Text Leveling System

The Berenstain Bears Think of Those in Need

RDQ:	468	Max Word/Sent	36	Total Words	1085		Diff Words	377
Lex	630	Ave Word/.Sent	10	Hi Freq occurs	716	66%	Hi freq	153	40.6%
AR	2.6	Long Sentences	9.9	Low Freq occurs	30	2.8%	Low freq	28	7.4%

The Bear family enjoyed the good
things in life as much as anyone else.
They enjoyed good food and good 
times.]]
They enjoyed a
snug tree house
and a comfortable
chair before a
crackling fire.
They enjoyed books
and music
toys and games
quilts and
cuckoo clocks.]]
But sometimes it seemed especially to
Mama that perhaps the Bears were enjoying
too much of a good thing. It was also clear
to Mama as she managed the tree house
that they had a problem - a problem that
came under the heading of Too Much Stuff.]]
Too much stuff in the
closets...
too much stuff in the
drawers...]]
too much stuff in the 
basement...
too much stuff in the attic...
There was too much stuff
everywhere.
It all made Mama a little
uneasy. It was beginning to
be a worry.]]
Papa thought there was a "too much stuff" problem too.
But he was more annoyed than worried - annoyed about a
Fast Wheels car that Brother had left on the stairs and
about a squeaky duck that Sister had left in the bathtub.]]
But there was much more on
Mama's mind that Fast Wheels cars
and squeaky ducks. What was 
beginning to worry her was that they 
had so much while some others had
so little.]]
And as sometimes happens with a worry 
whey you go to bed it can turn into a nightmare.
That's what happened to Mama.]]
One night she dreamed that all their stuff came to life and
poured out of every drawer and closet and nook and cranny in
the tree house chanting "Too much stuff! Too much stuff!"]]
"What's the matter?" asked
Papa when Mama woke up
screaming.
"It was just a dream my
dear" Mama said. But though
it was just a dream she knew 
what she had to do.
The next morning at breakfast
she made an announcement.
"This family" she said firmly
"has altogether too much stuff.
It's time to get rid of some of it."
"Stuff?" said Brother. "What
sort of stuff?"]]
"STuff like dolls with no heads" Mama
said "broken airplane models old
puzzles games that nobody plays..."
"And Fast Wheels cars on the stairs
and squeaky ducks in the bathtub"
chimed in Papa.]]
"Now wait a minute" protested
Sister. "That's all our stuff. What
about some of your stuff?"
"My stuff?" said Papa. Like 
what?"
"Like your seventeen fishing
rods" said Brother.
"And the zillions of old fishing
magazines you have stacked up in
the attic" added Sister.
"But those are all valuable
collectibles!" said Papa.
Mama groaned.]]
"Look who's groaning!" said
Papa. "What about those
shelves and shelves of old
cookbooks you never look at
and those bits of yarn and cloth
you're never going to use?"
"All right" agreed Mama. "I
guess we all have a lot of things
we don't really need. That's just 
my point. What should we do 
with it all?"]]
The Bear family thought for a moment.
"Hey!" said Brother. "Let's have a yard sale and make a fortune."
"Yeah! Great idea!" agreed Sister and Papa.
But that was not what Mama had in mind. She had been thinking
more and more about all those folks who had so little. Especially
with Christmas coming on.
But what could Bear family do?
Mama already had a plan in mind.]]
First she had Papa and the cubs to
through all their stuff and make three
piles. In one pile were things like old
board games and puzzles.In another all
their forgotten but still good toys and
sporting goods. And in another clothes 
and furniture extra cookbooks and
unused fishing rods.]]
When the Bears piled everything
into the car there was hardly 
enough room left for them.
"Where are we going?" asked Sister.
"First stop" said Mama "is the Old
Bears' Home."]]
The Old Bears' Home was where older bears
went to live when they needed help taking care of
themselves. Nurses and doctors look after them
and made sure they were in good health. But
Sometimes the older bears got a little lonely and
bored. They liked visitors and things to do.]]
That was part of Mama's plan. When the family arrived
at the Old Bears' Home they handed out their games
and puzzles to the older bears and then sat down to
play games and do puzzles with them.]]
At first Brother and
Sister were a little shy and
embarrassed. The old bears
were just so old! But after a 
while they got over it. The 
bears in the home weren't any
older than their neighbor Miz
McGrizz and she was Okay.
Soon they were having a fine
time. And so were the older
bears. They were all sorry
when it was time to leave.]]
Their next stop was Beartown Young Cubs Hospital.
Brother and Sister knew about the hospital. Brother had
gone there to get his ankle x-rayed the time they thought it
was broken. And Sister had come along to watch.]]
The bears dropped of their load of used toys. They were
welcome. The hospital workers said the toys would be given
out at the hospital Christmas party. On their way out they saw
a young bear in a wheelchair with his leg in a big cast. They
were glad they had brought the toys. He looked as if he could
use some cheering up.]]
Their last stop was the Beartown Bears Who Care
store. This was a store that sold things to raise money for
needy bears - bears who needed warm clothes and good
food. The store was run by bears who wore uniforms and
often played in a band in front of the store.]]
The bears lugged all their old clothes and furniture and
stuff into the store. On the way they stopped to sing a few
Christmas carols with the band.]]
There was a big iron pot out on
the sidewalk for collecting money
for the needy. Papa gave Sister a 
dollar to put in it.
They headed home with warm 
feelings about what they had done.]]
As they drove along the passed the lighted windows of
the Beartown Department Store. They were beautifully
decorated for Christmas. There was window after window
of new toys and games new things for the house and the
very latest thing in fishing poles.
But the members of the Bear family were so filled with
special thoughts about helping others that they hardly
noticed the wonderful things in the windows...
except maybe out of the corners of their eyes.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: Few decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Concepts: Concrete/Simple Social

Features

Character traits

Topic

Toys

Hospitals

Gifts

Kindness

*Feelings, Behaviors

*Holidays, Events, Cele

Low Frequency Words

announcement	annoyed	carols	collectibles	cranny
cuckoo	drawer	drawers	embarrassed	fortune
groaning	lugged	magazines	mcgrizz	miz
models	neighbor	nightmare	nook	rayed
shelves	sporting	uniforms	unused	valuable
whey	zillions