Title - The Mitten Tree Author: Christiansen, Candace Publisher: Scholastic Print Synopsis Authors Purpose Genre One snowy day an elderly woman, Sarah, watches children gathering at the bus stop. She notices one little boy who has no mittens. That night, Sarah knits the boy a pair of cozy mittens and places them on the blue spruce tree for him to discover. It soon becomes a game. Entertain Realistic Fiction RDQ (Reading Difficulty Quotient) Accelerated Reader Lexile Find at 244 2.1 500 Amazon RDQ based on a maximum of 3000 words Levels are suggested levels based on RDQ, not official levels Sentences Total Words Different Words Max Word/Sent 23 Total # of Words 639 # of Different Words 249 Ave Word/.Sent 12 Hi Freq occurs 389 60.9% # of Hi freq words 95 38.2% % of Long Sentences 5.7 Low Freq occurs 16 2.5% # of Low freq words 13 5.2% Subjective Criteria Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues Language: Many descriptive words Sentences: Multiple phrases Text structure: Oral/Natural Features Cliff Hanger Topics Mystery Gifts Kindness Caring/Hugs Helping *Feelings, Behaviors Low Frequency Words awakened boarded bough hedge knit knits lingered mysterious neared netted pockets spruce woven