Text Leveling System

The Music of Dolphins

RDQ:	2599	Max Word/Sent	54	Total Words	3422		Diff Words	779
Lex	990	Ave Word/.Sent	7	Hi Freq occurs	2455	71.7%	Hi freq	313	40.2%
AR	5.9	Long Sentences	5.5	Low Freq occurs	152	4.4%	Low freq	121	15.5%

I swim out to them on the murmuring sea. As I reach 
them their circle opens to let me in then reforms. 
The dolphins rise and blow floating one eye open the 
other shut in half sleep.
Joyful with the coming day I splash and whistle at 
a milky sun. The dolphins wake and whistle too. They 
are suddenly and fully aware. The ocean fills with 
their sound. Flukes slapping. Quick calls rising and 
falling. We slide under and over each other racing 
through the morning waves riding the misty lid of 
the sea.
Three gulls sit on the soft shoulder of a swell. So 
quiet I come with my dolphin cousins up from below 
and scare the bobbing birds. The gulls rise screaming 
mad. We laugh and laugh bright beads of dolphin 
noise while above the birds dip and cry.
A cool wind tickles the swells and one free gull 
feather floats on the face of the sea. My dolphin cousin 
grabs it and darts below. Under she goes then up 
again faster springing into the air. She passes the]]
feather to the next cousin who takes her turn diving 
running playing with it. Their game spins me in the 
waves. The small hairs rise on my arms.
While we play the old ones search for something to 
eat. They flash their blinding sound into a school of 
silverfish. As my dolphin family swims mouths open 
through the thick school I climb out of the sea.
Standing on the small beach the mangrove swamp 
at my back I hear a sound over the rush and hiss of 
the tide over the whistles and squeaks of my dolphin 
family feeding over the splashing and tail slapping. I 
hear a sound pushing at the air. It beats like a giant 
heart. Airplane. I see it far-off pressed against the 
roof of the sky. It growls a distant warning.
I turn away to feed on molting crab juicy roots 
ribbons of salt weeds.
The plane comes closer The sound of it shakes my 
bones. My skin shivers like an orca is coming.
My dolphin mother senses danger my smooth 
beautiful mother with her wise eyes and her spotted 
flukes. I hear her; she calls me back to sea. I want to go 
to her. I am afraid of the plane. But I must find water 
to drink first and give my mother more time to 
eat. She does not eat enough because of me.
I make my way through the wet and tangled roots 
of the mangrove creeping toward the opposite side of 
the cay. I reach the long rocks where rain gathers in 
wide deep pools. There is much water today. I cup my 
hands and drink. The water is cool with a hint of salt. 
When my hands can gather no more I scoop the water 
into a shell and when the shell brings nothing I 
suck at what remains with my lips.
While I drink the plane flies close again. No longer 
is it a distant gleaming. It comes too near. It is not like 
other planes more like an ugly fish with spinning fins 
on its back.
Something drops from it. I try to hide. The wind 
from the plane makes my long hair fly. The mangrove 
pitches and roars. I am pounded by spinning air. The 
earth shakes and circles of sand rise around me. I sense 
the frantic whistle of my mother but the sound is lost 
in the scream of the plane.
And then a man jumps out. He comes after me. I 
slip deeper into the mangroves. But the man is too big 
too fast.
I cannot get away.]]
WILD CHILD FOUND ON ISLAND OFF CUBA 
MIAMI FL Dec. -" thought 
she was a mermaid at first" said 
Lieutenant Junior Grade Monica 
Stone. "Her hair hung down
to her feet and she was covered 
with seaweed." On closer examination 
the flight crew on the 
Coast Guard Jay Hawk realized 
they'd spotted not a mermaid 
but a human child.
Their mission started as a 
routine surveillance flight over 
the Cay Sal bank in the waters 
between Florida and Cuba. The 
crew composed of Stone pilot 
Nicholas Fisk and flight mechanic 
Gary Barnett had flown 
hundreds of search-and-rescue 
missions over this section of water. 
But this mission was unlike 
any they'd flown before.
After the initial observation 
of the child the crew radioed 
Miami and awaited clearance to 
land. Hovering above they 
videotaped the girl. "Gary threw 
the pump can out to her on 
a parachute. Pump cans hold 
food blankets first aid. Most 
people run toward them. This 
girl ran away hiding in the mangroves. 
She had this really weird 
way of moving like the ground
was roiling under her feet. Gary 
climbed down and walked toward 
her holding out his hand."
"She was so strange" said Barnett. 
"The way she acted. More 
like an animal than a human."
Once they got her aboard the 
helicopter Stone wrapped the 
naked girl in a blanket. "She 
was making a high-pitched cry
like a seagull" said Stone. "Her 
respiration was odd popping 
out of her like breathing was 
something she had to remember 
to do."
Stone a communications and 
public relations specialist speaks 
fluent English Spanish and 
French. The child either couldn't 
or wouldn't respond to efforts 
to communicate in any language.
Her height and body development 
suggest a girl somewhere 
between the ages of 
eleven and sixteen years said 
Stone. Her weight in the vicinity 
of one hundred pounds is at 
least ten percent hair.
"Most refugees we pick up 
look as if they've been at sea a 
couple of days. Their eyes are 
bloodshot. They're dehydrated" 
said Barnett. "But they still look 
human. This girl was streaked 
with salt. There were barnacles 
growing on her for crying out 
loud. The condition of her 
skin - she had circular scars all 
over her face and body -she]]
had to be living in the sea a long 
time."
"Mila [the name given her by 
the Coast Guard crew] is definitely 
human but there's something 
about her something 
wild" Stone said.
The Immigration and Naturalization 
Service; the Bahamian 
Haitian and Cuban governments; 
and a team of medical 
specialists working under grants 
issued by the National Institute 
of Mental Health are disputing 
custody of the newly discovered 
wild child the second such discovery 
in as many months.
True wild children are a rare 
occurrence said Dr. Elizabeth 
Beck research professor of cognitive 
and neural systems at 
Boston University. "Feral children 
are an invaluable resource 
for studying the role language 
and socialization play in the 
making of a human being."
Beck has designed a unique 
facility at the Charles River 
campus to stimulate a "human" 
response in these children. She 
attributes the public's interest 
in them to the fact that wild 
children like Shay the fragile 
girl discovered in Idaho's 
Salmon River Mountains and 
Mila have much to teach us 
about ourselves.
On the short flight back from 
Anguila Cays to the mainland
the distraught girl kept thumping 
her cheek against the window 
of the Jay Hawk and 
squealing. Barnett used his hand 
as a cushion between the girl's 
head and the hard surface of 
the helicopter wall. Her squeal 
could be heard over the engine 
chop like an animal crying.
"It was like she was calling to 
someone down there" Stone 
said.
Stone poured water into a cup 
and offered it to the girl. 
"She touched the water with 
the tip of her finger then
touched her finger to her
 tongue" said Stone. "Slowly she 
extended her palms toward me 
cupped sealed tight. I poured 
water into her waiting hands 
and she drank from them."
"There was just something 
about her" said Stone. "From 
the moment I laid eyes on her I 
wanted to do things for her give 
her things. She was visibly 
exhausted by the time we landed
in Miami but by then at least 
she understood we meant her 
no harm. Right before we delivered 
her to I N S she leaned 
forward and studied me with 
one eye then slowly turning 
she studied me with the other. It 
still amazes me every time I 
think about it-the way she 
connected with us. I've never 
felt anything like it."]]
Doctor Beck says Where is the 
ear?
I show a picture of the ear. 
Doctor Beck says Good Mila. 
Where is the eye?
I show a picture of the eye. 
Doctor Beck says Good Mila. 
Where is the nose?
I show a picture of the hair. 
Doctor Beck says No Mila.]]
The nose is not in the hair. The 
nose is here. In front of the face. 
Doctor Beck shows a picture of 
the nose.
Doctor Beck says Where is the 
nose Mila?
I show a picture of the nose. 
Doctor Beck says Good. Good 
Mila.
I like good.]]
The helper is Sandy. Sandy says I have a present for you Mila. Sandy says This present is
to eat. This present is good fish. Do you want to eat this good fish Mila?
I say No.
The fish is not good. The fish is dead.
Sandy is not happy. I like Sandy happy.]]
Doctor Beck says What is this? Doctor Beck shows a picture. The picture talks. It says Girl. Doctor Beck says What is this Mila?
I say Girl.
Doctor Beck says Good. Good Mila. What is this?
Doctor Beck shows a picture. The picture talks. It says Boy. Doctor Beck says What is this Mila?
I say Boy.]]
Doctor Beck shows a picture. The picture talks. It says Dolphin.
Doctor Beck says what is this Mila?
I say Dolphin. Dolphin! Good good dolphin!
I like to see the picture of . dolphin.
Doctor Beck says Very good Mila. Tell me. What are you? A girl or a dolphin?
I show a picture. The picture talks. It says Dolphin.
I say Dolphin.
Doctor Beck says No Mila. Doctor Beck shows a mirror.]]
Doctor Beck is in the mirror. A girl is in the mirror.
Doctor Beck says Okay Mila. Tell me what are you? A girl or a dolphin?
I look in the mirror. I look at the picture. The picture talks. It says Girl.
I say Girl.
Doctor Beck says Yes. Girl. Good Mila. You are a girl.]]
Sandy is here. Sandy says Look Mila. I have a book. It is a fish book.
I come to Sandy.
Sandy says Show me the tail of the fish Mila.
I am showing the fish tail. Sandy says Good Mila. Show me the big rocks.
I am showing the big rocks.]]
Sandy says Good Mila. Show me the sea?
I say Sandy come.
Sandy says No Mila. Show me the sea in the book.
I want to show Sandy the good sea.
Sandy wants the picture in the book.
I show the picture in the book. I make Sandy happy.]]
I am going to see another girl. The girl is little.
The girl is different not like Doctor Beck and the others. The girl is different like me. I say my dolphin name to the girl.
The girl looks at me.
I say my dolphin name again. The girl makes a laugh.]]
Doctor Beck and Sandy and the others like the laugh.
Doctor Beck says to the girl Shay. This is Mila.
Doctor Beck says Mila. This is Shay.
I say the word Shay.
Sandy writes in a book Mila says Shay.
Doctor Beck says Shay is like you Mila. Shay is learning to talk. You and Shay can work together. Who can show me a thing we wear?
I show a picture of boots. I say boots. I have boots. Doctor Beck says boots are for rain]]
only. My ears like to hear boots all the time. I make my good boots to talk like the dolphin. 
Doctor Beck says Good Mila. Shay is not showing. Shay is not saying.
Doctor Beck says Who can tell me what you do with a fork?
I show a picture of eating. I say Eat.
Doctor Beck says Good Mila. Shay is not showing. Shay is not saying.
Doctor Beck says Who can tell me what you do when you are cold?]]
I am watching Shay. I am walking to Shay. I am showing Shay a gentle hand. Shay is a soft hair girl. Shay is a big eyes girl. Shay is a little little girl.
I am looking in the face of Shay. Shay is not showing. Shay is not saying.
But I am hearing Shay with no words.]]
In the night Doctor Beck comes into my room. Doctor Beck sees Sandy is sleeping in the chair.
Doctor Beck says to Sandy Go home. You need to sleep.
I say Sandy wants to stay. Doctor Beck says No Mila. Sandy wants to go home. We all need to go home sometimes.
I say I am not going home. Sandy is watching me.]]
Doctor Beck is watching me. Doctor Beck says Soon you will go home Mila. Soon we will all move to a home together where we will eat and sleep and play.
I am happy. I am touching the hand of Doctor Beck. I say We go home to the sea.
Doctor Beck says No. Not to the sea.
I am not understanding. Doctor Beck says We go to a house.
I say A house in the sea. Doctor Beck says No. Not in the sea Mila. A house here in Boston.]]
I come to Sandy.
Sandy makes gentle hands on me.
I want to go with Sandy and Doctor Beck. But I want to go to the sea.
Sandy says Let me stay with Mila tonight Doctor Beck. Doctor Beck says Yes. Okay. If you want. Stay.
I say Another time we go to the sea Doctor Beck. Yes?
Doctor Beck is a tired face. Doctor Beck is a tired voice. Doctor Beck says Another time Mila.]]
So good.
I have Sandy when going to sleep. I have Sandy when waking up. I have Sandy to play all the time. Now I am not only. Doctor Beck comes. Doctor Beck tells Sandy to give me a swimsuit.
Sandy says Mila you will like this.
Sandy says Here are pictures of a girl getting ready to swim.]]
Here she is in her swimsuit. Do you want to swim like the girl? I say Yes!
I put on the swimsuit. The swimsuit is funny little skin clothes.
I put on my good boots. I am ready.
I say Shay can swim too. We go to Shay and Doctor Troy.
I show Shay the picture of the girl getting ready to swim.
I say Come Shay.
Shay is happy. Shay is holding my hand. Shay is coming to swim with me.]]
Outside is good warm sun. No more cold.
Outside is many things to see. Outside is good for to breathe. Good for to walk. Good for so many things to hear.
Doctor Beck shows me to go inside a very big house. There is water in the house! I am hearing water! I say Come fast Shay!
Shay cannot come fast. Only hop hop hop.
I find the water myself. It is a bad smell. It is a bad taste. But it is water!
I am jumping into the water]]
with my clothes. I make dolphin talk. Squeak and whistle. I am laughing and splashing.
Sound is everywhere. Inside me outside me. Good water sound in the big room.
I am moving fast and fast in the water. It makes my eyes to hurt but I am so happy to swim. I say Come Shay. Come in the water. Shay is putting hands over her ears.
But Sandy comes in the water. I am going around and around. So quiet I come behind Sandy. I make a big splash and Sandy drinks the water and coughs.]]
I am laughing. The sound is going everywhere in the big room. I am hearing with good water ears every little sound.
A boy is coming into the room. He is tall like Doctor Beck. Doctor Beck says Hello Justin. Doctor Beck is not looking at me. She is looking at the boy Justin. She is not touching the boy but she is with the boy. The boy is made very pretty. Good arms and legs. Hair is wet sand like Doctor Beck.
I come to the side and splash Doctor Beck and the boy. The boy snaps at me like the angry]]
dolphin. The boy snaps at Doctor Beck.
I laugh and laugh and swim away.
The boy goes.
I am splashing water on Sandy. I am so happy.
I say Doctor Beck I can stay here and sleep here in the water room with Sandy all the time? Doctor Beck says No. This is not a place to sleep Mila. Only to swim. It is time to go back to the hospital. Come out of the water.
I do not want to go.]]
I can play five notes on the recorder. With those notes I can make many many songs. It is not big music like the music Sandy gives me to put in the tape machine it is not the music of Mozart but my teacher Doctor Peach says if I can play these songs I can play songs more harder in a little time.
I have to learn many notes before I can make music like Mozart. I want to play the recorder day and night. When I am not playing I feel a tightness inside me like when the sea grass catches my feet and I cannot break free. All around me swims the big music but I am trapped inside the sea grass of my little notes.
Sandy is helping with my journal. My journal is this writing I do on the computer. Sandy shows]]
me how much I learned in this year. She says when she first saw me I knew five words. Now I know many words. But many words I do not know. And sometimes I make mistakes with the words I do know.
Doctor Beck makes more games for me to play. Other doctors come too. I like to play their games. When I understand what he doctors want I am happy to do it. It makes the doctors happy too. I like to make the doctors happy too. Shay does not like the games so much. I help her. I show her how to play.
Shay sits on the floor. She looks at the wall. I see a look of lost in her eyes. I stroke the hair of Shay. I talk to Shay sometimes in dolphin with my nose sound. Shay laughs at dolphin talk. I want to make Shay laugh all the time. But Doctor Beck says to make only human talk with her So she can learn.
Shay is not happy. She can make only a little talk. One word. One word. One word.]]
Sandy says Shay never laughed before I came. Sandy says I am very smart to make Shay laugh with my dolphin talk. In the beginning I did not make dolphin talk for Shay to laugh. I thought Shay understood dolphin talk. I thought Shay was like me. But Shay was not understanding dolphin talk because I was not saying funny things and still Shay was laughing. So I know she is laughing because dolphin talk makes in her ears something funny. I love the sound of Shay laughing.
There is so much laughing in my dolphin family. Inside laugh. Outside laugh. I laugh with Sandy but I miss dolphin laughing. I ask Sandy do you have a tape of dolphin laughing? Sandy says no but she will look for this tape.
Justin brings me a radio.
He says This is old. My father sent me a new one. You can have this.
Justin shows me to fit the plug in the little wall holes.]]
You turn it on here he says. And move the knob to tune the stations.
Justin shows me where to put my hand.
I turn the radio off and on. If I move the knob so slow I can find music so much music hiding in the radio. If I turn the knob and turn the knob I can find so many different sounds. So many different voices. There is so much inside the radio. And it is all human.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: No support

Dialog: Simple

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: Many difficult words

Language: Colorful, figurative

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Difficult

Inferences: Several Implications

Complexity: Several unrelated ideas

Concepts: Abstract/Complex Social

Chapters

Mature Concepts: With some uncommon experiences

Features

Character traits

Character development

Integral Setting

Complex plot

First Person

Unconventional punctuation

Present Tense

Unusual use of vocabulary

Topic

Experiments

Feelings/Emotions

Undersea Life

Dolphins

Learning

Homes

Nature

Behaviors

Ocean

*Animal Life

*Family & Friends

*Music

Low Frequency Words

aboard	anguila	attributes	awaited	barnacles
bloodshot	campus	cay	cays	circular
cognitive	communicate	communications	composed	coughs
cousins	cushion	custody	dehydrated	designed
disputing	distraught	examination	exhausted	facility
feral	fisk	flown	fluent	flukes
fragile	frantic	fully	gary	governments
grants	gull	gulls	haitian	height
hovering	idaho's	immigration	initial	institute
invaluable	issued	journal	junior	knob
language	lieutenant	mangrove	mangroves	mechanic
medical	miami	mila	mission	missions
molting	monica	murmuring	naked	national
naturalization	neural	newly	nicholas	occurrence
opposite	orca	ourselves	palms	parachute
percent	pitches	public	public's	radioed
recorder	reforms	refugees	relations	research
resource	respiration	respond	response	roiling
routine	salmon	seagull	section	service
shay	silverfish	socialization	specialist	specialists
springing	squealing	stations	stimulate	streaked
studied	suggest	surveillance	swamp	swimsuit
tangled	thumping	tightness	understanding	unique
vicinity	videotaped	visibly	waking	weird
whistles