Guided Reading with
Here Comes the Bus

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• one-to-one matching
• using the picture clues
• reading the number words
• using an exclamation point

• familiar words and concept
• patterned phrase
• number words used in the phrase

1. Introduce the concept and vocabulary through by asking open-ended questions:
• Tell me what the school bus does each morning.
• What does a school bus do as it picks up children on the way to school?


2. Connect children’s past experiences with the book vocabulary:
• Hold the book, calling children's attention to the title. Read: "Here Comes the Bus."
• Ask them to predict what they would expect to see the bus do as it goes along.
• Have children suggest some words they might read in the book.
• Give children the book and have them look at the pictures.
• Ask them what they see happening as the bus goes along its route.


3. Remind children of the strategies they know and can use with unfamiliar words:
• Ask them, "What will you do if you come to a word you don’t know?"
• Encourage children to look at the pictures and the beginning sound of the word.


4. Be aware of the following text features:
• The book contains the number words one through five.
• There is a patterned phrase: "Bus stop one."
• Only the number word changes in the phrase.
• The first and last sentences are different: "Here comes the bus." and "Last stop!"

1. Set a purpose by telling children to read the book and find out what happens as the bus moves along its route.


2. Have children read quietly, but out loud. Each child should be reading at his or her own pace. Children should not read in chorus. Listen to children as they read by leaning close or bending down beside each child.


3. Look for these reading behaviors during the first reading:
• Do the words the children say match the printed words in the book? (voice to print match)
• Do they look at the pictures before they read the text or after they read?
• What do they do if they encounter an unfamiliar word? (appeal to you, try a strategy)
• Do their eyes go up to the picture before reading the new word in the pattern?
• Are they saying the initial sounds of words before saying the whole word?
• Are they saying the individual letter sounds /s/ - /t/ - /o/ - /p/ or blending the sounds?
• Do they reread if they come to an unfamiliar or unknown word?
• Have they self-corrected any mistakes?
• Is there any inflection or speech-like sound to their reading?
• Have they responded with a laugh or other sound as they read the text?
• Do they make comments as they read?


4. As children read, suggest a reading strategy if they are struggling: "Try looking at the picture to make sense of the print." Encourage children to take a guess or use the beginning letter sound.


5. Possible teaching points to address based on your observations:
• Review using the picture to help with each new word.
• Review using the beginning sound.
• Model how to reread the sentence if it doesn’t sound right or make sense.
• Call attention to all the color words children have learned to read.

1. Have children confirm the predictions they made before reading.


2. Compare how this bus route is similar and different than the one they ride.


3. Generate something for each child to say as he or she gets on the bus.


4. Reflect on what the driver is doing as the bus moves along.


5. Talk about the exclamation point on the last page and how it affects the reading.

1. Have children reread the book in a whisper voice or to a partner.


2. This is a time for assessment. While they are reading, watch what children do and what they use from the teaching time. Alternatively, you might take a running record on one child as an assessment of the child’s reading behavior.

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Lesson Plans