decided to come visit them as...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Name Jar

  Genre: Fiction/Multicultural Title: The Name Jar Author/Illustrator: Yangsook Choi Awards: Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Master List, Arizona Younger Readers Award Nominee Age Range: 3-7 Years Old Summary: Unhei is new to America and is attending school for her first day. She is nervous, and some of the kids make fun of her name. She tells her mom that she wants an American name because she does not want to be different. She tests out different names by introducing herself in the mirror, but nothing seems to sound right. The next day at school Unhei found a jar on her desk, which was filled with name suggestions from her classmates. It keeps getting filled up, but one day when she went to class the name jar was gone. Only one name was on her desk and it was her own. She decided to introduce herself to the class and keep her original name. Johnny showed up at her house that evening with the name jar. He told Unhei that he wanted her to keep her own name which is why he took the ja...
Post a Comment
Read more

All Are Welcome

Genre: Realistic Fiction Title: All Are Welcome Author: Alexandra Penfold Illustrator: Suzanne Kaufman Awards: N/A Age Range: 4-6 Years Old Summary: This book is about welcoming all students from wherever they come from. The classroom the students are in is one that is a safe place for all to be. It takes you through a normal class day such as arriving at school, learning, listening to a read-aloud, eating lunch, playing outside, learning some more, then going home. Throughout the story, all the students get to learn from each other. All are welcome and cherished for who they are. Evaluation: This book is written to be suited more for lower elementary such as pre-k through the 1st grade. I really love how the book is about celebrating diversity and including everyone no matter what they look like or where they are from. Therefore, I think this is a good book that could even be read to upper elementary and middle schoolers on the first day of school. Then, I would have the students writ...
Post a Comment
Read more