Christmas Book Club: The Polar Express and Hot Cocoa Mix
A GREAT class for celebrating the Christmas season, we’ll play games, explore the highlights of Chris Van Allsburg’s famous book, The Polar Express, and then make big batch of homemade Hot Cocoa Mix - great for drinking or for gifting!
What's included
1 live meeting
45 mins in-class hoursClass Experience
**Before class even begins, learners may print and cut out the personalized train tickets I will have sent to them upon enrolling, thread with yarn or string, and wear during our class, in addition to their Christmas hat or sweater (or both). Secondly, be sure to have the ingredients set out, but not yet measured (These are listed on the larger train ticket, which is on the same sheet as your learner's personalized train ticket). Finally, make sure your learner has the kitchen supplies needed set out and ready before class (listed, here, under "Learner Supply List"). To begin our time together, we'll play a get-to-know you game (A Christmas themed "Would You Rather?"). Learners may just listen, but I know we would all love for each friend to participate. This is such a fun way to enjoy time with our peers. Just like any great book club discussion would, we’ll discuss the literary elements and our favorite parts of Chris Van Allsburg’s famous book, The Polar Express. (Before class meets, children will either already have read it for themselves, or listened to a read aloud from an adult, on YouTube, or the through the audio version.) I will send a PDF to parents which gives students a brief overview in advance of our round table discussion. An important skill of literary analysis is supporting our ideas about a specific piece of literature using the text, itself. The most wonderful and effective learning takes place when learners feel safe, included, and valued. I will warmly encourage all learners to join in this discussion, lead them to use the story to back up their ideas, and model respect for all readers' understanding and ideas. We will not spend time reading the book during this book club session, but will refer back to portions of the text for discussion. However, students DO NOT NEED to have their own copy of the book for this. Once we've finished our round table discussion, we'll use a recipe I've created to each make our own batch of homemade Hot Cocoa Mix. Students will learn to measure, mix, and heat water in a microwave (adult supervision certainly welcome). We'll enjoy a cup of the hot cocoa we've made and store the remainder of the mix in an airtight container. If time allows, while we sip our cocoa we'll play a wrap-up game ("Christmas Riddles", where learners will listen to clues to make inferences).
Learning Goals
Besides cultivating social skills, learners will also develop the ability to identify setting, to examine characters, to explore plot, and to draw conclusions about possible themes of fictional literature. In addition, students will have opportunities to share their ideas and opinions, and become more confident in their ability to provide text evidence when doing so. Students will gain experience following a recipe, measuring, mixing, and safely heating water in a microwave.
Other Details
Parental Guidance
If you're unfamiliar with The Polar Express, please research the content of the book before enrolling your child in this class. A great resource for this is Common Sense Media.
Supply List
*We will be making a recipe which contains dry dairy ingredients such as powdered milk and powdered coffee creamer. If you would like suggested substitutes to keep your child's recipe dairy-free, please let me know before you enroll, and I'll provide those substitutes for you to consider. Ingredients needed: powdered milk, powdered sugar, plain powdered coffee creamer, Nestle Nesquik powdered chocolate milk mix, unsweetened cocoa powder, chocolate pudding mix *optional: miniature marshmallows Supplies needed: large mixing bowl, spoon for mixing, measuring spoons, measuring cups, sifter, air-tight container that holds at least 1.5 quarts
Language of Instruction
English
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Sources
No digital resources beyond the standard Outschool tools will be required.
Teacher expertise and credentials
Texas Teaching Certificate in Elementary Education
Teaching learners to analyze literature has been one of my greatest joys for a couple of decades. Not only that, but tying literature in with a recipe has always been something my students enjoyed with me. I look forward to experiencing The Polar Express and a little recipe mixing with your learners!
Reviews
Live One-Time Class
$10
per classMeets once
45 min
Completed by 10 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 8-10
3-5 learners per class