Text Leveling System

Rockabye Crocodile: A Folktale from the Philippines

RDQ:	273	Max Word/Sent	30	Total Words	659		Diff Words	273
Lex	520	Ave Word/.Sent	7	Hi Freq occurs	396	60.1%	Hi freq	108	39.6%
AR	2.1	Long Sentences	2.4	Low Freq occurs	16	2.4%	Low freq	15	5.5%

Two elderly boars lived in the jungle.
 They were neighbors. Amabel was cheerful and kind. Nettie was mean and selfish. One morning Amabel trotted down to the river to fish. She was humming hum hum hum as she passed a bamboo tree. It swayed to her tune and dropped two small fish into her basket. "Why thank you" she said. The bamboo replied with a shower of minnows. Amabel filled her basket said thank you again and went on. She still needed a really big fish to fill her belly. Suddenly she stumbled over a crocodile. "Oh dear!" she cried. "Good morning Grandmother" growled the crocodile. "Why don't you watch where you're going?" "Excuse me" Amabel said "I didn't see you. I was looking for a fish for dinner." "I'll catch one for you" said the crocodile "if you'll do something for me. Come into my cave." A baby crocodile lay howling in a mud puddle in a corner of the dark dirty cave. "Isn't he sweet?" said the crocodile. "But he won't stop crying. Rock him to sleep and you won't be sorry. I'll be right back." And off she went. The baby was muddy and cold but Amabel held him gently and rocked and hummed rocked and hummed. Soon the baby stopped howling and went to sleep. The crocodile went to the deepest part of the river and caught some eels and crabs and a very large fish. Then she wove a basket from river reeds filled it and returned to the cave. "Here Grandmother" she said. "Come back whenever you want more fish." "Thank you I will" said Amabel. "He's such a nice baby." Then she hurried home. "Where did you catch those fish?" Nettie demanded. "It all started with the bamboo tree" said Amabel. "And then I met a crocodile." She told Nettie the whole story while they shared the fish. Early the next morning Nettie rushed to the river with a huge basket. She shook the bamboo tree. "Turn your leaves into fish for me" she ordered. Nothing happened. She butted the tree hard. The bamboo snapped back and sent her flying into a prickle bush. "Oooouwha!" she screamed and ran along the river bank. "Where's that crocodile and her crybaby?" she snarled. The crocodile stuck her head out of the cave. "Oh there you are" Nettie grunted. "Go fill this basket with eels crabs and big fish. And hurry up." The crocodile was very angry but she said "Rock my baby to sleep and I'll do what you ask." Nettie grabbed the baby and bounced him up and down. "What an ugly son. If I had one like you I'd run" she crooned. The baby cried harder. It wasn't long before the crocodile returned. She snatched back her baby and handed Nettie a basket. "Don't uncover the basket before you lock your doors and windows or the fish will escape" she growled. Nettie grabbed the basket and was out the door and running home. "This food is all for me" she decided. "I won't share even a fish eye with Amabel." Nettie sneaked into her house and bolted the door. She sealed the windows and stuffed grass into cracks and holes. Finally she opened the basket. Woooosh! Out came spiders and scorpions rats and bats. Nettie huddled in a corner. Next door Amabel heard the noise. "What a ruckus" she thought. "I'd better see what's going on at Nettie's house." Amabel had to break the door down. The spiders scorpions rats and bats rushed out of the open door. "Oh Amabel" Nettie cried. "I'm so glad to see you. I've been such a fool." "Poor Nettie" said Amabel. "Come over to my house and have some tea and tell me all about it." From that day on Nettie and Amabel took turns caring for the crocodile baby and the bamboo tree and the crocodile supplied them with all the fish they could eat.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: Few decoding/definition issues

Language: Simple language

Sentences: Simple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Concept: Fanciful

Features

Topic

Attitudes

Fish

Reptiles

Kindness

Babysitters

Behaviors

Food

Low Frequency Words

boars	elderly	grunted	minnows	neighbors
prickle	reeds	ruckus	scorpions	shared
shower	snarled	snatched	supplied	uncover