On the Bus

Reading together

This original Level 1 reader is written for students aged 11–20 who benefit from accessible text and age-appropriate characters. It uses very short repeated sentences, a small number of familiar sentence patterns and clear picture support. A reader may point to each word, join in with a repeated phrase, and use the illustration to discuss meaning. Introduce picture-supported words before reading; offer help with any unfamiliar word. Level 1 is the intended difficulty, not a formal PM assessment. Reading age 5–6½ is an approximate guide to text difficulty; it does not describe the student’s age or maturity.

Before reading

Read the title and look at the cover. Introduce the characters shown there. Explore bus, sit, park, shop, stop using familiar examples. Invite a prediction about what might happen.

During reading

Introduce unfamiliar character names and useful topic words before reading. Help the student blend unfamiliar words using letter–sound patterns they have learned. Explain a word with an untaught pattern, then reread the sentence. Use illustrations to discuss meaning and check understanding; do not ask students to guess printed words from pictures. These School Readers are not a phonics-sequenced decodable programme.

An adult can model the first sentence, then invite the reader to join in. Point to the words from left to right, pause at the full stop, and reread the short sentence for meaning. Use Talk Together for a prompt on each page. Encourage students to look back at both the words and the pictures to support an answer.

After reading

Who is waiting with Neil? What arrives for Neil and Kate to get on? What do Neil and Kate do after getting on the bus? What do they see from the bus? Where do they get off? How do Neil and Kate travel after getting off the bus?

Use the pictures to tell the bus trip in order. Point to the seats, the window and the stop. Show where people wait safely for a bus.

Reading-age guide

Levels 1–20 describe this library’s editorial progression. Reading-age ranges are approximate orientation guides, not tested scores or automatic equivalents to PM, Oxford Levels or Reading Recovery. Choose a book by listening to the student read and checking fluency and understanding. Match the characters and subject matter to the student’s age and interests separately from text difficulty.

Activities

An adult can read the eleven separate question cards aloud and offer picture support. The questions include recall, simple “why” discussion and word meaning; the activity instructions are support text, not an independent Level 1 reading task. Explore five vocabulary words, build them from movable letters, order three story pictures and retell the story. Students can drag with a mouse or finger, use tap controls, or use the keyboard. Personal discussion answers may vary.