The 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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Glossary The Creature
Constitution
argued (v.) disagreed; gave
reasons for or against Written by Torran Anderson
something (p. 5) Illustrated by Chris Baldwin

constitution (n.) the basic laws of www.readinga-z.com
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)

represented (v.) spoke or acted for
another person or
group of people
(p. 10)

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

16

The Creature Constitution Correlation The night they signed their
Level M Leveled Book LEVEL M constitution, the creatures in the
© Learning A–Z building fell asleep happy. They all
Written by Torran Anderson Fountas & Pinnell L had a good night’s sleep.
Illustrated by Chris Baldwin Reading Recovery 19

All rights reserved. DRA 24

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The Creature Constitution • Level M 15

In September of 1786, the creatures Independence Hall
signed their constitution. Philadelphia, 1786

Maddy had found a way for them None of the creatures in
to all work together. The creatures Independence Hall were able to
asked Maddy to be their leader. sleep. Every night, the mice in the
Whenever the groups had a basement ran through the spiders’
problem, they would bring it to webs. Then the spiders chased the
Maddy and the other groups. mice. The crickets in the closets
chirped all night. In the morning,
14 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

Maddy had the largest ears of any The next day, the creatures
mouse in Independence Hall, and representing each group met.
she heard everything. She worried Everyone listened to the issues.
that no one would ever have a good When the groups started to argue,
night’s sleep. Maddy reminded them to work
together. Each group then shared
4 the rules that they thought would
let everyone sleep.

In the end, they came up with rules
that everyone could agree on.

The Creature Constitution • Level M 13

“Maddy’s right,” said one of the One morning, she heard humans
other mice. “Let’s go.” discussing something that sounded
important. Maddy sneaked into the
The groups went back to where room and listened as they argued
they lived. They decided to take about needing a constitution. They
votes so every creature would have needed some rules that everyone in
a say. The elections lasted until late the country would follow. The rules
in the evening. would bring the separate parts of
the country together.
12
The Creature Constitution • Level M 5

Maddy thought a constitution was “This room is too crowded,” Maddy
an excellent idea. She organized a said. “Go and choose five creatures
meeting of all the creatures, and to represent your group. The
every creature came. There were so creatures you choose will present
many animals in the room that they the group’s problems at a meeting
could barely move. tomorrow. They will vote on what
the new rules will be.”
6
The Creature Constitution • Level M 11

Maddy covered her large ears and “Thank you for coming, everybody,”
looked at the hundreds of animals Maddy said. “The humans have
crammed in the room. Tired and a great idea. They are writing a
grumpy, they weren’t achieving constitution. We should have our
anything. Maddy remembered that own constitution.”
the humans she saw represented
the different states. “What’s a constitution?” asked
a pigeon.
After the last bell chimed, Maddy
said to the group, “Listen up! We “It’s a document that explains rules
need to work together.” that we all live by,” Maddy said.

“That’s what we’re doing,” said “We don’t need any rules,” said
a spider. a spider.

10 “When was the last time any of you
slept all night?” Maddy replied.

The Creature Constitution • Level M 7

“The crickets keep everyone up,” The pigeons flapped their wings,
one mouse snapped. the crickets chirped, the mice
squeaked, and the spiders whined.
“Boo, crickets!” yelled a pigeon. No one could hear a word anyone
was saying. The animals argued
“The pigeons wake everyone up until the bell began to ring: Ding,
so early. It’s their fault,” chirped dong, ding, dong!
a cricket.
The Creature Constitution • Level M 9
“The mice are the worst!” said a
spider. “They keep knocking down
our webs.”

“We can’t see your webs,” said
a mouse.

8