Text Leveling System

The Mystery of the Purple Pool

RDQ:	936	Max Word/Sent	34	Total Words	2364		Diff Words	679
Lex	730	Ave Word/.Sent	7	Hi Freq occurs	1652	69.9%	Hi freq	307	45.2%
AR	3.5	Long Sentences	3	Low Freq occurs	100	4.2%	Low freq	69	10.2%

A Big Surprise
The Alden children were all in the living room of their grandfather's big comfortable house in Greenfield.
Benny sat on a window seat gazing out. Rain splattered against the cold glass. Benny sighed. "Isn't it ever going to stop? It's been raining for four days and Fm bored."
Henry looked up from the book he was reading and said to his six year old brother "Come on Benny we'll play some checkers."
Benny shook his head. "Thanks Henry]]
but I've played a million games of checkers in the last few days."
Henry laughed: "Well not quite a million games. How about if we do that new jigsaw puzzle you have?"
Benny thought for a minute. "I think that puzzle is too easy for a boy who is fourteen like you."
Jessie walked over to them. "Is it too easy for a twelve year old girl?"
"I think so" Benny said:
Violet joined them. "How about a ten 
year old girl?"
Benny shrugged. "I think you're all just trying to be nice to me."
"I know!" Jessie said enthusiastically. "Let's ask Mrs. McGregor if we can bake cookies."
"That I like" Benny said. "But what will we do after that?"
Grandfather Alden was sitting in a big easy chair in a corner of the room with Watch dozing at his feet. He folded the newspaper he had been reading and put it in his]]
lap. "You know" he said "I have to go to New York City tomorrow on business. I'll be there a few days. How would you children like to come with me?"
"To New York?" Jessie cried out hardly believing what her grandfather had said. "I've never been there" Benny said. "None of us has" Violet added. "Wow!" Henry said. "Would we like to come with you to New York? You bet we would."
Violet ran over to Mr. Alden and threw her arms around him. "Oh Grandfather that would be wonderful!"
Mr. Alden rose. from his chair. "I'll call the Plymouth Hotel and get rooms far all of you."
He walked into the den and the four children followed him eagerly. He dialed the hotel number and waited for an answer. Then he said "Reservations please."
"That's us" Benny whispered to Violet. "We're"
"Reservations" Jessie filled in.]]
"That's what I said" Benny answered proudly.
"Ssssh" Violet said as Grandfather continued his conversation.
 "This is Mr. James Alden. I have a reservation for a room from tomorrow until Thursday. But now I'm bringing my grandchildren with me. Do you have a suite with three bedrooms and a sitting room?" He looked at the children and smiled. "And perhaps a kitchenette."
"A kitchenette!" Henry and Violet said   "You do?" Mr. Allen said. "Good. I'll take that and we'll check in tomorrow afternoon. Thank you." He hung up the phone and went back to the living room with the four children at his heels.
When he had settled in his chair again he said" There are some guidebooks to New York City on the second shelf in the bookcase in the den. Why don't you all look through them and decide what you want to do. I'll be working part of the time so Henry and Jessie you'll be in charge."]]
The children found the guidebooks and Violet said "Let's take them to the boxcar and look at them there."
"It's raining so hard". Benny said.
"We can run down" Jessie said. "A little rain won't hurt you."
"Maybe Mrs. McGregor can give us a snack to take with us" Benny said hopefully.
Jessie laughed. "That sounds familiar Benny. But it's a good idea."
In the kitchen Mrs. McGregor was baking an apple pie. "Do you have any cookies and fruit Mrs. McGregor?" Benny asked.
Mrs. McGregor wiped her floury hands on her apron and opened a big cookie jar on the counter. She took out several chocolate cookies and put them on a plate.
. "We're going down to the boxcar. I'll wrap them so they don't get wet" Violet said. She took some paper napkins and put them around the plate. Then she put the plate with the cookies into a big paper bag.
Henry took some pears out of the refrigerator and packed them in the bag with the]]
cookies. "We're ready now Benny" he said. "Let's go."
The children ran down to the boxcar which was in the garden. Jessie remembered how they had lived in the boxcar after their parents had died. They had run away because they were supposed to go and live with their grandfather. They had heard he was a mean man. When Mr. Alden found them they had all realized how wonderful he was. They had happily gone to live with him. Mr. Alden had even brought along the boxcar for the children to play in.
The Aldens climbed into the boxcar and sat on the cushions on the floor. Henry went to the shelf that held the dishes they had found and used when they had lived in the boxcar. He took a plate and put the pears on it.
Benny took a cookie and bit into it. "Very good" he said
"When didn't you think a chocolate cookie was good?" Henry asked.
"I guess never" Benny replied.
Jessie was already going through a guidebook. ]]
Violet and Henry each looked through one too. "We have to go to the Empire State Building" Jessie said.
Benny leaned over her shoulder and looked at the picture. "I know that building." He stooped to look at the caption underneath. "Does that say it's one hundred and two stories high?"
"Yes Benny! You read that by yourself!" Jessie said.
Benny beamed proudly. He was just learning to read.
Violet was reading about the Statue of Liberty. "We have to take a ferry to get to it. I'll like that" she said.
"There's a whole room just of armor at the Metropolitan Museum" Henry said excitedly.
"There's so much to do!" Violet said "And don't forget  we have to eat too" Benny added.
Jessie laughed. "I'm sure there are plenty of restaurants in New York."
The Aldens stayed in the boxcar for a long time eating their snack  and going through]]
the books. Every few minutes one of them would cry out the name of another thing they wanted to see or do.
At dinner that night as the Aldens were finishing the delicious chicken Mrs. McGregor had made Mr. Alden said "I have some work to do in my office tomorrow morning. If we leave Greenfield in the afternoon we'll get to New York in time to settle in our rooms  and have dinner."
"How long will it take to drive there?" Jessie asked.
"About four hours" Grandfather said. "Now the weather is very cool so pack warm things. We'll probably go to the theater one night so you'll want something. dressier than jeans for that."
"I'm going to start packing right now" Jessie said.
"Me; too" Violet agreed.
By the time Grandfather was ready to go the next day the children had been packed]]
and waiting for hours. They started off waving to Mrs. McGregor who stood in the driveway with Watch.
"Take care of him" Benny cried out. "Don't you worry" Mrs. McGregor replied. "We'll do fine."
As Grandfather drove the Aldens played a variety of games to pass the time. They counted how many blue cars they saw then red ones. They watched for out of state license plates. They played word games.
Finally Mr. Alden said "We're on the Henry Hudson Parkway and that's the Hudson River on our right: New Jersey's on the other side of the river."
Is that the river Henry Hudson sailed on?" Jessie asked.
"Same one" Grandfather said. "Soon you'll see the George: Washington Bridge." After a little while Benny shouted "Is that it?" He pointed to a long bridge. "That's it" Mr. Alden said.
"It's so beautiful" Violet said. "So graceful;" Jessie added. They rode down the highway admiring]]
the tall apartment buildings to their right on the banks of New Jersey and the lovely park to their left which Grandfather said was called Riverside Park. Beyond the park were even more skyscrapers. Then they got off the highway and drove to their hotel. All the way the Alden children looked at the big buildings and cars and trucks and crowds of people.
Finally they reached the hotel. Grandfather drove into the garage where a young man in a uniform ran to the car. He opened the trunk with the keys Mr. Alden gave him and piled all the luggage onto a cart.
A garage attendant gave Mr. Alden a ticket. "I'll take care of your car and the bellboy will take you to the check in desk."
The family got into an elevator and soon they were in the hotel lobby.]]
CHAPTER 2
 Here We. Come!
Wow!" Benny said as the Aldens entered the lobby. It was. decorated with thick carpeting large comfortable chairs and flowered wallpaper.: And it was bustling with activity. There were people rushing out the door or into one of the elevators. Guests were checking in and out. Bellhops pushed large carts of luggage across the floor.
The children followed Grandfather to the reservations desk. "Hello I'm James Alden" Grandfather said to the young woman be
hind the counter. "I've reserved a suite of rooms for the next few days."
"Welcome to the Plymouth" the woman said smiling. She pushed some buttons on the computer in front of her and looked at the screen. "Hmmmm . . ." she said after a moment. "I see your name here but someone's cancelled your reservation."
"That's odd" Grandfather said. "I certainly didn't cancel it."
"I wonder how this happened" the woman said. "Well Mr. Alden I'll see what we. have available."
What seems to be the problem?" asked a man behind the counter. He had a friendly face and a mop of red hair.
"Mr. Parker it seems that Mr. Alden's reservation was cancelled by mistake" the woman said.
"I'll handle this" said Mr. Parker with a sigh. Then turning to Grandfather he said "I'm the assistant manager Don Parker. I'm very sorry about this mix up. I'm sure I can find rooms for you." He looked at the computer. "Ah here's a lovely suite on the fifth]]
floor" he said. "With a view of the park." "That sounds perfect" Grandfather said. Just then an attractive woman with light brown hair came out of an office on the left. "James Henry Alden!" she exclaimed walking over to greet Grandfather. "It's been a long time since your last visit!"
"It certainly has Ms. Ames" Grandfather said with a hearty smile. "It's good to see you again. I didn't know if you were still working here."
"Sure am! And I've been promoted to manager" Joan Ames explained. "I see you've met my assistant manager Don Parker."
"Yes he was just helping us out of a little mix up" Grandfather said.
"Really?" Ms. Ames asked. "What?" 
"Oh it's nothing to worry about" Don Parker said with a pleasant smile. "I've taken care of it."
"Let me introduce my grandchildren. This is Henry Jessie Violet and Benny. Mr. Alden motioned to each of them in turn. " Mrs. Ames takes good care of me whenever]]
I'm in town" he explained to the children. "Your grandfather is one of our favorite guests" Joan Ames told them. "I'm so glad that he brought all of you with him this time."
"We've never been to New York City before" Jessie said.
"Well then you've got a lot of things to see here" Ms. Ames replied.
"Do you think we'll find a mystery?" asked Benny. "We're good at solving mysteries." 
"I'm afraid there are no mysteries here!" Don Parker said with a chuckle.
"Well I've got to run but if you need anything at all during your stay please let me or Mr. Parker know" Ms. Ames said.
"Thank you" Grandfather said as the manager turned and headed back to her office.
Grandfather filled out the check in forms while the children looked around the bustling lobby their eyes wide.
"Look at that man over there!" Violet whispered suddenly.
A man had just gotten off the elevator. He]]
had silvery hair and a long pointed nose. He was wearing dark sunglasses a hat pushed low over his face and a tightly belted raincoat. He kept his head down and walked quickly across the lobby and out the front door as if he didn't want to be seen.
"He certainly looked mysterious" Henry said.
"I knew it" Benny said happily. "A mystery to solve!"
The Alders children laughed.
When Grandfather had finished checking in he turned to his grandchildren. "We can go up to our room now. A bellhop will bring up our luggage for us."
"I'm sorry Mr. Alden" Don Parker said his face flushed. "I can't seem to locate the bellhops. They may be taking breaks. But if you'd. like to leave your luggage I'll make sore someone brings it up to your room immediately."
"That's okay. We can carry our things" Henry offered.
The children picked up their small suitcases and Grandfather took his suitcase and]]
garment bag. As they started toward the elevator they could hear Mr. Parker muttering under his breath "I wish Joan would have a word with those bellhops . . ."
Grandfather led the way to the elevator. After all the Aldens and their luggage were inside he pushed a button marked "5." "We're in room 502" he said.
"Look" Benny said to Violet pointing to the ceiling. "There's a mirror up there!" Violet looked up and waved at Benny in the mirror. Benny grinned and made a funny face back at her.
When the elevator reached the fifth floor the doors opened to reveal a long red carpeted hallway.
"Rooms 504 to 510 are this way" Benny said reading the sign on the wall and pointing to the left.
"You read that very well" Jessie told Benny.
The first door had number 510 on it. "It looks like we're all the way at the end" Grandfather said.
Midway down the hall a man in a gray]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Dialog: Unlabeled Speaker

Vocabulary: Some difficult words

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

Chapters

Features

Character traits

Simple Plot

Topic

Mystery

Problem Solving

*Family & Friends

*Feelings, Behaviors

Low Frequency Words

admiring	attendant	available	bellboy	bellhop
bellhops	belted	bustling	caption	carpeted
conversation	cushions	delicious	dialed	dressier
elevator	elevators	enthusiastically	excitedly	familiar
ferry	floury	flowered	flushed	fm
garment	gazing	graceful	guidebook	guidebooks
hearty	hind	immediately	introduce	jeans
jersey	kitchenette	liberty	license	lobby
locate	luggage	manager	mcgregor	metropolitan
midway	motioned	muttering	mysteries	mysterious
pleasant	plymouth	promoted	refrigerator	reservation
reservations	reserved	restaurants	reveal	riverside
shrugged	silvery	skyscrapers	splattered	statue
suitcases	suite	theater	variety