Text Leveling System

Doris's Dinosaur

RDQ:	407	Max Word/Sent	23	Total Words	739		Diff Words	280
Lex	610	Ave Word/.Sent	5	Hi Freq occurs	412	55.8%	Hi freq	119	42.5%
AR	2.5	Long Sentences	0.7	Low Freq occurs	28	3.8%	Low freq	19	6.8%

"What are we studying
boys and girls?"
asked Mrs. Jenkins.
"Dinosaurs!" answered everybody.
"Yes!" said Mrs. Jenkins.
"Now it is time to decorate
the halls of Hilltop School
with our paintings of dinosaurs.]]
"Try and paint the best dinosaur
you can.  You may pick out
any kind you like-flying
walking or swimming."]]
Grace chose a pterodactyl.
She copied it perfectly 
from the encyclopedia.
It was fabulous.
Claude's Apatosaurus was
wonderful.]]
Yoko finished her stegosaurus
early and helped one of the Frank 
twins with his painting of
a flying raptor.]]
Everybody chose a wonderful
dinosaur.]]
"Doris how about yours?" asked
Mrs. Jenkins.
"I can't" said Doris.]]
"Let me help" offered Grace.
"I don't want help" said Doris.
Doris dipped her paintbrush into
the blue color.
She swirled it on the paper.
Then Doris dipped her blue
brush in the yellow paint.
It turned green.
She painted green blobs.]]
After that Doris put down her
brush in disgust.
"See!" said Doris with a snort.
"I can't paint!"
Everyone noticed Doris's painting
but no one said anything about it.]]
Mrs. Jenkins hung all the pictures
in the hallway of Hilltop School.
Everyone admired them.]]
But Doris knew everyone hated
her painting.
"Doris" said Mrs. Jenkins "you
don't have to paint anything 
you don't want to."]]
But Doris knew everyone laughed
at her because she could not paint
a dinosaur.  If Doris found someone
looking too hard at her blue swirl
she thwacked her tail loudly on the
floor to scare them away.]]
One day during playtime
Doris came inside for
a drink of water.  Charles was
staring at Doris's blue swirl.
He was smiling.]]
"What are you looking at?"
asked Doris.
"I am looking at your painting"
said Charles.
"Why?  Why are you looking?"
asked Doris.
"I like it" said Charles.
"I don't believe you!" said Doris.]]
"No really I like it" said Charles.
"This picture makes me feel 
all peaceful inside."
"You're crazy!" said Doris.]]
But every day before rest time
Charles stood in the hall and
Looked at Doris's picture.
Charles sighed and then
Closed his eyes.
"Charles seems to like your
picture Doris" said Mrs. Jenkins.
"He's crazy" said Doris.]]
"Oh I don't think so" 
said Mrs. Jenkins.
"Now what are we doing
tomorrow class?"
"We are going to the museum to
see the dinosaurs!" said everyone.
"That's right" said Mrs. Jenkins.
"Remember to bring your
dinosaur notebooks one dollar
spending money and your lunch."]]
Mr. Ossio showed everybody
around the museum.
In the first room were the bones
of a very old woolly mammoth.
"Is a woolly mammoth a dinosaur
boys and girls?" asked Mr. Ossio.]]
"No!" answered everyone.
"Why not?" asked Mr. Ossio.
"Because a woolly mammoth
is a mammal!" answered
almost everyone.
"What a smart class with
a good teacher!" said Mr. Ossio.]]
"Take out your notebooks class"
said Mrs. Jenkins.
Timothy drew a hundred-toothed 
rattlesnake.
Yoko drew a pincher turtle.]]
"What's your picture Doris?"
asked Grace.
"I can't draw" said Doris.
"Let me show you how"
said Grace.]]
Grace showed Doris how to draw a woolly mammoth.
After Grace left
Doris colored her whole page
with her red marker.
Then she put little black dots 
in the middle.]]
Yoko looked at it.
She said nothing.
"You think I am stupid"
said Doris.
Soon it was time for lunch.]]
Lunch was in the garden.
Mrs. Jenkins began to count heads.
She could not find Charles.
"Charles where are you?"
Mrs. Jenkins called.]]
Charles did not come.
"Everyone!" said Mrs. Jenkins.
"Please put down your sandwiches
and find Charles."
Claude found him.]]
"Where were you?"
asked Mrs. Jenkins.
"I was in the other part of the 
museum" said Charles.
"Come see!"]]
Everyone ate their sandwiches
and followed Charles.
Mr. Ossio was the guide.
"Oooh!" said everyone.
"What are these?" asked Grace.]]
"These are paintings by
one of the most wonderful artists
in the world" said Mr. Ossio.
"The artist's name was
Henri Matisse."]]
Everyone stared.
There on the far wall
Was a blue swirl.
On the right wall was a red square
with little black dots.]]
"What do you think about these 
pictures boys and girls?"
asked Mr. Ossio.
For a long long time
nobody answered.
Then Doris's hand went up.
"What do you think you lady?"
asked Mr. Ossio.]]
"I guess Mr. Matisse didn't feel like
drawing dinosaurs" said Doris.
On the bus ride home everyone 
noticed that Doris was smiling
the whole way.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Some phrases/refrains repeated

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Inferences: Some implications

Complexity: Several ideas - closely related

Concepts: Concrete/Simple Social

Author's purpose: Obvious

Sequence of Events: Chronological

Features

Simple problem/solution

Simple Plot

Mood/tone

Topic

Feelings/Emotions

*History

Field Trips

Dinosaurs

Drawing

*Animals

Museums

Animals: Prehistoric

*Arts & Crafts

*Feelings, Behaviors

*Schools & Education

Low Frequency Words

apatosaurus	encyclopedia	fabulous	guide	mammal
mammoth	marker	matisse	peaceful	pincher
pterodactyl	raptor	spending	stegosaurus	swirl
swirled	thwacked	toothed	woolly