The Swing
How do you like to go up in a swing, Up in the air so blue? Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing Ever a child can do! Up in the air and over the wall, Till I can see so wide, Rivers and trees and cattle and all Over the countryside--
Till I look down on the garden green, Down on the roof so brown-- Up in the air I go flying again, Up in the air and down!
The Swing was written by Robert Louis Stevenson. A Child's Garden of Verses was published in 1885.
Questions
- The sea and ships
- Rivers, trees and cattle
- Only the garden
- It is scary
- It is boring
- It is the pleasantest thing a child can do
- A kind of swing
- The land outside the town
- A rainy day
- How do you like
- Down on the roof
- Up in the air
- swing
- green
- side
Words to know
- cattle: cows
- countryside: land outside towns
- pleasantest: nicest
Answer key: The Swing
- B. Rivers, trees and cattle
- C. It is the pleasantest thing a child can do
- B. The land outside the town
- C. Up in the air
- C. side
For the teacher: how this passage is levelled
“The Swing” is a reading level 7 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 30 words on a screen. At most 8% of its words may be off the familiar-word list. Children in 3rd grade start at this level.
| This passage | 98 words, 3 screens, 5 multiple-choice questions with an answer key, and 3 vocabulary words with kid-sized meanings |
|---|---|
| Longest sentence at this level | 10 words |
| Words on a screen | 12 to 30 |
| Skills practised at this level | phonics (sounding words out), sight words, spelling |
Reading level 7: 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.