The Bus Ride by Anne
McLean has been around
for years. It's a patterned
story about numerous
animal characters getting
on a bus, with a pattern
twist at the end. We
almost always use it as
our first shared reading
book because of its
predictable pattern and
repetition. Our students
end up reading it all year
long, "rediscovering"
more high-frequency
words, details in the
illustrations, and
punctuation.
Shared Reading:
day 1:
make predictions using the front/back
cover, introduce book, title, author, and
illustrator, then read for enjoyment!
day 2:
reread the book with the children, focus
their attention on new vocabulary
day 3:
reread the book with the children, focus
on print conventions
We reviewed on directionality and return
sweep.
day 4:
reread the book with the children,
experimenting with intonation and
expression, focus on same/further print
conventions or language targets
We introduced the concept of punctuation,
focusing on periods.
day 5:
reread and respond (responses can be
oral, written, or visual, depending on the
shared reading book)
We retold the story using the book's pattern-
The (character) got on the bus.
Then the bus went fast.
Each student illustrated his/her own
character getting on the bus. Then we
published the pages into a class book.