A wonderful train full of children who want to believe in Santa winds its way to the North Pole and a meeting with the big man himself. As a tradition, every year Santa chooses one child to be the first to receive a present before he takes to his sled to deliver gifts to all the good boys and girls of the world. Instead of asking for a big gift, Chris asks for one of the sleigh’s bells, so that he can hold on to his belief in Santa.

This tale of belief and the wonderment of the holidays works well with children of all ages.

This unit has been developed with activities and worksheets that are aligned with the Texas Essential Skills and Knowledge for easy curriculum integration.  It includes the story told in American Sign Langauge by Russell Harvard to help Deaf and Hard of Hearing students make better connections with the story and text to increase their literacy skills

 Believer - Writing Assignments

Length of Activity: 30 minutes
Directions: In the story The Polar Express, the boy’s sister Sarah eventually stopped hearing the bell ring. Write a story about the events that lead to Sarah not believing. Use the graphic organizer first, then edit your work using the checklist and write your final copy. 

 Cause and Effect

 
Length of Activity: 20 minutes
Directions: Write two different cause and effect relationships based from the book The Polar Express.  Write in complete sentences.

Character Analysis

Length of Activity: 20 minutes
Activity: This activity allows students to look at the characters in the story and look at them and their character traits more closely.

 Compare and Contrast

Length of Activity: 25 minutes
Directions: After reading the book and watching the movie The Polar Express, use the Venn Diagram below to organize similarities and differences between the two. 

 Compound Sentences

Length of Activity: 20 minutes
Directions: After reading the simple sentence pair, edit the sentences by rewriting them and selecting the best coordinating conjunction to join them. Do not forget your comma! 

 Descriptive Language Activity

Length of Activity: 20 minutes
Directions: Chris Van Allsburg uses a lot of descriptive language to provide the reader with vivid images. Below are three examples. First, draw pictures to match the sentences below. Then, re-write the three sentences to add descriptive language. 

 Fill In The Blank Activity

Length of Activity: 15 minutes
Activity: Students will use the words provided to fill in the blanks.

 The First Gift of Christmas Activity

Length of Activity: 25 minutes
Directions: In the story The Polar Express, the boy chose a bell for the first gift of Christmas. Imagine you were in his shoes, what would you pick for the first gift of Christmas? Why? Use the brainstorm web first, then edit your work using the checklist and write your final copy. 

 Inferences Worksheet

Length of Activity: 20 minutes
Activity: In this worksheet, students will use the information provided (sentences from The Polar Express) to make an inference. The inferences should be supported with a “because” and written in complete sentences. 

 Point of View Activity

Length of Activity: 15 minutes
Activity: In this activity, point of view is considered.  Students will look at first, second and third person and identify how they know.

 Using Precise Words Activity

Length of Activity: 25 minutes
Activity: In this activity, students will identify which words more precisely explain what is taking place in the text.

 Predictions Worksheet

Length of Activity: 20 minutes
Activity: The worksheet provided here will all students the opportunity to look at an image from the text and make predictions about what they think will happen.

 Purpose and Theme Activity

Length of Activity: 30 minutes
Activity: This worksheet will have students identify the theme and purpose of the text.

 Quotation Marks Worksheet

Length of Activity: 20 minutes
Activity: Students will use direct text from the Polar Express to practice using Quotation Marks appropriately.

 Retelling Activity

Length of Activity: 25 minutes
Activity: In this activity, students will Summarize the story The Polar Express. The summary must include the title and author, setting, important characters, problem, solution, and all-important events from the story. The graphic organizer provided is an optional way to organize thoughts. 

 Setting Worksheet

Length of Activity: 20 minutes
Activity: This worksheet will help students identify locations on a map that relate to the setting of the story.  It will also help them look at "mean" in terms of annual temperature in various regions of the earth.

 Subject/Verb Agreement Activity

Length of Activity: 15 minutes
Activity: Use this worksheet to help students identify present and past tense verbs in the text.

 Making Connections

Length of Activity: 30 minutes
Activity: Use this to help students make connections between text to text, text to self and text to the world.