Text Leveling System

Five Goofy Ghosts

RDQ:	480	Max Word/Sent	66	Total Words	1127		Diff Words	326
Lex	630	Ave Word/.Sent	7	Hi Freq occurs	731	64.9%	Hi freq	140	42.9%
AR	2.6	Long Sentences	7	Low Freq occurs	18	1.6%	Low freq	15	4.6%

Late one night, a boy took a walk. His little dog went with him. They walked down a lonely, dark lane. ""Wonder if we'll see a ghost?"" the boy asked. His little dog looked at him with big eyes. They kept on walking down the lane. The lane made a sharp turn to the left. Then it came to a stop. At the end was a big, old house. ""Let's go in,"" the boy said. The little dog began to whimper. He followed the boy to the door. The old door creaked as it opened. The boy stepped inside the house. The dog followed close behind him. ""Anybody home?"" the boy called out. A moan came from up the stairs. Then the lights went off and on. ""I wonder if it's a ghost?"" the boy said. Just then, the room got colder. a ghost appeared on the stairs. ""Well, look at that!"" the boy said. The little dog hid behind the boy's legs. The ghost moaned again. ""Ghosts don't scare me!"" the boy said. The ghost looked angry. He floated right down the stairs. ""You should be scared!"" the ghost said. The boy started shaking all over. Fast as he could, the boy ran out the door. The little dog took off after him. ""I didn't know ghosts could talk,"" the boy said. ""Me, neither,"" the dog said. ""Let's get out of here!"" A brother and sister were visiting their grandmother. She lived in a creepy, old house. The brother and sister decided to explore. They climbed up one flight of stairs. The steps creaked and squeaked. They climbed up another flight of stairs. The steps creaked and squeaked. They climbed up another flight of stairs. They opened an old door. It creaked and squeaked. The brother and sister walked into an old attic. It was filled with boxes and trunks. Cobwebs were everywhere. ""This is creepy!"" the sister said. ""You're a fraidy-cat,"" the brother said. ""No, I'm not."" ""Yes, you are!"" The sister got mad at her brother. She wanted to prove that she wasn't a fraidy-cat. She looked around and found an old sheet. She put it over her head. Then she hid behind a big trunk. Her brother walked by. She jumped out and yelled, ""Boo!"" Her brother stared at her. His hair was standing on end. ""It's only me,"" the sister said. ""I know,"" her brother said. ""I'm scared of what's behind you!"" This is a trunk full of treats. This is a bat, bit and brown, That's fast asleep, upside down. Over the trunk full of treats. This is the skeleton, bony and white, Waiting in the attic to give you a fright, If you bother the bat, big and brown, That's fast asleep, upside down, Over the trunk full of treats. This is a witch with long, black hair, Who rocks all night in her squeaky chair, Beside the skeleton, bony and white, Waiting in the attic to give you a fright, If you bother the bat, big and brown, That's fast asleep, upside down, Over the trunk full of treats. These are the monsters who sit in a bunch, Moaning and groaning as the munch and crunch, Around the witch with long, black hair, Who rocks all night in her squeaky chair, beside the skeleton, bony and white, Waiting in the attic to give you a fright, If you bother the bat, big and brown, That's fast asleep, upside down, Over the trunk full of treats. This is the zombie who walks with a thump, All night you can hear him clumpety-clump. He guards the  monsters who sit in a bunch, Moaning and groaning as the munch and crunch, Around the witch with long, black hair, Who rocks all night in her squeaky chair, beside the skeleton, bony and white, Waiting in the attic to give you a fright, If you bother the bat, big and brown, That's fast asleep, upside down, Over the trunk full of treats. This is the ghost who scared the zombie away, And tickled the monsters and told them to play, And shooed away the witch on her ragged broom, And sent the skeleton back to his tomb, And chased off the bat, big and brown, And pulled off his sheet and sat himself down, And opened the trunk full of treats! Once there was a girl who was very curious. This girl liked to hunt around for strange things. In fact, she had a collection of strange things. She had a snake's skin. She had a toad's skeleton. She had a piece of furry moss. She had lots of other strange things, too. One day, the girl passed an old house. A ghost was supposed to live in this house. The girl went in anyway, just to look. And what did she find? A hairy toe! ""Wow!"" the girl said. ""A hairy toe for my collection."" She picked up the hairy toe and ran home. She set it on the table with her collection. That night, the girl fell asleep right away. But a voice woke her in the middle of the night. ""Who's got my hairy toe?"" The girl felt a shiver creep over her. She pulled the blanket higher over her chin. Then she heard the voice again, closer. ""Who's got my hairy toe?"" The girl could see the hairy toe on the table. It seemed to be shining in the moonlight. Then a cold breeze swept through the room. And she heard the voice again, louder. ""Who's got my hairy toe?"" A white shape moved across the room. The girl knew it was a ghost. She trembled underneath the covers. ""Who's got my hairy toe?"" The girl jumped out of bed and ran for the table. She picked up the hair toe. ""Take it!"" she yelled. She threw the hairy toe at the ghost. The ghost ran away with his hairy toe. ""Oh, goodie!"" he said. ""I've got my hairy toe back!"" And the girl never saw him again. Two boys sat on an old stone wall. Behind them was a graveyard. ""Do you know what the little ghost wore on Halloween?"" one boy asked. ""A pillowcase."" The boys laughed so hard they almost fell off the wall.  ""Where do ghosts go to retire?"" the other boy asked. ""A ghost town."" The boys laughed and laughed. ""How did the little ghost do his homework?"" the first boy asked. ""He hired a ghostwriter."" The boys laughed so loud their voices echoed in the graveyard. ""where did the ghost keep his rock collection?"" The second boy asked. ""In a graveyard."" The boys laughed and slapped their knees. ""What did the ghost say to the two boys?"" the ghost asked. ""Boo!""

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little support

Dialog: Two speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: Few decoding/definition issues

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Concept: Fanciful

Chapters

Features

Topic

Witches

Monsters

Bats

Ghosts

Houses

*Fictional Ideas/Charac

Halloween

Low Frequency Words

clumpety	curious	echoed	fraidy	furry
groaning	halloween	moonlight	prove	ragged
retire	swept	tomb	whimper	zombie