Text Leveling System

How the Ox Star Fell from Heaven

RDQ:	604	Max Word/Sent	33	Total Words	528		Diff Words	238
Lex	660	Ave Word/.Sent	14	Hi Freq occurs	304	57.6%	Hi freq	86	36.1%
AR	3.0	Long Sentences	16.2	Low Freq occurs	28	5.3%	Low freq	20	8.4%

In the beginning oxen did not live on earth.
They could only be found in the heavens among the stars.
They lived with the Emperor of All the Heavens
in his Imperial Palace.]]
Clothed in robes of the finest silk they reclined on
billowy clouds.  They never had to work and their 
lives were easy.]]
Life on earth was hard
especially hard since oxen
did not live here.  Farmers
had no beast of burden
to help with the planting
of vegetables and rice
in the spring.]]
or with the gathering of crops at harvest time.]]
People were always tired
and hungry.  They labored
from sunup to sundown 
yet they could never finish
all their work.  Because there
was so little food they
sometimes went three four
even five days without one
single meal.]]
But the Emperor of All the Heavens
had not forgotten the earth.  He
knew that the poor peasants
worked long and hard and he
believed that they should be able
to eat every third day.  With this
in mind he issued a decree:
"The people of earth shall eat
at least once every three days!"]]
He called upon his most trusted messenger
the Ox Star to deliver the message.  Dressed
in a magnificent silk robe and a golden crown
the Ox Star set off on the long and lonely
journey down to earth.]]
When he arrived all the peasants hurried out
to meet him.  "I come with a message from
the Emperor of All the Heavens" he bellowed.
But the Ox Star while strong was not very smart.  
He twisted the Emperor's words:  "The Emperor has
declared that you shall eat three times a day
every day!"  The peasants cheered and cheered.]]
The Emperor of All the Heavens heard his
messenger's mistake and was angry.  When 
the Ox Star arrived back at the Imperial Palace
he found the gates were locked.  His princely
robe and royal  crown vanished.  "Since you have
betrayed my trust" the Emperor roared "you
shall never again be allowed in the heavens."
The sky filled with lightning and thunder
and the Ox Star wept.]]
Suddenly everything turned dark.  In a whirlwind
the Ox Star was hurled through the stormy sky.
Down down down to earth he fell.]]
From that day the Ox Star
became a beast of burden
helping the farmers.  Around his 
thick neck he wore a heavy
yoke and through his nose
he wore a ring.]]
The other oxen were sent to earth too.  They 
labored day after day in the fields pulling plows
through the ground at planting time and
helping to gather the crops at harvest time.]]
Today because of the Ox Star's ill fortune and his
careless mistake a bit of heaven remains on earth.
For those who have an ox good soil and enough
rain life is not as hard as it once was.  Best of all 
they can eat warm rice tender vegetables and 
Chinese sweet cakes three times a day every day!]]
Now when you look up at
the night sky so beautiful
and bright think of the 
Ox Star who fell from the 
heavens and of his blunder
which became a blessing.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Story/Poem

Inferences: Some implications

Concept: Fanciful

Mature concepts: With common experiences or clear fantasy

Features

Complex Problem/Solution

Topic

Work

*Animals

Farms

Food

Animals: Farm

Low Frequency Words

billowy	burden	decree	emperor	fortune
gathering	harvest	hurled	imperial	issued
labored	magnificent	messenger	messenger's	princely
reclined	royal	star's	whirlwind	yoke