Text Leveling System

School Play

RDQ:	284	Max Word/Sent	18	Total Words	785		Diff Words	287
Lex	530	Ave Word/.Sent	6	Hi Freq occurs	468	59.6%	Hi freq	119	41.5%
AR	2.2	Long Sentences	0	Low Freq occurs	30	3.8%	Low freq	17	5.9%

"Good morning boys and girls!"
said Mrs. Jenkins.
"Good morning Mrs. Jenkins!"
said everyone.]]
Everyone held hands in a circle
and sang the "Good Morning" song.
"Good morning on my left!
Good morning on my right!
May our day be filled with play
Until the stars come out tonight!"]]
"Today boys and girls" said
Mrs. Jenkins "we will choose
the roles for our class play!"
"I want to be the queen!" said Doris.
"We're going to be Frankenstein!"
said the Franks.]]
"There is no queen and no
Frankenstein in this play"
Said Mrs. Jenkins.
"Our play is about keeping our
teeth strong and clean.
Now who wants to play the part
of the dentist?"]]
Claude raised his hand and said
"Me!  Me!  Me!"
Timothy got to be the toothbrush.
Doris was the dental floss.
Nora was the toothpaste.]]
Grace was the bottle of mouthwash.
One Frank was a Caramel Clump
Chocolate Bar.
The other Frank was a wisdom
tooth.
And Yoko was a cavity.]]
Everyone went home learning the
lines for the play.
Everyone went home happy
except Yoko.]]
Yoko played her violin.
But the music sounded so sad that
Her mother asked
"What's the matter my little
cherry blossom?"]]
"I am only a cavity in the school
play" said Yoko.
"Surely the cavity does something
interesting" said Yoko's mother.
"No" said Yoko.  "The cavity just
sits there.]]
"Then the Caramel Clump
Chocolate Bar gets on top and says
'I am stuck here forever!' After that
the dentist puts a filling in me."
"Well I will make you the best 
cavity costume anyone has ever 
seen" said Yoko's mother.]]
At play practice the class chairs
were set in a half circle.  "They
look like a mouth full of teeth"
said Timothy.]]
Yoko asked Nora if she would like
to trade being the toothpaste for
being a cavity.
"No" said Nora.  "I don't want to
be an old cavity.  The cavity
doesn't say a word!"]]
Claude wouldn't trade either.
Neither would Doris or Grace or
anyone else.
No one wanted to be the cavity.]]
"Come Yoko" said Mrs. Jenkins
"time to sit in your chair.
Claude are you ready to put in 
the filling?"
"I am ready" said Claude.
"What do you have behind your
back Claude?" asked Mrs. Jenkins.]]
"It's my father's drill"
said Claude.
"It makes a perfect noise."
"You can't use tools in the play
Claude" said Mrs. Jenkins.
"I am sure you can make excellent
drill noises by yourself."]]
"It's no fun to be the dentist if I 
can't use my drill" said Claude.
"If we use our imaginations we
can all be happy with our parts in
the play" said Mrs. Jenkins.]]
Every morning Mrs. Jenkins called
a play practice.
Every morning Claude complained.
"I don't want to make buzzing
noises.  I want to use my father's
drill" said Claude.]]
Thursday afternoon on the school
Bus Timothy said "You look
unhappy Yoko."
"I don't like being an old cavity"
said Yoko.
"Who would?" said Timothy.]]
"What's in the suitcase?" Timothy
asked.
"My violin" said Yoko.
"Can I see it?" Timothy asked.
Yoko showed him.
"Can I try it?"
Yoko let him.]]
But she had to put her hands over
her ears.
"Stop that noise!" said everyone
on the bus.
"You know what?" asked Timothy.
"What?" said Yoko.
"The violin sounds just like a 
dentist's drill!"]]
Timothy plucked the strings.
"I love it!  I want to do it again!"
he said.
"I have an idea" said Yoko.
Yoko and her mother made her
cavity costume.]]
Yoko painted a box black.
Yoko's mother made a 
white tooth top.]]
On Friday morning all the mamas
and daddies came to the school
and sat in their seats.]]
The curtain opened.
The play began.
Timothy came out holding his
toothbrush.]]
He dipped into Nora's toothpaste
and brushed every tooth up and 
down.  Doris flossed between the
teeth with a string.
Grace sprayed blue mouthwash 
into the air.]]
Then Frank the Caramel Clump
Bar came on.
He sat right on top of Yoko's 
tooth box.
"I am stuck here forever!" said
Frank.
The lights went out.  The spotlight
went on.]]
The dentist came in.  Claude
pulled Caramel Frank from the
tooth with his dental cleaning tool.
"This candy bar has made 
a terrible hole in the tooth.
Now I must drill it and fill it" said
Claude.  "Buzz Buzz."]]
Suddenly from inside the cavity
box came the most awful drilling
noise.
ZIN ZIN ZIZZ ZIZZ
WOWEEEEE Zeeeee!
Claude did not know what had
happened.]]
The lights went on.
All the mamas and daddies
clapped and cheered.
They asked for the drill again and
again and one more time.
Everyone took a bow.
And Yoko came out fiddling!]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Vocabulary: Few decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Concepts: Concrete/Simple Social

Author's purpose: Obvious

Sequence of Events: Chronological

Features

Character traits

Simple problem/solution

Clear cause/effect

Simple Plot

Topic

Teeth

Dentists

Plays

*Careers

*Human Body & Health

*Schools & Education

School

Low Frequency Words

caramel	cavity	curtain	daddies	excellent
flossed	frankenstein	franks	imaginations	mamas
mouthwash	plucked	spotlight	surely	violin
wisdom	woweeeee