A Wolf at Last
The boy minded the sheep on the hill. All day nothing happened at all.
He was so bored. So he ran down to the village and shouted, "Wolf!"
The people came running with sticks and pans. They looked all over, but there was no wolf.
The boy laughed and laughed. "It was a joke!" he said. The people went home cross.
A few days later, he did it again. Up the hill they ran, but there was no wolf.
An old man shook his head. "Stop fibbing," he said. "You will be sorry one day."
That evening, two yellow eyes shone in the trees. A real wolf stepped out!
The boy ran to the village. "A real wolf!" he cried. "Please come!"
But nobody came. "He is fooling us again," said the people. "We won't go."
The wolf ran at the sheep. They scattered every way. The wolf soon gave up and went off.
The boy looked for the sheep all night. He found them one by one, safe in the bushes.
Next morning, the old man helped him bring them home. "Nobody believes a fibber," he said.
The boy nodded. From then on, he told the truth. And the next time he shouted, they came.
Questions
- He was bored
- He saw a wolf
- He was lost
- A wolf
- Nothing
- The sheep
- They thought it was another joke
- They did not hear
- They were too far
- Ran off in every way
- Stood still
- Went to sleep
- His mother
- A fox
- An old man
- A fibber is not believed
- Sheep like hills
- Wolves are shy
Words to know
- village: a small town
- scattered: ran in every way
- fibbing: telling made-up tales
- bored: tired of doing nothing
Answer key: A Wolf at Last
- A. He was bored
- B. Nothing
- A. They thought it was another joke
- A. Ran off in every way
- C. An old man
- A. A fibber is not believed
For the teacher: how this passage is levelled
“A Wolf at Last” is a reading level 6 story. Every Peabody story at this level is written and checked to keep sentences to 10 words or fewer, to aim at an average of 6 words a sentence, and to show 12 to 20 words on a screen. At most 7% of its words may be off the familiar-word list. Readers reach this level by climbing, not by grade.
| This passage | 206 words, 13 screens, 6 multiple-choice questions with an answer key, and 4 vocabulary words with kid-sized meanings |
|---|---|
| Longest sentence at this level | 10 words |
| Words on a screen | 12 to 20 |
| Skills practised at this level | phonics (sounding words out), first sounds, sight words |
Reading level 6: the limits, a real sample and the free games. Peabody is a learning app, not an assessment: use the questions to talk about the story, not to grade a child.