Text Leveling System

Arthur's Pet Business

RDQ:	378	Max Word/Sent	22	Total Words	920		Diff Words	349
Lex	590	Ave Word/.Sent	5	Hi Freq occurs	528	57.4%	Hi freq	151	43.3%
AR	2.4	Long Sentences	1.2	Low Freq occurs	23	2.5%	Low freq	15	4.3%

"You've been looking at puppies for months" 
said D.W. 
"When are you going to ask Mom and Dad 
if you can have one?" 
"I'm waiting for just the right moment" 
said Arthur "so promise not to say anything!" ]]
That night at dinner Father asked
"What's new?" 
"Arthur wants a puppy" said D.W. 
"Blabbermouth!" said Arthur. ]]
"A puppy is a big responsibility" said Father. 
"I can take care of it" said Arthur. 
"We'll think about it" Mother said. 
"That means no" explained D.W. ]]
After dinner Mother and Father did the dishes. 
"Can you hear what they're saying?" asked Arthur. 
"They're worried about the new carpet" whispered D. W. 
Suddenly the door opened. ]]
"We've decided you may have a puppy if you can take 
care of it" said Father. 
"Wow!" said Arthur. 
"But" said Mother "first you need to show us you're 
responsible." ]]
"How will I ever prove I'm responsible?" asked Arthur. 
"The best way I know is to get a job" said D.W. 
"Then you can pay back the seven dollars you owe me." 
"Ka-chingg!" went her cash register. ]]
Arthur wondered what kind of 
a job he could do. 
"You could work for my dad 
at the bank" said Muffy. 
"He needs some new tellers." 
"If I were you I'd get a job 
at Joe's Junk Yard crushing 
old cars" offered Binky Barnes. 
"Do something you like" 
said Francine. 
That gave Arthur an idea. ]]
"I'll take care of other people's pets" said Arthur 
"then Mom and Dad will know I can take care 
of my own." 
Arthur and Francine put up signs to advertise 
his new business.  
His family helped too. ]]
Arthur waited and waited. Then just before bedtime 
the phone rang. 
"Hello" he said. "Arthur's Pet Business. How may 
I help you? 
"Yes. No. When? Where? Great!" said Arthur. ]]
"Hooray! I'm going to watch Mrs. Wood's dog while 
she's on vacation and I'll earn ten dollars!" 
"Oh no!" said D.W. "Not nasty little Perky?" 
"Isn't that the dog the mailman calls 'Jaws '?" 
asked Father. 
"That's Perky!" said D.W. ]]
The next morning Arthur ran all the way to 
Mrs. Wood's house. 
"Right on time1" said Mrs. Wood. 
"Grrrr" growled Perky. ]]
"She hasn't been herself lately" said Mrs. Wood. 
"I'm worried." 
"I'll take good care of her" said Arthur. 
"We'll be best friends." 
"Grrrr" growled Perky. 
"Here's her schedule and a list of things 
she doesn't like" said Mrs. Wood. 
"I'll see you next Sunday." ]]
Arthur did his best to make 
Perky feel at home.  
Every day he brushed her. 
He tried to fix her 
favorite foods. 
They took lots of long walks - 
day and night. 
Perky made sure they had the whole 
sidewalk to themselves. ]]
"You look exhausted" said Mother. "Maybe taking 
care of a  dog is too much work..." 
"Any dog I get will be easier than Perky" 
said Arthur. ]]
Word of Arthur's pet business got around. 
On Monday the MacMillans asked Arthur to watch 
their canary Sunny. 
On Tuesday Prunella gave Arthur 
her ant farm. 
On Wednesday the Brain asked 
Arthur to take care of his frogs 
while he went on vacation. ]]
Best of all on Thursday The Amazing Larry 
asked Arthur to keep Cuddles 
his trained boa constrictor. ]]
Animals were everywhere - 
until Mother put her foot down. 
"I want all these animals in the basement now!" 
she ordered. ]]
By bedtime all the pets were downstairs. 
All except Perky. 
Perky slept in Arthur's room. ]]
On Saturday Buster asked Arthur to go to the movies. 
"I can't" said Arthur. "When I finish cleaning these 
cages it will be feeding time. 
And anyway It's Perky's last night with me and she 
seems sick. I don't want to leave her." ]]
"Well I bet you're happy today" said D.W. 
the next morning. 
"You get rid of Perky and collect ten dollars!" 
"I can't believe it" said Arthur. 
"But I'm going to miss Perky." ]]
"Arthur Mrs. Wood just called to say she's 
on her way over" said Mother. 
"Now wait here Perky" ordered Arthur.  
"I'll go and get your leash." ]]
When Arthur went back into the kitchen 
Perky was gone. 
"Here Perky! Perky!" called Arthur. 
But Perky didn't come. 
"She's not in the basement" called Father. 
"She's not in the backyard" said D.W. 
"She's lost!" said Arthur. 
"Oh oh!" said D.W. "You're in big trouble!" ]]
"Arthur Mrs. Wood is here!" called Mother. 
"Hi Mrs. Wood" said D.W. "Guess what? 
Arthur lost Perky!" 
"My poor darling is lost?" asked Mrs. Wood. 
"Don't worry" said Father. "Arthur's looking for 
her right now." 
Suddenly they heard a bark. 
"Everybody come quick!" called Arthur. ]]
"Look" said Arthur. "Perky's had puppies!" 
"No wonder she's been acting so strange" 
said Mrs. Wood. 
"You've done a wonderful job taking care of Perky 
when she needed a friend the most. 
How can I ever thank you?" ]]
"A reward might be nice" suggested D.W. 
"Shush!" said Mother. 
"Here's the money I owe you" said Mrs. Wood. 
"And how would you like to keep one of Perky's 
puppies as a special thank you?" 
"I'd love to" said Arthur. "If I'm allowed." 
"Of course" said Mother. "You've earned it." ]]
"Wow!" said Arthur. 
"Ten dollars and my very own puppy! 
I can't believe it!" 
"Neither can I" said D.W. "Now you can finally pay 
back my seven dollars." 
"Ka-chingg!" went her cash register.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: Few decoding/definition issues

Language: Simple language

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Concepts: Concrete/Simple Social

Sequence of Events: Chronological

Features

Simple Plot

Topic

Work

*Animals

Helping

*Family & Friends

Pets

Responsibility

Low Frequency Words

advertise	blabbermouth	boa	chingg	constrictor
exhausted	macmillans	owe	perky	prove
register	responsibility	responsible	reward	schedule