Text Leveling System

Endangered Animals

RDQ:	350	Max Word/Sent	23	Total Words	281		Diff Words	141
Lex	580	Ave Word/.Sent	11	Hi Freq occurs	149	53%	Hi freq	49	34.8%
AR	2.3	Long Sentences	20.8	Low Freq occurs	20	7.1%	Low freq	13	9.2%

People and animals share the same earth. They have shared it for a long, long time. Once there was enough of everything. Enough food and water... enough forest ... and jungle ... and grassy plains for all the animals and all the people to share. But the number of people is growing. More people need more space. Our cities and roads, our fields and factories ... and our houses are spreading all over the earth. For some kinds of animals, there is very little space left. Some kinds of animals may disappear. We call them ""endangered species."" Macaws ... and pandas ... gorillas ... grizzly bears ... elephants and tigers ... blue whales ... and large copper butterflies. these are just a few of the species that are in danger. All these animals need a homeland that suits them - where they can be safe to live their lives and raise their young. If we take away too much of their land, the day will come when there are no more of these species alive. We call that ""extinction."" The quagga, a horse that lived in Africa, is extinct. The dodo, a big bird that couldn't fly, is also extinct. In the past, few people cared when a species became extinct. Now many people care. Endangered animals need our help. Endangered animals need laws to protect them from hunters and other dangers and to protect the forests and jungles and other wild places. To save a homeland for animals, people must give up things we want for ourselves. When enough people want to do that, wild animals will no longer be in danger. When we save a homeland for animals, we also save something wonderful for ourselves - the beautiful natural world.

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little support

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Some Long/Complex

Text structure: Formal

Inferences: Some implications

Complexity: Several ideas - closely related

Features

Topic

Environment

Nature

Endangerment

Animals: Endangered

Habitat

Low Frequency Words

endangered	extinct	extinction	factories	grizzly
homeland	jungles	macaws	ourselves	plains
quagga	shared	suits