Ideas: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

Lesson Focus: Using a mentor book to teach students how to use create a topic and use supporting details in their own writing
Grade Level: Second Grade
Title of Book & Author: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
Materials needed: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburgh, chart paper, marker, writing paper
Ohio Academic Content Standard K-12 English Language Arts: Writing Processes
Ohio Benchmarks K-12 English Language Arts: 

A. Generate ideas for written compositions

Grade 2  Grade Level Indicators: 
2. Develop a main idea for writing.
11. Add descriptive words or details and delete extraneous information

Introduction: 
The Ideas trait is the first trait within the six traits of writing that we will explore in this blog. Ideas are the author's main message and all of its supporting details. Students need to understand how to select a topic, narrow that topic, and then develop their idea with details.
A mentor text that can be used to teach the ideas writing trait is The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg.


Before the Lesson: 
The day before the lesson, read the book aloud to students. It is important for students to be familiar with the book before analyzing the author's use of ideas. After reading the book to the class, discuss the content of the book with students.


Lesson: 
1.  Read the book aloud to the students again. This time, guide the students to recognize the main idea of the book. The story is about an old-fashioned steam train that takes children on a magical adventure to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus. While reading, point out some of the details Chris Van Allsburg uses in his story. 
2.  Discuss with students how these details help make the story more interesting and exciting to read. The trip the children take is described in great detail using similes and descriptive language. Ask students to think about how the author ties the pictures and words together to create the story. 
3. After reading the book, discuss with students the topic, main idea, and details the author used in the story. Allow the students to list these on chart paper.  Ask the students why they think it is important that Chris Van Allsburg included these ideas in his story.  What would happen if the author hadn't had a focused topic? What would happen if he hadn't  included details in the story? Guide students to understand that the ideas of a story help paint a picture in the reader's mind.  
4.  Now comes the most important part of the lesson: have students APPLY what they have learned to their own writing. In The Polar Express, Chris Van Allsburg gives details that support his topic and theme. Challenge students to write their own story based on the Polar Express. Students will imagine that they are a passenger aboard their own train.  
5.  Before writing, students can brainstorm some possible ideas of what the story could be about (topic), the name of their train, where the train is travelling to, etc. Encourage students to refer to the list created on chart paper to see examples of how Chris Van Allsburg developed his topic and used details to support his story.
6. After writing, have students underline the main idea and at least two sentences in their writing piece that include details that support their topic. Allow the students to share their stories with the class.