Text Leveling System

Weird Parents

RDQ:	417	Max Word/Sent	25	Total Words	412		Diff Words	198
Lex	610	Ave Word/.Sent	11	Hi Freq occurs	217	52.7%	Hi freq	74	37.4%
AR	2.5	Long Sentences	13.9	Low Freq occurs	9	2.2%	Low freq	5	2.5%

There once was a boy who had 
weird parents.  No matter how many times he told them not to
the weird parents did weird things whenever 
they went out into the world.]]
In the morning the weird mother always walked the 
boy to his bus stop.
"Bye-bye honey cakes!" she'd call.]]
Then as the bus drove away she'd blow a huge kiss
And press her hand to her heart.]]
At 12 o'clock when the boy opened his 
lunch box he'd always have a weird surprise.]]
And in the afternoon the weird father always walked 
him home.  But not before he shook hands with 
everyone he met.]]
"Pleased to meet you.  How do you do?  Is it a 
lovely day?"  He'd say.]]
More than anything the boy dreaded the family's 
night out on the town.  Every Saturday evening]]
the weird father put on his weird hat and the weird 
mother combed her hair in a weird way.]]
Then they would dance all the way down the stairs 
to their weird car.]]
They were always early for the picture show  so the 
boy had to stand in line with them.]]
The weird mother was always talked about the boy as if 
he wasn't there. 
"My son has a belly button that sticks out.  No one 
else in our family has one like it."]]
And the weird father always asked a boy to do 
something silly.
"Walk like a chicken."  He'd say.
Of course the boy wouldn't  so the weird father did 
it instead.]]
When the movie began the boy tried to enjoy it]]
but his weird parents always laughed out loud when 
no one else did.]]
At least things got better after the movie.  The weird 
father always treated them to ice cream cones.  And the 
weird mother always let the boy picked out a comic book.]]
That they always played a double railing of Parcheesi.
And weird parents never got mad if the boy won 
both games.]]
And when they tucked him into bed and 
kissed him goodnight the weird parents always 
sang a little song.
"Sweet dreams
We love you
Good night
Now don't let the bedbugs bite
Don't let the bedbugs bite."]]
But as the boy lay in bed trying to go to sleep he couldn't]]
help wishing his parents weren't weird anymore.]]
Then he wished everybody else had weird parents.]]
Yet he knew that wasn't possible.]]
And somehow it didn't matter...]]
After all...]]
they were his parents weird or not.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Dialog: Simple

Vocabulary: Few decoding/definition issues

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Many Long Complex

Text structure: Story/Poem

Inferences: Several Implications

Concepts: Concrete/Simple Social

Features

Character traits

Complex Problem/Solution

Topic

Behaviors

*Family & Friends

*Feelings, Behaviors

Parents

Low Frequency Words

combed

dreaded

parcheesi

railing

weird