Wheels on the bus! (freebie)

Well we are getting ready to roll into week 3 of school, so I thought maybe I should share what we did our first week!

This year I am back to teaching K-2 1/2 day and preschool 1/2 day.  That means you may see more preschool posts since I do not have a self contained K-2 class this year.  We started off the year in Preschool talking about the Wheels on the Bus. This turned out to be a great opener because the kids all knew the song and could immediately relate as they rode the bus to school.  We read the book, Pete the Cat: Wheels on the bus.  Huge hit!  The kids are still reading it during "library" time.   To follow up on this book we painted buses.  Before we could paint the bus though, we talked about who rode the bus with Pete and who we ride the bus with.  The kids then drew in the bus driver. Then they drew themselves.  After the drawing was done, we painted.  Oh how they loved to paint!

Later in the week we read, Don't let the pigeon drive the bus.  This was another hit!  We made buses using different shapes.  I modeled, but the kids were able to put the windows, doors, and wheels wherever they though was appropriate.  I feel that kids should be able to express themselves through their art work and that everyone's final product does not have to look the same. I will say, all of the buses were different.  One is even upside down!  I added the kids pictures to the front of each bus as the driver with a sign on the wall that says "Don't let the Preschoolers Drive the bus!".


Once a week we have Talk & Stir with our speech therapist.  She does a "cooking" activity with the kids that goes along with our theme.  This week they did buses made out of graham crackers, Oreos, chex, and icing.  The kids said the buses were delicious!!

To round out our week, I taught the students a special version of Wheels on the Bus.  I am sure you have heard of this before, but if not, I will tell you it is a hit with all primary
 ages.  So here is how it goes (to the tune of the Wheels on the Bus)

The letter on the bus is A, A, A, 

A, A A,

A, A, A

The letter on the bus is A, A, A

All through the town.  

Cute, right?  You can change it up by changing the letter, changing it to shapes, numbers, or anything else you can get to fit in there.  I also do this song with sight words.  That is huge hit with my older kids.  I have a book with the words one to a page and we read the word, then sing the song. 

We have been using this song to review while waiting for the bus.  To make it work, I whipped up these buses that are programmed with letters, shapes,and numbers.  As we introduce each concept, we add it to the ring. Then we can easily grab the ring and review.  You can get your copy by going to my TpT store.  While you are there, be sure to follow me so you never miss another update and leave feedback so I know what you think!