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TEACHER'S GUIDE FOR:

Here Comes the Bus

By Anastasia Suen
Illustrations by Linda Finch

Focus: Concepts of Print

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

Supportive Text Features

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

 
High-frequency Words: here, comes, the

Concept Words: one, two, three, four, five
 
Getting Ready to Read
Introduce the concept and vocabulary 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?
  1. 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 story.
    • Give children the book and have them look at the pictures.
    • Ask them what they see happening as the bus goes along its route.
  2. 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.
  3. 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!”

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

  1. 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.

  2. Look for these reading behaviors during the first reading:
    • Do the words they 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?
  3. 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.

  4. 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 the high-frequency words children have learned and used.

After the First Reading
Have children confirm the predictions they made before reading.

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

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

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

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

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

  1. 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 student as an assessment of the student’s reading behavior.

Cross-Curricular Activities
Music: Sing the song “The Wheels on the Bus” using the motions for each verse.
    
Art: Children draw a picture of themselves on the bus. Ask them who are they sitting beside and what are they doing as they ride along. Encourage them to put those details into the picture.

Math: Have children practice counting one through ten, forward and backward.

Science: Discuss the daily weather by revisiting the class weather chart or by keeping track of the weather for a week. Then revisit the story and brainstorm what would be added to each picture for a rainy day, a windy day, a chilly day, a snowy day, etc. Ask: “How would the bus driver change his or her driving to match the weather?”

Social Studies: Read RIDING THE BUS WITH MRS. KRAMER by Alice Flanagan (Children’s Press) and discuss the bus driver’s job. Ask: “How is a bus driver a community helper?”

Writing: Children write about something that happened when they were riding the bus.

Guided Reading with YA VIENE EL AUTOBÚS

Guided Reading™: B        DRA: 2        Reading Recovery®: 2

The Spanish edition also uses a patterned phrase, but the ordinal numbers are used rather than the counting numbers. The introduction should include using these words: primera, segunda, tercera, cuarta, quinta. Also the title and first line of the book do not translate exactly from the English. Be aware the Spanish word ya is different from the word aqui and so has a different meaning. Ya translates as already, now, finally, soon, and so has a temporal meaning. Help children understand this during the introduction.

The book introduction and guided reading lesson follow the outline for the English edition. Children need exactly the same support and strategy instruction as their English-speaking classmates.

If children have difficulty with concepts or words in the story, see the introduction to the guide for some suggestions.

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About This Title

Guided Reading:

B

Lexile:

BR50L

Interest Level:

Grades PreK - K

Reading Level:

Grades PreK - K

Themes

Vehicles In Motion, Counting Money/Everyday Math, Neighbors, Multiethnic interest, Friendship, Families, Cultural Diversity, Childhood Experiences and Memories, Beginning Concepts, Asian/Asian American Interest, How To, People In Motion, Realistic Fiction

Collections

Early Emergent Dual Language, Early Emergent English , Bebop English Guided Reading Level B, Bebop Realistic Fiction Collection Grades PreK-2, Bebop Asian American English Grades PreK-2, Dual Language Levels A-C Collection, Asian American Collection English 6PK, Diverse Backgrounds Collection English 6PK, Reading Recovery Bebop Books collection, Bebop English Fiction

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