Title - Tornado Author: Byars, Betsy Publisher: Harper Print Synopsis Authors Purpose Genre A tornado appears in the distance, and the family quickly gathers into the storm cellar. The storm rages outside, but Pete, the farmhand, knows this is the perfect time to tell his stories about a dog named Tornado. Entertain Realistic Fiction RDQ (Reading Difficulty Quotient) Accelerated Reader Lexile Find at 714 3.1 680 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 41 Total # of Words 2736 # of Different Words 649 Ave Word/.Sent 8 Hi Freq occurs 2082 76.1% # of Hi freq words 302 46.5% % of Long Sentences 7.1 Low Freq occurs 40 1.5% # of Low freq words 30 4.6% Subjective Criteria Illustrations: No support Dialog: Multiple speakers Dialog: Broken dialogue Dialog: Unlabeled Speaker Vocabulary: Few decoding/definition issues Language: Few descriptive words Sentences: Multiple phrases Text structure: Blend of written/oral Concepts: Concrete/Simple Social Chapters Features Simple Plot Topics Storytelling Dogs *Animals *Family & Friends Pets Low Frequency Words bargain beckoned biscuits cellar encouragement familiar funnel gratefully gravel hesitated innocent knowing lapping ma'am mouthful particular pleasure president pure queenie raising rattling recall referee shuffled surely tearing tornado windowsill yawned