Name: ____________________Date: ____________
Mice and a Bell
Mice in a house.
A cat in the house, too.
Oh no! Here is the cat!
"A bell!" said a mouse.
"Put a bell on the cat!"
Yes, yes, yes!
"But who will do it?"
"Not me!" "Not me!"
No mouse will do it.
The cat naps.
Easy to say. Hard to do.
Questions
1. Who is in the house?
- A pig
- Mice and a cat
- A bus
2. What do the mice want?
- A hat
- A log
- A bell
3. Who will put it on the cat?
- No mouse
- Every mouse
- A dog
4. What does the cat do?
- Runs
- Sings
- Naps
5. What is the lesson?
- Cats are bad
- Easy to say, hard to do
- Bells are red
Words to know
- bell: it rings
- mice: more than one mouse
- cat: a pet
Answer key: Mice and a Bell
- B. Mice and a cat
- C. A bell
- A. No mouse
- C. Naps
- B. Easy to say, hard to do
For the teacher: how this passage is levelled
“Mice and a Bell” is a reading level 4 story. Every Peabody story at this level is written and checked to keep sentences to 8 words or fewer, to aim at an average of 5 words a sentence, and to show 1 to 8 words on a screen. At most 6% of its words may be off the familiar-word list. Readers reach this level by climbing, not by grade.
| This passage | 53 words, 11 screens, 5 multiple-choice questions with an answer key, and 3 vocabulary words with kid-sized meanings |
|---|---|
| Longest sentence at this level | 8 words |
| Words on a screen | 1 to 8 |
| Skills practised at this level | phonics (sounding words out), first sounds, sight words |
Reading level 4: 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.