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Hot Chocolate Painting Polar Express Lesson Plan

Activity:  
Hot Chocolate Painting Polar Express Lesson Plan
Age Group:
Toddlers
Picture
Hot Chocolate Painting
* Lesson plan objective and assessment can be adapted to use this activity with preschoolers.
Objectives:  
  • Students will experience a new sensory experience while painting with a new medium.
CDA Competency Standard:   
II.5.1a
  • Activities encourage curiosity, exploration and discovery
a) Activities involve developmentally appropriate, hands-on experiences
Materials: 
  • Shaving Cream
  • Hot chocolate packets (I per child)
  • Hot Chocolate printable (Click here to download)
  • Paintbrushes
  • The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
Procedure: 
  • ​After reading The Polar Express, mix together shaving cream and hot chocolate to create hot chocolate paint. Allow children to color the mugs on the printable with crayons or other coloring materials while you prep the paint. When it is ready, children can use paintbrushes to paint.​
* Make an edible version of this paint by using Cool Whip instead of shaving cream.
Assessment: 
  • Assess student’s reaction to the smell and feel of the new paint. Did they notice the smell? Did they touch the paint to see if it felt different than normal paint?
Click on the photos to enlarge.
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Vocabulary Exposure

Books such as Zathura and Jumanji use new vocabulary words that students can learn and hopefully use themselves. If the new words are connected with an activity or a lesson plan, this proves to be more beneficial, as it becomes useful information that children will apply in other areas. ​
Toddlers are learning new words every day! Strengthen this vocabulary acquisition by introducing them to new words and their meanings. Preschool students often enjoy learning new words and can benefit from the heightened awareness of new words. Chris Van Allsburg books contain some vocabulary words that can be fun and exciting for young children to learn.      
Some sample ideas for vocabulary practice:
Simon Says: 
Play the game as usual, but use vocabulary words (and/or their meanings) instead of “Simon says.”

Memory Match: 
Provide  cards with either pictures of vocabulary words or the written vocabulary words and play a memory match game.

Word of the Day: ​
Make a new vocabulary word the “word of the day.” When children use the word a set number of times in the day, the class gets a special prize.

Ask your students to teach you a new word! 
Even if it is only new to them, encouraging them to teach it to another person deepens their understanding of the meaning of the word. 
​Vocabulary words found in Zathura by Chris Van Allsburg:
  • ​Rotate
  • Meteor
  • Reversed
  • Staggered
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​​Vocabulary words found in​ The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg:
  • ​Bell
  • Conductor
  • Nightgown
  • Polar
Vocabulary words found in​ Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg:
  • ​Peered
  • Erupt
  • Interrupt
  • Stampede
References:
  • Chris Van Allsburg Official Biography:  http://hmhbooks.com/chrisvanallsburg/biography.html
  • Chris Van Allsburg Official Books: http://hmhbooks.com/chrisvanallsburg/books.html
  • Phonological and Phonemic Awareness for Reading Rockets:  http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target/phonologicalphonemic
  • Storytelling in the First Three Years, By Susan Engel, Zero to Three: http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/early-language-literacy/the-emergence-of-storytelling.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/