Scratch at the Tent
Mo and Lin were in a tent in the yard.
They had a lantern and two sleeping bags.
Scratch, scratch, scratch!
Something was at the side of the tent.
“Is it a bear?” whispered Mo.
“Dad!” called Lin. “Come quick!”
Dad came out with a flashlight.
He unzipped the tent very slowly.
There was a small, round hedgehog!
It looked up with shiny black eyes.
“Hedgehogs like to be left alone,” said Dad.
So they watched it quietly.
Then it walked off into the grass.
Mo and Lin lay down and smiled in the dark.
Questions
- In a car
- In a tent
- In a boat
- A bear
- A cat
- A hedgehog
- Dad
- A friend
- Nobody
- It is too big
- Wild animals like to be left alone
- It bites
- Very fast
- Very high
- Without much noise
Words to know
- scratch: rub with a sharp point
- unzipped: opened a zipper
- hedgehog: a small spiky animal
- quietly: without much noise
Answer key: Scratch at the Tent
- B. In a tent
- C. A hedgehog
- A. Dad
- B. Wild animals like to be left alone
- C. Without much noise
For the teacher: how this passage is levelled
“Scratch at the Tent” is a reading level 5 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 5 words a sentence, and to show 1 to 12 words on a screen. At most 6% of its words may be off the familiar-word list. Children in 2nd grade start at this level.
| This passage | 95 words, 14 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 | 1 to 12 |
| Skills practised at this level | phonics (sounding words out), first sounds, sight words |
Reading level 5: 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.