Polar Express

Earlier this week, I read The Polar Express to both my 3 year old class and my 4 year old class.  Afterwards, we made these Polar Express trains from Deanna Jump's Polar Express Unit:

When I purchased this unit from Deanna, I didn't know it had this train craft.  It was an unexpected but hoped for treasure that I knew was PERFECT for my class to do as a follow-up to the book!  Unfortunately, I didn't have gray construction paper for the front of the train, so we used black which blends in with the background paper, but I still love how they turned out. (Click HERE for a link to Deanna's TPT store).

To guide my students in making this craft, I made a template for them by running the construction paper through the copier (quick and easy).  I outlined this one with white crayon so it would show up in the picture better.

I was worried that my sweeties would have trouble positioning the pieces right on the paper without having a guide, and I wanted to make sure they had enough room to do some painting.  After giving them their template to guide them, I passed out the pieces for them to glue on.  They did a great job putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

For morning work, we completed a Mailbox page that I thought fit with our Polar Express theme:
"Tickets to Ride" (I took this picture before the students arrived, so this one isn't done yet)

Every Friday, I send an Optional Homework assignment in each kiddo's folder.  It makes me happy every Monday morning when I see completed homework in their folders that they've brought back in to show me.  I decided to make homework optional because, let's face it, these kids are only 3 or 4.  A lot of the kids have stay-at home moms that are sending their kids to preschool to be enriched.  They don't HAVE to send their kid to preschool, so I work hard to make my preschool program very educational, and I like to send these optional assignments home to give these parents tools to use at home.  I'm lucky that many of my preschoolers get worked with at home.  I think this is GREAT, and I am happy to provide them with resources for extra practice on things we do at preschool.  Below was the optional homework I sent today:

As you can see, I write Optional Homework on the paper so that parents are aware that it's not mandatory.

Thanks for looking!  Have a wonderful weekend!  I'll still be teaching through next Thursday, so be sure to come back soon to see the Grinch and Santa activities I have planned for next week!