Text Leveling System

The Desert is Theirs

RDQ:	792	Max Word/Sent	44	Total Words	1024		Diff Words	403
Lex	700	Ave Word/.Sent	11	Hi Freq occurs	670	65.4%	Hi freq	158	39.2%
AR	3.3	Long Sentences	12	Low Freq occurs	38	3.7%	Low freq	31	7.7%

This is no place for anyone who wants soft hills and meadows and 
everything green green green ... This is for hawks that like only the loneliest canyons and lizards that run in the hottest sand and coyotes that choose the rockiest trails. It's for them. And for birds that next in cactus and sing out over a thousand thorns because they're where they want to be. It's for them. And for hard skinny plants that do without water for months at a time. And its for strong brown Desert People who call the earth their mother.  They have to see mountains and have to see deserts every day...or they don't feel right. They wouldn't leave even for rivers or flowers or bending grass. They'd miss the sand too much. They'd miss the sun. So it's for them. Talk to Papago Indians. They're Desert People. They know desert secrets that no one else knows. Ask how they live in a place so harsh and dry. They'll say they like the land they live on so they treat it well - the way you'd treat an old friend. They sing it songs. They never hurt it. And the land knows. Ask why they chose a place where life would be so hard. They'll say that once at the beginning of time Earthmaker patted out a dab of dirt in his hands and a greasewood bush grew there. Greasewood ... so you know it was the desert. You know it needed Desert People. Even then Coyote was around giving advice and scattering seeds on the sides of hills. Where he dropped those seeds you see saguaro cactus growing now. Spider People were there too. When the new world wobbled they sewed earth and sky together. It's together still...Buzzard made mountains with his wings and Gopher burrowed a path to lead people out of the underworld and up up up into the fierce white sunlight. Elder Brother taught the people how to live under the sun. He gave them the ceremonies they would need for bringing rain. He even taught them what songs to sing to touch the power of the earth their mother. And he taught them to share the land with animals and birds. Remember animals were here first so they know better than people how to live. Their wisdom is older. They're more at ease in a desert place the Indians say. You can tell it's true. Look how Badger burrows into the cool dark earth - while man has to walk in the heat of the sun. Look how Hawk floats on the wind - while man plods slowly over the rocks. Papagos try not to anger their animal brothers. They don't step on a snake's track in the sand. They don't disturb a fox's bones. They don't shove a horned toad out of the path. They know the land belongs to spider and ant the same as it does to people. They never say "This is my land to do with as I please." They say "We share...we only share." And they do share.  A deer likes the same sweet seeds and wild berries that Indian children hunt. You'll see doves dipping down for the juicy red fruit that grows high on a cactus ...and you'll see Indian children hold out their hands for the same summer treat. You'll see pack rats hiding their treasure their good mesquite beans. But they can't have them all. Pack rats and people both know to save some for tomorrow - or later. The desert gives what it can to each of its children. Women weave grass into their baskets and birds weave it into their nests. Men dig in the earth for soil to make houses - little square adobe houses the color of the hills. And lizards dig burrows in the same safe earth. Here animals and people know what plants to eat when they are sick. They know what roots and weeds can make them well again. No one has to tell Coyote or Deer and no one has to tell the Papagos. They share in other ways too. They share the feeling of being brothers in the desert of being desert creatures together.  A year that is hard for people is hard for scorpions too. It's hard for everything. Rain is a blessing counted drop by drop. Each plant finds its own way to hold that sudden water. They don't waste it on floppy green leaves. They have thorns and stickers and points instead. Yucca sends roots searching far far underground - farther than you'd ever dream a root would go.  And saguaro is fat after rain - fat with the water it's saving inside its great stem. Give it one summer storm. It can last a year if it has to. Sometimes it has to. The desert's children learn to be patient. Hidden in his burrow Kangaroo Rat spends each long day waiting for the heat to fade waiting for darkness to cool the desert where he runs. Just so he runs sometime... A weed may wait three years to bloom. Just so it blooms sometime... A toad may wait for months to leave his sandy hiding place and sing toad songs after a rain. Just so he sings sometime...Desert People are patient too.  You don't see them rushing. You don't hear them shouting. They say you plant happier corn if you take your time and squash tastes best if you've sung it slow songs while it's growing. They do. Anyway the desert has its own kind of time (that doesn't need clocks). That's the kind of time snakes go by and rains go by and rocks go by and Desert People go by too. That's why every desert thing knows when the time comes to celebrate. Suddenly...All together it happens. Cactus blooms yellow and pink and purple. The Papagos begin their ceremonies to pull down rain. Every plant joins in. Even the earth makes a sound of joy when the rain touches. Hawks call across the canyons. Children laugh for nothing. Coyotes dance in the moonlight.Where else would Desert People want to be?]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Some Long/Complex

Text structure: Story/Poem

Inferences: Some implications

Complexity: Several ideas - closely related

Mature concepts: With common experiences or clear fantasy

Features

Integral Setting - Cultural/Regional

Mood/tone

Topic

Snakes

Sun

Superstition

*Weather

Traditions

Spiders

Challenges

Environment

Thanksgiving

Values

Customs

Deserts

Ecology

Habitat

Legends

Native Americans

Low Frequency Words

adobe	advice	burrow	burrowed	buzzard
ceremonies	coyotes	earthmaker	ease	elder
gopher	greasewood	happier	harsh	loneliest
meadows	mesquite	moonlight	papago	papagos
patient	rockiest	saguaro	scorpions	sewed
shove	squash	underworld	wisdom	wobbled
yucca