Text Leveling System

The Polar Express

RDQ:	807	Max Word/Sent	28	Total Words	1002		Diff Words	400
Lex	700	Ave Word/.Sent	10	Hi Freq occurs	649	64.8%	Hi freq	168	42%
AR	3.3	Long Sentences	4	Low Freq occurs	38	3.8%	Low freq	28	7%

On Christmas eve many years 
ago I lay quietly in my bed. I 
did not rustle the sheets. I 
breathed slowly and silently. I 
was listening for a sound - a 
sound a friend had told me I'd 
never hear - the ringing bells 
of Santa's sleigh.
"There is no Santa" my 
friend had insisted but I knew 
he was wrong.
Late that night I did hear 
sounds though not of ringing 
bells. From outside came the 
sounds of hissing steam and 
squeaking metal. I looked 
through my window and saw a 
train standing perfectly still in 
front of my house.]]
It was wrapped in an apron 
of steam. Snowflakes fell lightly 
around it. A conductor stood at 
the open door of one of the 
cars. He took a large pocket 
watch from his vest then 
looked up at my window. I put 
on my slippers and robe. I 
tiptoed downstairs and out 
the door.
"All aboard" the conductor 
cried out. I ran up to him. 
"Well" he said "are you 
coming?"
"Where?" I asked.
"Why to the North Pole of 
course" was his answer. "This 
is the Polar Express." I took his 
outstretched hand and he 
pulled me aboard.]]
The train was filled with
other children all in their
pajamas and nightgowns. We
sang Christmas carols and ate
candies with nougat centers as
white as snow. We drank hot
cocoa as thick and rich as
melted chocolate bars. Outside
the lights of towns and villages
flickered in the distance as the
Polar Express raced northward.]]
Soon there were no more
lights to be seen. We traveled
through cold dark forests
where lean wolves roamed and
white-tailed rabbits hid from
our train as it thundered
through the quiet wilderness.]]
We climbed mountains so
high it seemed as if we would
scrape the moon. But the Polar
Express never slowed down.
Faster and faster we ran along
rolling over peaks and through
valleys like a car on a roller
coaster.]]
The mountains turned into
hills the hills to snow-covered
plains. We crossed a barren
desert of ice - the Great Polar
Ice Cap. Lights appeared in
the distance. They looked like
the lights of a strange ocean
liner sailing on a frozen sea.
"There" said the conductor
"is the North Pole."]]
The North Pole. It was a
 huge city standing alone at  the
top of the world filled with
factories where every
Christmas toy was made.
At first we saw no elves.
"They are gathering at the
center of the city" the conductor
told us. "That is where 
Santa will give the first gift of
Christmas."
"Who receives the first gift?"
we all asked.
The conductor answered
"He will choose one of you."]]
We pressed through the 
crowd to the edge of a large
open circle.  In front of us stood
Santa's sleigh. The reindeer
were excited. They pranced
and paced ringing the silver
sleigh bells that hung from
their harnesses. It was a magical
sound like nothing I'd ever
heard. Across the circle the
elves moved apart and Santa
Claus appeared. The elves
cheered wildly.
He marched over to us and
pointing to me said "Let's
have this fellow here." He
jumped into his sleigh. The 
conductor handed me up. I sat
on Santa's knee and he asked
"Now what would you like
for Christmas?"]]
I knew that I could have any
gift I could imagine. But the
thing I wanted most for
Christmas was not inside
Santa's giant bag. What I
wanted more than anything
was one silver bell from Santa's
sleigh. When I asked Santa
smiled. Then he gave me a hug
and told an elf to cut a bell
from a reindeer's harness. The
elf tossed it up to Santa. He
stood holding the bell high
above him and called out
"The first gift of Christmas!"]]
A clock struck midnight as 
the elves roared their approval.
Santa handed the bell to me
and I put it in my bathrobe
pocket. The conductor helped
me down from the sleigh.
Santa shouted out the reindeer's
names and cracked his whip.
His team charged forward and
climbed into the air. Santa
circled once above us then
disappeared in the cold dark
polar sky.]]
As soon as we were back
inside the Polar Express the
other children asked to see the
bell. I reached into my pocket
but the only thing I felt was a
hole. I had lost the silver bell
from Santa Claus's sleigh.
"Let's hurry outside and look
for it" one of the children said.
But the train gave a sudden 
lurch and started moving. We
were on our way home.]]
It broke my heart to lose the
bell. When the train reached
my house I sadly left the other
children. I stood at my
doorway and waved good-bye.
The conductor said something 
from the moving train but I
couldn't hear him. "What?" I
yelled out.
He cupped his hands around
his mouth. "Merry
Christmas" he shouted.
The Polar Express let out a 
loud blast from its whistle and
sped away.]]
On Christmas morning my
little sister Sarah and I opened
our presents. When it looked 
as if everything had been
unwrapped Sarah found one
last small box behind the tree.
It had my name on it. Inside
was the silver bell! There was
a not: "Found this on the seat
of my sleigh. Fix that hole in
your pocket." Signed "Mr. C."
I shook the bell. It made the 
most beautiful sound my sister
and I had ever heard.
But my mother said "Oh
that's too bad."
"Yes" said my father "it's
broken."
When I'd shaken the bell 
my parents had not heard a
sound.]]
At one time most of my friends could hear the bell but as years
passed it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas
that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I've grown
old the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Dialog: Two speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Inferences: Several Implications

Concepts: Abstract/Complex Social

Author's purpose: Obvious

Features

Integral Setting

Simple Plot

Symbolism

Topic

Sound/Sounds

Trains

Gifts

Beliefs

*Holidays, Events, Cele

Christmas

Low Frequency Words

aboard	approval	barren	breathed	candies
carols	charged	conductor	factories	fellow
gathering	harness	harnesses	lightly	liner
lurch	magical	nougat	paced	plains
reindeer	reindeer's	roamed	rustle	shaken
sleigh	thundered	truly