Title - The Polar Express Author: Van Allsburg, Chris Publisher: Curriculum Associates, Inc. Print Synopsis Authors Purpose Genre The tale of a young boy lying awake on Christmas Eve only to have Santa Claus sweep by and take him on a trip with other children to the North Pole. Entertain Fantasy RDQ (Reading Difficulty Quotient) Accelerated Reader Lexile Find at 807 3.3 700 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 28 Total # of Words 1002 # of Different Words 400 Ave Word/.Sent 10 Hi Freq occurs 649 64.8% # of Hi freq words 168 42% % of Long Sentences 4 Low Freq occurs 38 3.8% # of Low freq words 28 7% Subjective Criteria Illustrations: Some support Dialog: Two speakers Dialog: Broken dialogue Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues Language: Many descriptive words Sentences: Multiple phrases Text structure: Blend of written/oral Inferences: Several Implications Concepts: Abstract/Complex Social Features Integral Setting Simple Plot Symbolism Topics Sound/Sounds Trains Gifts Beliefs *Holidays, Events, Cele Christmas Low Frequency Words aboard approval barren breathed candies carols charged conductor factories fellow gathering harness harnesses lightly liner lurch magical nougat paced plains reindeer reindeer's roamed rustle shaken sleigh thundered truly