Text Leveling System

Borreguita and the Coyote

RDQ:	513	Max Word/Sent	22	Total Words	892		Diff Words	315
Lex	640	Ave Word/.Sent	7	Hi Freq occurs	573	64.2%	Hi freq	135	42.9%
AR	2.7	Long Sentences	1.8	Low Freq occurs	47	5.3%	Low freq	33	10.5%

On a farm at the foot of a mountain there once lived a little
ewe lamb. Her master called her simply Borreguita which means
"little lamb."
One day Borreguita's master tied her to a stake in a field of red
clover. The lamb was eating the lush plants when a coyote came
along.]]
The coyote growled "Grrrr! Borreguita I'm going to eat you!"
Borreguita bleated "Baaaa Baaaa! Oh Se?or Coyote I
would not fill you up. I am as thin as a bean pod. When I have eaten
all this clover I shall be fat. You may eat me then."
Coyote looked at the skinny little lamb and the wide clover field.
"Est? bien. That is good" he said. "When you are fat I shall come 
back."]]
After many days the coyote returned. He found the lamb
grazing in the meadow. He growled "Grrrr! Borreguita you are as
plump as a tumbleweed. I'm going to eat you now!"
Borreguita bleated "Baaaa baaaa! "Se?or Coyote I know
something that tastes ever so much better than lamb!"
"What?" asked Coyote.
"Cheese!" cried Borreguita. "My master keeps a round of cheese on
his table. He eats it on his tacos."
The coyote had never heard of cheese and he was curious about it.
"How can I get some of this cheese?" he said.
Borreguita said "There is a pond at the end of the pasture. Tonight
when the moon is high meet me there. And I will show you how to 
get a cheese."
"Est? bien" said Coyote. "I will be there."]]
That night when the full moon was straight up in the sky 
Borreguita and Coyote met at the edge of the pond.
There glowing in the black water was something that looked like
a big round cheese.
"Do you see it?" cried Borreguita. "Swim out and get it."]]
Coyote slipped into the water and paddled toward the cheese. He
swam and swam shuh shuh shuh shuh. But the cheese stayed just so
far ahead. Finally he opened his mouth and lunged - Whoooosh!
The image shattered in the splash!
Pond water rushed into Coyote's mouth. Coughing and spluttering
he turned and headed for the shore.]]
When he reached it the little lamb was gone.
She had tricked him! Coyote shook the water off his 
fur freh freh freh.
Then he looked up at the cheese in the sky and howled
"Ohooooah!"]]
At dawn the next day Borreguita went to graze near a small
overhanging ledge of rock on the side of the mountain. She knew 
that the coyote would be coming after her and she had a plan.
As the sun rose over the mountain Borreguita saw the coyote
coming. He was sniffing along with his nose on some trail. She
crawled under the ledge and lay on her back bracing her feet against
the top.]]
When the coyote found her he growled "Grrrr! Borreguita I see
you under there. I'm going to pull you out and eat you!"
Borreguita bleated "Baaaa baaaa! Se?or Coyote you can't
eat me now! I have to hold up this mountain. If I let go it will come
tumbling down."
The coyote looked at the mountain. He saw that the lamb was 
holding it up.]]
"You are strong" said Borreguita. "Will you hold it while I go for
help?"
The coyote did not want the mountain to fall so he crept under
the ledge and put up his feet.
"Push hard" said Borreguita. "Do you have it now?"
"I have it" said Coyote. "But hurry back. This mountain is heavy."
Borreguita rolled out of the shallow cave and went leaping and 
running all the way back to the barnyard.]]
Coyote held up that rock until his legs ached and he was hungry
and thirsty. At last he said "Even if the mountain falls I'm going to
let go! I can't hold it any longer."
The coyote dragged himself out and covered his head with his
paws. The mountain did not fall. Then he knew - the little lamb had
fooled him again. Coyote sat on his haunches and howled "Ohooooah!"]]
Early the next morning the coyote hid himself in a thicket in the
lamb's pasture. When she drew near he sprang out with a woof!
And he said "Borreguita you will not escape this time! I'm going to
eat you now!"
Borreguita bleated "Baaaa baaaa! Se?or Coyote I know I
deserve to die. But grant me one kindness. Swallow me whole so
that I won't have to suffer the biting and the chewing."
"Why should I make you comfortable while I eat you?" demanded
the coyote. "Anyway I couldn't swallow you all in one piece even if I
wanted to."
"Oh yes you could!" cried Borreguita. "Your mouth is so big
you could swallow a cougar. Open it wide and I will run and dive
right in."]]
Coyote opened his mouth wide and braced his feet.
Borreguita backed away. Then she put her head down and charged.
Bam! She struck the inside of Coyote's mouth so hard she sent him
rolling.
"Ow ow ow!" howled the coyote as he picked himself up and
ran away - his mouth feeling like one big toothache!]]
And from that day on Borreguita frisked about on the farm at the
foot of the mountain. And Coyote never bothered her again.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Dialog: Two speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Dialog: Unlabeled Speaker

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Story/Poem

Inferences: Some implications

Concept: Fanciful

Features

Simple Plot

Difficult names

Foreign words

Topic

Food Chain

Tricking

Low Frequency Words

ached	bien	bracing	charged	cougar
coughing	coyote's	curious	deserve	est
freh	frisked	grant	haunches	image
kindness	ledge	lunged	lush	meadow
ohooooah	overhanging	paddled	pasture	shallow
shuh	spluttering	sprang	swallow	thicket
toothache	tumbleweed	whoooosh