One of my favorite days at school is Polar Express Day! When I taught first grade we had a whole week dedicated to the story the Polar Express. We read the story, worked on comprehension questions, and writing prompts about the book. Then, the special activity was our Polar Express Day. Each student wore pajamas to school and got their Polar Express ticket!
After receiving their ticket, students went out into the hall to board the train. You can see in the last photo how our hallway was set up like a train station. Our amazing school counselor dressed up as the conductor and punched everyone’s ticket as they boarded our classroom train. Students also got a bell at the end of the day with the Believe tag on it.
Now it wouldn’t be Polar Express Day if we didn’t have treats! Students were able to enjoy hot chocolate with candy canes and donuts! This might have been their favorite part of the whole day.
We watched the movie throughout the day while sitting on our train pictured below. I had seen this amazing train idea on Pinterest and just had to create it for the classroom! We covered the table in red butcher paper and created the front of the train with cardboard, butcher paper, and duct tape.
Since our whole grade level participated in Polar Express Day we also decorated the hall to look like a train station. We used black painters tape for the track (while this looked cute – it is a pain to clean up after) and created railroad signs to put up throughout the hallway.
So as I mentioned it is one of my favorite days – I always love a good theme and room transformation!
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