Text Leveling System

Martha Speaks

RDQ:	301	Max Word/Sent	25	Total Words	522		Diff Words	252
Lex	540	Ave Word/.Sent	7	Hi Freq occurs	296	56.7%	Hi freq	99	39.3%
AR	2.2	Long Sentences	1.4	Low Freq occurs	10	1.9%	Low freq	7	2.8%

The day Helen gave Martha dog her alphabet soup]]
something unusual happened.
The letters in the soup went up to Martha's brain
instead of down to her stomach.]]
That evening Martha spoke.]]
Martha's family had many questions to ask her.
Of course she had a lot to tell them!]]
Alphabet soup became a regular part of Martha's diet
and the family had a wonderful time surprising people.
Walking the dog was always good for a laugh.]]
They ordered pizza from a different restaurant every night.]]
They taught Martha to use the phone.
But this was a mistake.]]
Pretty soon more than pizza was being delivered!]]
Family and friends were amazed.]]
Although there were those who doubted
Martha always had the last word.]]
But there was a problem:
now that Martha could talk there was no stopping her.
She said exactly what was on her mind.]]
She made embarrassing comments.]]
And she always told the truth.
Occasionally she wondered why
her family was often mad at her.]]
But she kept on talking.
She talked through everyone's favorite TV shows
except her own.]]
She talked while they were trying to read.]]
She talked and talked...]]
and talked...
until her family could not stand it and said "Martha please!"]]
Shut up!]]
"What's wrong?" asked Martha.
"You talk too much!" yelled Father.
"You never stop!" yelled Mother.
"Sometimes" said Helen
"I wish you had never learned to talk."
Martha was crushed.]]
The next day Martha did not speak. She didn't ask
for her dinner or to go out. She offered no opinions
but lay quietly beneath the kitchen table.
At first her family enjoyed the silence but after
a while they became worried.
"What's the matter Martha?" asked Helen.
Martha didn't answer.
Helen's father called the vet.
"There's something wrong with my dog!" he said.
"She won't say a word."
"Is this some kind of a joke?" snapped the vet.]]
Helen offered Martha bowl after bowl of alphabet soup
but Martha had lost her appetite for letters.]]
But when she opened her mouth to speak-
Martha hadn't eaten a bowl of alphabet soup in days!]]
Martha raced to the kitchen.
She barked. She growled.
She tried to look ferocious.]]
The burglar wasn't frightened. He picked up a pot
from the stove.]]
"Uh oh" thought Martha. "It's taps for sure."
But to her surprise the burglar put the pot down
on the floor in front of her.
"Here doggy" he said.. "Have something nice to eat."
The burglar smiled as he closed Martha into the kitchen
and went back to work.]]
"Dumb dog" he said.
Lucky for me you like alphabet soup."]]
When Martha's family returned they found the police
removing a burglar from their house.
"How did you know he was robbing our house?" asked Helen.
"We got a call at the station" said the officer.
"Some lady named Martha."]]
"Good dog Martha!" exclaimed her happy family.
"You're so right" said Martha.
Now Martha eats a bowl of alphabet soup every day.
She's learning what to say and when to say it and
sometimes she doesn't say anything at all...
at least for a few minutes.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Speech Bubbles

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Simple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Concept: Fanciful

Features

Simple Plot

Topic

Talking

Dogs

Alphabet

Words

*Animals

*Family & Friends

Pets

Low Frequency Words

burglar	doubted	embarrassing	ferocious	occasionally
opinions	restaurant