Creature Constitution

The Creature LEVELED BOOK • M
Constitution
The Creature
A Reading A–Z Level M Leveled Book Constitution
Word Count: 570
J•M•P
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Written by Torran Anderson
for thousands of books and materials. Illustrated by Chris Baldwin

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The Creature
Constitution

Written by Torran Anderson The Creature Constitution Correlation
Illustrated by Chris Baldwin Level M Leveled Book LEVEL M
© Learning A–Z
www.readinga-z.com Written by Torran Anderson Fountas & Pinnell L
Illustrated by Chris Baldwin Reading Recovery 19

All rights reserved. DRA 24

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Independence Hall Maddy had the largest ears of any
Philadelphia, 1786 mouse in Independence Hall, and
she heard everything. She worried
None of the creatures in that no one would ever have a good
Independence Hall were able to night’s sleep.
sleep. Every night, the mice in the
basement ran through the spiders’ 4
webs. Then the spiders chased the
mice. The crickets in the closets
chirped all night. In the morning,
the pigeons in the clock tower
started singing. All the animals that
lived in the building were tired and
miserable.

The Creature Constitution • Level M 3

One morning, she heard humans Maddy thought a constitution was
discussing something that sounded an excellent idea. She organized a
important. Maddy sneaked into the meeting of all the creatures, and
room and listened as they argued every creature came. There were so
about needing a constitution. They many animals in the room that they
needed some rules that everyone in could barely move.
the country would follow. The rules
would bring the separate parts of 6
the country together.

The Creature Constitution • Level M 5

“Thank you for coming, everybody,” “The crickets keep everyone up,”
Maddy said. “The humans have one mouse snapped.
a great idea. They are writing a
constitution. We should have our “Boo, crickets!” yelled a pigeon.
own constitution.”
“The pigeons wake everyone up
“What’s a constitution?” asked so early. It’s their fault,” chirped
a pigeon. a cricket.

“It’s a document that explains rules “The mice are the worst!” said a
that we all live by,” Maddy said. spider. “They keep knocking down
our webs.”
“We don’t need any rules,” said
a spider. “We can’t see your webs,” said
a mouse.
“When was the last time any of you
slept all night?” Maddy replied. 8

The Creature Constitution • Level M 7

The pigeons flapped their wings, Maddy covered her large ears and
the crickets chirped, the mice looked at the hundreds of animals
squeaked, and the spiders whined. crammed in the room. Tired and
No one could hear a word anyone grumpy, they weren’t achieving
was saying. The animals argued anything. Maddy remembered that
until the bell began to ring: Ding, the humans she saw represented
dong, ding, dong! the different states.

The Creature Constitution • Level M 9 After the last bell chimed, Maddy
said to the group, “Listen up! We
need to work together.”

“That’s what we’re doing,” said
a spider.

10

“This room is too crowded,” Maddy “Maddy’s right,” said one of the
said. “Go and choose five creatures other mice. “Let’s go.”
to represent your group. The
creatures you choose will present The groups went back to where
the group’s problems at a meeting they lived. They decided to take
tomorrow. They will vote on what votes so every creature would have
the new rules will be.” a say. The elections lasted until late
in the evening.
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12

The next day, the creatures In September of 1786, the creatures
representing each group met. signed their constitution.
Everyone listened to the issues.
When the groups started to argue, Maddy had found a way for them
Maddy reminded them to work to all work together. The creatures
together. Each group then shared asked Maddy to be their leader.
the rules that they thought would Whenever the groups had a
let everyone sleep. problem, they would bring it to
Maddy and the other groups.
In the end, they came up with rules
that everyone could agree on. 14

The Creature Constitution • Level M 13

Glossary

argued (v.) disagreed; gave
reasons for or against
something (p. 5)

constitution (n.) the basic laws of
a state or nation
that tell how the
government is run
(p. 5)

elections (n.) acts of selecting
a person for
government office
by voting (p. 12)

miserable (adj.) very unhappy,
uncomfortable, or
unpleasant (p. 3)

The night they signed their represented (v.) spoke or acted for
constitution, the creatures in the another person or
building fell asleep happy. They all group of people
had a good night’s sleep. (p. 10)

signed (v.) wrote one’s name
on something (p. 14)

The Creature Constitution • Level M 15 16