Text Leveling System

Henry and Mudge and the Forever Sea

RDQ:	210	Max Word/Sent	23	Total Words	690		Diff Words	249
Lex	470	Ave Word/.Sent	7	Hi Freq occurs	399	57.8%	Hi freq	92	36.9%
AR	2.0	Long Sentences	4.1	Low Freq occurs	14	2%	Low freq	9	3.6%

To the Beach
It was summer vacation
and Henry and his big dog Mudge
were going to the beach.
Mudge had never been
to the beach.]]
Henry promised
he would like it.
"You'll like the waves"
he said.
"And the sand castles.
And the shells.
But don't drink the water!"
he warned.
"Too salty!"]]
They went in the car
with Henry's father.
In Henry's bag were
green goggles
a yellow bucket
an orange shovel
and a dump truck.]]
In Mudge's bag were
a blue bowl 
a jug of water
half of a bone
and a tennis ball.]]
In Henry's fathers bag were
a book about shells
six towels
and a red rubber lobster 
he liked
to bring along.]]
They sang sea songs
all the way.
Henry's father said
"Yo-ho-ho"
about a hundred times.
Henry acted like a shark.
Mudge just wagged.
They couldn't wait
to get there.]]
The Forever Sea
"I see it!" Henry shouted.
The ocean was waiting.
It was blue
and white
and forever.]]
Henry's father
honked the car horn.
Mudge barked.
They parked the car
and ran for the sand.]]
Mudge got there first.
He ran right into 
the water.
Splash!]]
Henry was second.
Splash!]]
Henry's father was third.
Splash!]]
The white foam
rushed
around their legs.
They laughed and hopped
and ran.]]
A big wave
knocked Henry down.
He rolled 
all the way
back to shore.]]
"Wow" said Henry.
He got up
and ran back in.]]
Henry's father
rode a wave
like he was
a surfboard.]]
He rode it 
all the way
back to shore.
"Wow" he said.
He got up
and ran back in.]]
Mudge was not as brave
as Henry and Henry's father.
He just ran 
along the edge.
He stayed out 
of the big waves.]]
But still he got
so wet
that he looked like
a whale with legs.]]
They all played
a long time.]]
Brave Dog
For lunch
Henry and Mudge
and Henry's father
walked to a hot dog stand.]]
Henry had a hot dog
with ketchup.
Henry's father had a hot dog
with ketchup
and mustard
and onions
and slaw
and chili
and cheese.
"Yuck" said Henry.]]
Mudge had three hot dogs.
Plain.
In one gulp.]]
After lunch
Henry and his father
began to build
a sand castle.]]
Henry made the moats.
Henry's father made the towers.
Mudge made a nice bed
and went to sleep.]]
When the castle was finished
Henry's father
stuck his red rubber lobster
on the tallest tower.
Then he and Henry
clapped their hands.]]
Suddenly
a giant wave 
washed far on the sand
and covered everything.
It covered the moats.
It covered the towers.]]
It covered Mudge who woke up.
"Oops" said Henry.]]
"Save that lobster!"
cried Henry's father.
The water was pulling it
out to sea.]]
Mudge ran and jumped
into the waves.
He caught the lobster
before it was lost forever.]]
"Good dog!" said Henry's father.
"Brave dog!" said Henry.
They all had cherry sno-cones 
to celebrate.]]
Good-bye Crab
At the end of the day
it was time
to say good-bye 
to the ocean.]]
Henry and Mudge
and Henry's father
walked along the sand
watching the orange sun set
watching the
water sparkle
green and yellow.]]
Suddenly
a crab popped out 
from under the sand.
It came up sideways
very fast.
So fast that Mudge
nearly stepped on it.]]
"Look out Mudge!"
Henry said.
Mudge stopped 
and put his nose
to the sand.
The crab looked at him.
He looked at the crab.]]
"I can't tell if that is 
the front of the crab
or the back of the crab"
said Henry's father.]]
Suddenly the crab ran
sideways
away from them.
Mudge chased it.
It popped back
under the sand.]]
Henry looked at its
new hole.
"Wow" he said.
"Wow" said his father.
Mudge stuck his nose
into the hole.
But nobody came out.]]
"Since we can't have
crab for dinner"
said Henry's father
"I guess we'll have 
to have
another cherry sno-cone."]]
Henry cheered and hugged him.
As they walked down the sand
Mudge stuck his nose
into every hole he saw.]]
Bud nobody 
ever came out.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Dialog: Simple

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: Few decoding/definition issues

Language: Simple language

Sentences: Simple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Features

Integral Setting

Simple Plot

Topic

Fathers

Dogs

Swimming

Fun

Ocean

*Entertainment & Fun

Beach

*Family & Friends

Pets

Sea

Low Frequency Words

gulp	lobster	moats	mustard	shovel
sideways	slaw	surfboard	warned