Text Leveling System

I Remember, Cried Grandma Pinky

RDQ:	613	Max Word/Sent	28	Total Words	997		Diff Words	437
Lex	660	Ave Word/.Sent	6	Hi Freq occurs	628	63%	Hi freq	170	38.9%
AR	3.0	Long Sentences	0.7	Low Freq occurs	27	2.7%	Low freq	23	5.3%

Sunday
When Grandma Pinky came to
our house she always arrived in a 
yellow taxi. We were on the steps
waving flags. She brought nasturtiums
in a clay pot.]]
I fluffed up pillows in the best 
armchair.
I wanted to hear stories about 
what she remembered. She sat 
sipping cambric tea. Dunking a 
cracker.
"Nutmeg I remember" she cried. 
"How we went berry picking one 
summer! I loaded a basket with black 
berries and red ones. We picked 
till it was midnight.
"My sister Clova and I did a 
Raspberry Hop. We wore pretty 
dresses. Oh I remember so much."]] 
But when Grandma Pinky climbed 
into bed that night she forgot her 
shoes her cane her hot water bottle 
and her jar of licorice drops. I carried 
them up to her and almost tripped.
Her false teeth lay in a little green 
dish by the bed. I gave her a hug and 
she smiled. I ran out in the hall and 
giggled.
"I forgot to say good night!" she 
called. I knew she forgot.]]
Monday 
It wasn't easy to get Grandma 
Pinky into a hammock in the back 
yard. But once she was there she 
swung in a slow wind. On the grass 
I hunted for worms.
Suddenly she looked up at the 
apple tree.
"I remember I climbed a tree like 
that. I fell out and broke my left leg. 
I hobbled on crutches for weeks.
"I remember as if it were today!" 
she said shaking her leg.]] 
Before supper we went walking 
only Grandma and me. It took a long 
time just to go around the block. She 
stopped in front of my friend Solly's 
house.
"I don't remember" said Grandma 
blinking her eyes. "Was it yesterday - 
or the day before I came?"
"Yesterday" I told her. Solly waved 
at us from the front porch. Grandma 
had to go home to the bathroom.]]
Tuesday 
I was helping Mother sweep and
dust. Grandma Pinky rushed into the 
room. "I can't find my glasses" she
declared.
She began to turn things upside
down. I don't remember where I
put them!"
Mother and I both spoke together. 
"Grandma. You're wearing them on 
your nose!"
Grandma smiled sadly at us and 
went away.]]
That night I took a tub bath.
Father shampooed me. Grandma
Pinky watched from the hall.
"I remember long ago!" she cried.
"Our tin tub was in the kitchen next to
the stove. I wore a cap. I pretended I
steered a ship out to sea. A red bird
named Bob sat near me!"
"Grandma remembers many things"
I told father.
He chuckled. "She certainly does."]]
Wednesday 
Grandma remembered a lot. 
Mostly she remembered after 
breakfast.
We got a good game of Chinese 
checkers going. All at once Grandma 
laughed out loud. "I remember one 
spring" she cried. "I was sure the 
Easter bunny might never find me.
"So I became the bunny. I tied on 
ears made of cloth. When the real 
bunny arrived I stared at him. He 
stared at me!"]] 
Grandma winked. "Nutmeg how 
about deep dish apple pie?"
"Yippee" I yelled.
"I can make it with my eyes shut" 
she bragged tying on an apron.
I brought ten nice new apples in. 
She sliced them with care. Grandma 
Pinky let me sift the flour. She added 
brown sugar butter cinnamon and 
cloves.
Next she put the pie in the oven.]] 
About noon our kitchen filled 
with thick black smoke. Mother 
hurried in. Grandma had gone to take 
a nap.
Mother quickly called the Fire 
Department. The siren was exciting. 
Grandma Pinky slept through the 
whole thing.
"She forgot her pie!" sighed 
Mother. That evening Father went to the 
store to buy another pie. We never 
told Grandma.
"Great pie Grandma" I said.
Father gave me a funny look. We 
ate in silence.]]
Thursday
I was shaking small white petals off 
a bush. They fell like snow on the 
grass. Grandma Pinky was humming 
to herself. A bee buzzed.
She stopped and cried:
"I remember it well! It was 
snowing like popcorn.
"We bundled up in sleighs with hot 
bricks to keep our feet warm. 
WHOOSH! We raced through the 
hills at top speed into the woods. My 
sister Clova in her sleigh me in my 
sleigh!
"Our horses galloped neck and 
neck for miles."
"Who won?" I asked.
But Grandma was asleep again.]]
Friday 
Father mowed the lawn. I pulled 
out weeds. Mother was painting a 
fence. She went to the house to check 
on Grandma. She rushed back out 
with her fur up.
"Grandma Pinky is gone!" she 
called. "I looked for her everyplace!"
Father stopped pushing his mower. 
I dropped weeds.
"She was cutting bluebells and 
daisies last" he remembered.
"But now she's lost" moaned 
Mother.]] 
Quickly the three of us tried 
finding her. A cool breeze blew along 
the street. Leaves shook above our 
heads. Wrens and robins worried.
"Grandma Pinky" Father shouted. 
"Where are you?"
At last I spotted her down the 
street standing in my friend Solly's 
yard. Picking begonias.
"Were you lost?" Mother asked in 
a quiet voice.
"I was sure Nutmeg would find 
me" Grandma Pinky replied holding 
my paw softly.]]
Saturday 
After supper Grandma Pinky 
yawned. She was tired and went up to 
bed.
Father hid behind the newspaper. 
He said "She grows forgetful. She is 
growing old."
It was my turn to dry the dishes. 
I put down the cloth.
"But she remembers so much" 
I said. "I like to hear it."
Mother leaned over to give me a 
kiss. "Well Nutmeg why don't you go 
up and tell her that before she sleeps?"]] 
I raced upstairs to tell her. 
Grandma Pinky's lamp was still on. 
Her book lay open on the bed. Her 
eyes were shut. I would tell her 
tomorrow.
I was about to leave when I saw 
Grandma's eyes pop open.
"I remember!" Grandma began.
1 smiled. "What do you 
remember?" I asked. And I listened 
until we both fell asleep.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Inferences: Some implications

Concepts: Abstract/Complex Social

Features

Character traits

Simple Plot

Topic

Storytelling

Remembering

Age/Aging

Grandparents

*Human Body & Health

*Family & Friends

Low Frequency Words

begonias	cambric	cinnamon	daisies	dunking
easter	everyplace	hammock	hobbled	licorice
mowed	mower	nasturtiums	nutmeg	raspberry
shampooed	sipping	siren	sleigh	sleighs
tying	wrens	yawned