English Reception Summer Lists, Maps and Recounts


All aboard! Share the joys of bus and train rides by reading You Can't Take an Elephant on the Bus, Naughty Bus and The Train Ride. Explore other forms of transport and maps and use personal experiences to help create a recount or directions for a toy bus.

Modes of transport (suggested as 5 days)

Active Learning

  1. Different modes of transport
  2. You can't take that on the bus!
  3. School transport
  4. Eco-friendly travel

Creating and Thinking Critically

  1. The Wheels on the Bus
  2. Why can't you take an elephant on the bus?
  3. Rhyming words
  4. Guided reading

Exploring and Playing

  1. Car wash
  2. Making tracks
  3. Build-a-bus
  4. Sticky vehicles

Books to Share

  1. Read You Can’t Take an Elephant on the Bus. Identify each form of transport. Children discuss which vehicles they have tried; they share their reason for travelling and describe how it felt.
  2. Enjoy You Can’t Take an Elephant on the Bus. Relish the illustrations and amusing scenarios. Invite children to select their favourite and to use because to provide a reason for their opinion, e.g. A whale riding a bike because it is funny to see something so big on something so small.
  3. Enjoy Mrs. Armitage on Wheels. Stop before the final page. Suggest alternative forms of transport for Mrs. Armitage. Select the best idea. Finally, read and enjoy the remainder of the story.
  4. Share Mrs. Armitage on Wheels Identify each problem Mrs. Armitage solves. Discuss the improvements the children would make to their bikes/scooters, e.g. add a wireless speaker to play music, a TV, a seat for teddy.

Poetry/Rhyme of the Week: Biking by Judith Nicholls (resources)
Share the poem and rehearse at suitable times throughout the week, e.g. start/end of the day. Encourage the children to vary the pitch and tone of their voice as they rehearse to emphasise the rhyming words, e.g. curl/whirl. Support children to learn and perform the poem in small groups.

You Will Need

Essential text
You Can't Take an Elephant on the Bus
by Patricia Cleveland-Peck

Mrs. Armitage on Wheels from youtube.com

A wide variety of toy vehicles
Shaving foam, toy cars
Brushes, toothbrushes, cloths
Cardboard, pens, money
Paint, plates
Large sheets/rolls of paper to cover the table
Junk modelling resources