Reading Bus + Train Schedules | Timetables + Fares | Life Skills

Reading Bus + Train Schedules: a functional reading and math set for high school life skills, special education, and transition programs. Read across the row, read down the column, and get there on time.

Why I made this: A bus schedule is a grid of numbers, and for a lot of young adults that grid is what stands between them and a job across town. Reading across a row and down a column is a skill students can practice at a desk before anyone has to stand at a real stop. This set stays on reading the timetable itself, with times, days, and fares.

How it is different from my Transportation Planning ride plan: that one is a planning page for families (how will my student get there, who drives, what is the backup). This set teaches the student to read the timetable itself: rows, columns, AM and PM, days, and fares. No pages are shared.

What's included:

• A teacher page: why I made it, how to use both levels, and the skills covered

• Words to know: 10 key words, each with a picture

• 3 pages of practice documents: a weekday bus timetable with a route line, the return trip with Saturday service and fares, and a commuter train timetable with zones. All businesses, names, and numbers are made up.

• 12 Level A questions, each with a picture and three answer choices

• The same 12 questions at Level B, with open answers and room to show the math

• A real-life task: use the timetables to plan a bus trip to an appointment and back

• An answer key that shows where to find each answer

How I use it: Read through the practice documents together, then give each student the level that fits. Both levels ask the same questions, so the whole class can check answers together. I use the real-life task as a wrap-up or right before a community outing.

Skills covered: reading a timetable across a row and down a column; telling AM from PM; finding the next bus after a certain time; picking the latest bus that still arrives on time; finding how long a trip takes; reading service days, holidays, and fares; reading train numbers and fare zones.

Part of the Functional Life Skills series: every set uses the same layout (words, real-looking documents, two levels of the same questions, and a real-life task), so students know the routine when you move to the next set.

Pairs well with:

• Transportation Planning: How Do I Get There? Ride Plan (the family planning side of getting around)

• Job Skills Math: Work Schedules + Time Cards (more practice reading times and hours)

Who it is for: high school life skills and special education classes, transition programs for ages 18 to 21, and adult education. Grades 9 to 12 and adult transition.

What you download: one printable PDF, 11 pages, US Letter. Answer key included.

From the author of The Transition Map (Jeremy D. Gooch), available in paperback and Kindle.

Written by Jeremy D. Gooch, a teacher with 20+ years in education. All businesses, names, and numbers are made up.