Paddy Builds a Dam
Paddy built a dam. It was a pile of sticks. It stood in the brook.
Billy came to look. "The water will go right through!" he said. "That is no dam."
Jerry looked at the brook. Water was spilling over the bank above the sticks.
A pool was growing behind the dam. Billy had no more to say.
Paddy packed mud in every gap. He did most of his work at night.
Each day the dam got bigger. The pile got higher and wider.
But the brook grew quiet. It did not laugh. It did not make a sound.
The pool got smaller and smaller. The fish swam close to the mud.
The pond folk began to fret. "Will the water come back?" they asked.
Only Jerry was not worried. "Paddy is my cousin," he said. "He will keep his word."
One morning Grandfather Frog sat very still. He heard a soft sound, like a giggle.
The sound grew louder. It was the brook, laughing again. Water was coming!
Paddy had kept his word. The water ran back into the pool. The pool smiled.
Questions
- A boat
- A dam
- A nest
- The water would go right through
- The dam was too tall
- The dam was done
- It froze
- It got louder
- It grew quiet
- He trusted his cousin
- He was asleep
- He had a boat
- Do what he said he would
- Say very little
- Read a book
Words to know
- dam: wall of sticks
- gap: a hole
- worry: feel afraid
- word: a promise
Answer key: Paddy Builds a Dam
- B. A dam
- A. The water would go right through
- C. It grew quiet
- A. He trusted his cousin
- A. Do what he said he would
For the teacher: how this passage is levelled
“Paddy Builds a Dam” 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 | 184 words, 13 screens, 5 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.