Queen Bee Needs to Be Free

When a bee colony becomes overcrowded, the queen bee's instinct tells her that she must swarm, leaving her nest to a new queen and establishing a new colony herself.

Written by Laura Appleton-Smith and Illustrated by Preston Neel

35 pages

Target Letter-Sound Correspondences: Single long vowels and patterns consolidation: /ā/ a; /ē/ e; /ī/ i, igh & patterns ild, ight; /ō/ o&patterns old, ost; /ū/ and /ōō/ u_e

To search for other titles with these letter-sound correspondences, please see our Scope and Sequence.

Common Core State Standards Aligned as: Informational Text

Text Complexity

Flyleaf Recommended Grade Level: 1-2**

To find more titles with this recommended grade level, please see the Text Complexity Chart.

Percent Wholly Decodable: 76%

Percent High-Frequency Words: 20%

Percent Story Words: 4%

Number of words: 667

Guided Reading Measure: K: Grade 2

DRA Measure: 16-18: Grade 2-3

Lexile Measure: 770L: Grade 3**

**We ask you to use judgment when choosing appropriate grade levels for our books. We believe that readers in grades 1-3 can and should read Decodable Literature Library titles to experience robust vocabulary and the richness and beauty of literature during an independent reading experience. Please see Flyleaf's recommended grade levels on the Text Complexity Chart for more information.