Text Leveling System

Ghosts Don't Eat Potato Chips

RDQ:	941	Max Word/Sent	28	Total Words	2946		Diff Words	790
Lex	730	Ave Word/.Sent	8	Hi Freq occurs	2064	70.1%	Hi freq	358	45.3%
AR	3.5	Long Sentences	1.6	Low Freq occurs	107	3.6%	Low freq	76	9.6%

Great-aunt Mathilda 
"Aw Grandma" Eddie whined. "Why 
do I have to go? Great-aunt Mathilda 
doesn't even like me."
Eddie's grandmother sighed. "Because 
Mathilda is my sister and families take 
care of each other."
"That old bat never did anything for 
us" Eddie mumbled.
Eddie's grandmother thumped him on 
the head. "That's not the point! She's been 
by herself since Uncle Jasper died. Now 
she's sick and needs our help. All you 
have to do is take her meals to her. You 
and Howie can take her lunch on your  
way to the playground."
Eddie pulled a baseball cap over his 
curly red hair and grabbed the dish off 
the kitchen counter. He didn't complain]]
to his grandmother again but he 
slammed the door extra hard on his way 
out.
His best friend Howie was waiting for 
him at the street corner. "What's that?" 
Howie asked.
"It's a sick casserole for my Great-aunt 
Mathilda."
"Don't you mean it's a great casserole 
for your sick aunt?" Howie asked.
Eddie snickered. "You don't know my 
grandmother's cooking!"
Howie laughed and pulled out a crushed]]
bag of potato chips from his shirt pocket. 
"You want some garlic chips?"
"No! Those chips are worse than my 
grandmother's cooking!" Eddie said. 
"You should get the kind I like."
The two boys headed down a side street 
with Howie crunching away. In just a 
few minutes they stood in front of Aunt 
Mathilda's house.
The branches of a huge weeping willow 
tree dragged the ground beside the fence. 
The rusty iron gate squeaked open. Eddie 
and Howie looked at the big house without 
saying a word. Dark windows stared 
down at them as they walked up the 
crumbling steps to the door.
"This house looks like a reject from an 
old horror movie" Howie whispered. 
Eddie nodded. "It's definitely ready for 
a wrecking ball."
Howie crunched nervously on his potato 
chips. "Let's hurry up this place is 
creepy!"]]
Eddie lifted the rusting door knocker 
and then let it fall with a thud. A window 
on the second floor creaked open and a 
gray-haired woman looked out. "Who's 
at my door?"
"It's us" Eddie yelled. "Grandma sent 
your lunch."
Aunt Mathilda wrinkled her nose like 
she'd just sucked a lemon. "Well hurry 
and bring it to me. And shut the door 
behind you!" Then she slammed the window 
so hard it rattled.
Eddie pushed the door open. A musty 
smell hit them like an ocean wave. 
"Phew. It smells like something died in 
here. Hasn't your Aunt Mathilda ever 
heard of air fresheners?" Howie asked. 
"Old people don't care when things 
stink" Eddie said.
"Quit that whispering and bring me 
my lunch" Aunt Mathilda said from her 
bedroom. "An old lady could die of starvation 
before getting fed by you."]]
"I'd like to feed her a thing or two" 
Eddie muttered. "Only it wouldn't be 
supper!"
The two kids stepped around a pile of 
yellowed newspapers and started up 
the creaking steps. Eddie's shoelaces 
slapped the faded carpet and the boys 
sidestepped a broken chair in the 
upstairs hall. Aunt Mathilda's room was 
at the end of the hall on the second 
floor.
Aunt Mathilda was sitting up in bed 
with a box of tissues by her side. Wadded
up tissues were scattered on the floor. 
Wisps of gray hair hung around her face 
like spiderwebs and her wrinkled skin 
was the color of old pears. She looked 
like she had been through World War 
Two instead of the flu. She pointed a bony 
finger at Eddie. "I remember you. You're 
the mean one!"
Eddie shrugged. "It must run in the 
family."]]
"Hummph" Aunt Mathilda grunted. 
"Who's that with you? I don't know 
him."
Howie choked on a potato chip. "I'm 
Eddie's friend Howie. Would you like 
some chips?" He held out the crumpled 
bag.
"That's the garlic kind my Jasper 
always ate. It's probably what killed 
him."
"Who's Jasper?" Howie whispered 
as he stuffed the bag into his shirt 
pocket.
"My dead uncle" Eddie whispered 
back. Then before Aunt Mathilda could 
say anything else Eddie shoved the dish 
at her. "Grandma said to ask if you 
needed anything else."
Aunt Mathilda nodded. "As long as 
you're here you can water the garden."
 As they walked down the steps Eddie 
and Howie heard Aunt Mathilda blowing 
her nose.]]
"I never knew you had a crazy aunt" 
Howie said.
"She's not half as crazy as Uncle Jasper 
was" Eddie said as he pushed open the 
back door. "We're just lucky he's not 
around anymore!"]]
Weed Soup
"I can't believe she calls this a garden" 
Eddie said shaking his head. "It's just a 
bunch of weeds."
"I bet your Aunt Mathilda uses it to 
make weed soup." Howie laughed as he 
helped drag a garden hose between the 
gnarled trees.
"Crabgrass salad too" Eddie giggled 
as he tried to turn on the water. 
"Something's wrong with this faucet."
"Let me try" Howie said dropping
his bag of potato chips on an old picnic 
table.
"No. If I can't get it you sure can't." 
Eddie didn't get a chance to try again 
because Aunt Mathilda's screech 
interrupted them.
"Did you expect me to eat this with my]]
fingers?" she yelled from the window. "Bring me a fork and a glass of water." 
Eddie shoved the hose at Howie. "You'll have to water the garden while I go water Aunt Mathilda."
Howie looked at the old house as his friend disappeared inside. Several windows were broken and wood was nailed over the empty spaces. The attic window was so high Howie had to tilt his head back to see it.
What Howie saw made him freeze. Someone was staring down from the attic window. Howie rubbed his eyes and looked again. No one was there.]]
"That's strange" Howie muttered. 
"You're strange" Eddie said as he came out the back door. "If you don't watch out a bird will get you in the eye."
Howie ignored Eddie's remark. "Were you just in the attic?"
Eddie grabbed the hose from Howie. "I don't even know how to get to the attic of this joint."
"Does anyone else live here?" Howie asked.
"Just my crazy aunt." Eddie tried to twist the water spigot. "Why do you care?" 
"Maybe we'd better call the police because I just saw someone in the attic." Howie pointed to the small window at the top of the house.
Eddie stared at the window for a few minutes and then laughed. "Don't be silly it was just a shadow from those big trees."
Howie looked at the window again. But he didn't see anything because Eddie]]
finally got the hose on and squirted Howie right in the face.
"Cut it out" Howie yelled.
Eddie laughed. "I thought you might like to cool off."
Howie backed away from the weed patch. "If you don't quit it I'm going to the playground without you."
"Okay I'll stop if you'll wait for me." 
As Eddie squirted the plants Howie went to get his potato chips. Instead he found an empty chip bag. "Who said you could eat all my chips?"
"I told you I hate garlic chips" Eddie said.
Howie looked under the old picnic table and gulped. "Eddie come here."
Eddie dropped the hose and walked over to the picnic table. "What do you want?" he asked.
Howie pointed. "Look under there." Eddie shook his head but he glanced]]
under the table. "So you spilled your chips. What's the big deal?"
Howie banged his hand on the table. "Look Eddie. Really look. This is important."
"Okay okay. Keep your eyeballs glued on." Eddie looked again. "Hey the chips are letters. A ... T ... T ... I ... C. What's that spell?"
"ATTIC!" Howie yelled at Eddie. "Somebody spelled out attic."
Eddie shrugged. "It's just a coincidence. Either that or Aunt Mathilda has smart ants in her yard." With that Eddie stepped on the chips and smashed them to tiny pieces.
Howie looked back up at the attic window. It was still empty. Maybe it had been a shadow. But what if it hadn't?]]
Smarty-Pants
Eddie caught up with Howie at the oak tree on the playground. The giant tree made a perfect Saturday morning meeting place for the kids from Bailey Elementary School. Two other third-graders Liza and Melody were waiting for them.
Liza giggled and pushed back her blonde hair. "What happened to you?" 
"It looks like you've been slimed by the Loch Ness Monster" Melody said. 
Howie squeezed his T-shirt and water oozed into his tennis shoe. "Hosehead tried to squirt me into the next county." 
"I was just trying to cool you off" Eddie told him. "After all you were so hot you were seeing things."
"What's he talking about?" Melody asked.]]
Howie shook his wet head and splattered water on his friends. "I saw someone looking out his crazy aunt's window."
"He also saw potato chips so smart they could win a spelling bee." Eddie laughed. 
Howie's face turned red. "Maybe the chips were a coincidence but there really was somebody in the attic."
"It was probably Eddie's aunt" Melody told Howie.
"No she's sick in bed" Howie said. "And she lives all by herself."
Liza touched Eddie on his shoulder. "I didn't know your sweet aunt was sick."
"There's nothing sweet about that old bat" Eddie snickered.
"Eddie! You shouldn't talk about sick people like that" Liza said.
"You guys are missing the point" Howie interrupted. "What if there really is somebody hiding up in that attic?"]]
"No one's up there except in your loony imagination" Eddie laughed. "I told you it was just the tree's shadow."
"It couldn't be a shadow" Melody told them.
"How do you know that Miss SmartyPants?" Eddie asked. "You weren't there."
"It's been cloudy all day" Melody snapped. "You can't have shadows without sun!"
Howie pointed a finger at Eddie. "She's right."
"Maybe you better call the police" Liza said.
"Police don't chase shadows." Eddie laughed.
"But there could be a crazy lunatic just waiting for the chance to rob your aunt" said Howie.
Eddie shook his head. "Nobody would want to rob my aunt. She's so poor she can't even afford to fix up her house." 
"Still wouldn't you feel terrible if some-]]
thing happened to your aunt and you didn't help her?" Liza asked.
Howie nodded. "At least tell her."
"But we just got here" Eddie snapped. "We'll tell her later."
"Stop thinking about yourself" Liza said. "You better warn her now before something awful happens."
"Something awful has happened" Eddie said. "I listened to my silly friends. If you goody-goodies are so worried about Aunt Mathilda you can go with me. Meet me at her house at seven o'clock when I take supper to her. And don't be late."
His friends watched Eddie stomp away from the tree toward some boys playing softball. "Are you sure there was someone at that window?" Melody asked Howie.
"I know what I saw" Howie said slowly. "And it was no shadow."]]
The Legend
At seven o'clock Eddie Howie Liza and Melody stared tip at the attic window. Liza's eyes were big and round. "You didn't tell me your aunt lives in a haunted house."
"You're as bad as Howie" Eddie told her. "Next you'll be seeing things too." 
"Don't you know the legend behind this house?" Liza asked. "Three years ago weird things started happening at all hours of the night. Strange lights and funny noises came from the attic." 
"What kind of noises?"Melody asked. 
"Ghostly footsteps" Liza said seriously "and whistling."
"That's all stupid nonsense" Eddie interrupted.
"It is not" Liza snapped. "My dad told]]
me that ghosts can't rest if something they did during their lives is causing loved ones to suffer. They're doomed to wander until someone rights the wrong for them."
Eddie shook his head and pushed open the squeaky gate. "Then you'll never rest because you're always making me suffer."
"But maybe that's what Howie saw" Liza said firmly.
"What?" Melody asked. 
"A ghost" Liza whispered.
"And maybe your head is full of Rice Krispies!" Eddie muttered to himself as he headed up the sidewalk. "My aunt may be crazy" Eddie told them on the porch "but she's no ghost."
"How can you be sure?" Melody asked. 
"Because you have to be dead to be a ghost and Great-aunt Mathilda is too mean to die" Eddie joked as he banged on the front door.]]
Just like before the second floor window creaked open and Aunt Mathilda peered down at them. "Quit that racket. How's a sick woman supposed to get any rest with you pounding on the door?"
Eddie held up his grandmother's casserole dish. "Should I just throw this in the trash?"
"What? And let me starve?" Aunt Mathilda snapped. "Bring it up here and don't be all day about it."
"I told you she was crazy" Howie whispered to Liza as they went in the house. 
"She's not crazy" Liza said. "She's just cranky because she doesn't feel well."
"Then she hasn't felt well since 1942" Eddie said as he led them to his aunt's bedroom.
Aunt Mathilda was still in bed. Her covers looked like a warthog had been rooting in them and the mound of used tissues on the floor had grown a foot. Aunt Mathilda reached out her hands for]]
the casserole dish and fork. "How many kids does it take to bring an old woman dinner?"
Liza smiled. "My name is Liza and this is Melody. It's nice to meet you." 
"Hummph" Aunt Mathilda said as she dug into her dinner.
"We came to tell you something" Melody added. But she never got the chance because Aunt Mathilda took a big bite of casserole and spit it out all over the bed.]]
"I can't eat this. It's as cold as a park bench in February. You'll have to heat it up in the oven."
"We'd be happy to" Liza chirped as she picked up the cold dish. Her three friends followed her out of the room.
Aunt Mathilda called after them "Come back up here while it's heating so I can keep an eye on you."
The kids hurried to the kitchen. "I've got better things to do than play nursemaid to an old grouch" Eddie complained.
"Now Eddie. You shouldn't talk about your great-aunt that way. It won't take long to heat this up then we can tell her about the attic" Liza said.
"How do you work this stove anyway?" Melody asked.
"Do I look like Betty Crocker? I've never used an oven in my life" Eddie admitted.
"Me neither" Howie said.
Eddie twirled the knob. "My grand]]
mother does it all the time so it can't be that hard."
Liza stuck the casserole in the oven and they went back upstairs. They were in the upstairs hall when they heard it. THUMP.
"Listen" Howie hissed. The four kids stood in the middle of the dusty hallway. "It sounds like something fell over in the attic."
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
"It sounds like footsteps to me" Melody whispered. "Somebody is up there." 
"Or else it's the ghost" Liza gulped as she started backing down the hall. 
Melody grabbed Liza's arm. "We've got to warn Aunt Mathilda."
"Calm down" Eddie laughed. "It's probably just rats."
"I've never heard rats whistle" Howie said hoarsely as a high-pitched melody floated down from above.]]
Up in smoke
"Did you hear that?" Liza asked as they burst into the bedroom.
Aunt Mathilda was busy shuffling a deck of cards like a professional cardshark. "Hear what?" she asked.
"It sounds like someone is in the attic" Melody told her. "We heard footsteps and whistling."
Aunt Mathilda shrugged. "There're always creaks in an old house like this."
"But this afternoon I saw a face in the attic window" Howie said. "Maybe we should take a look around upstairs -- just to be sure."
"Hummph. Nobody's going up in that attic" Aunt Mathilda said firmly. "Jasper was the only one who ever went up there.]]
It's been three years since he died and that creaky floor's probably not safe anymore."
"Are you sure it's just old floorboards?" Liza asked.
"Of course" Aunt Mathilda snapped. "Now I've had enough of your silly talk. I want to play cards."
The four kids looked at each other and shrugged. If Aunt Mathilda wasn't worried maybe they shouldn't be either. Liza clapped her hands. "Oh I just love to play Go Fish."
"Fish!" Aunt Mathilda bellowed. "I was thinking more about poker."
"Now you're talking." Eddie smiled. The kids stared because Aunt Mathilda dealt the cards with the speed of a machine gun. It wasn't long before the five of them were playing Black Jack and Three-card Monte.
"How'd an old lady like you learn to be such a good poker player?" Melody asked]]
after Aunt Mathilda had won another game.
"That's one good thing about being old! I know a lot more than little snots like you." Aunt Mathilda laughed.
Liza giggled along with her. Eddie even laughed as he grabbed the cards to deal a new game.
Howie sniffed the air. "Do you smell something funny?"
"The casserole" Melody gasped. 
"You're burning down my house" Aunt Mathilda screamed as the kids rushed out of the room.
The kitchen was filled with so much smoke that none of the kids noticed the dark shadow by the refrigerator.
"Turn off the oven" Eddie hollered grabbing a potholder.
Melody reached for the dial and froze. "It is off!"
"Right this burned all by itself" Eddie snapped opening the oven door. Black]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Vocabulary: Few decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Inferences: Some implications

Complexity: Several ideas - closely related

Features

Integral Setting

Simple problem/solution

Simple Plot

Ambiguous ending

Topic

Mystery

Ghosts

*Family & Friends

Low Frequency Words

cardshark	casserole	coincidence	crabgrass	dealt
elementary	faucet	floor's	fresheners	garlic
ghostly	glued	gnarled	grunted	gulped
haired	haunted	heating	hoarsely	hollered
horror	hosehead	hummph	ignored	imagination
interrupted	joint	knob	knocker	krispies
legend	loch	lunatic	mathilda	mathilda's
monte	mound	musty	muttered	nailed
nervously	nursemaid	oozed	peered	potholder
professional	racket	refrigerator	reject	screech
seriously	shoelaces	shoved	shrugged	shuffling
sidestepped	slimed	smartypants	snickered	spiderwebs
spigot	splattered	starvation	there're	tissues
wadded	wander	warn	warthog	weird
whined	whistling	wisps	wrecking	wrinkled
yellowed