Text Leveling System

When I Grow Up...

RDQ:	389	Max Word/Sent	25	Total Words	555		Diff Words	253
Lex	600	Ave Word/.Sent	10	Hi Freq occurs	367	66.1%	Hi freq	104	41.1%
AR	2.4	Long Sentences	7.5	Low Freq occurs	23	4.1%	Low freq	18	7.1%

A beautiful summer day was drawing to its end.
Sebastian had played with his friends all day long.
They had run races with Theo the snail ...]]
spun on their shells until they were dizzy,
and splashed around in a cool green pool.]]
When they were hungry, the crawled into
a strawberry patch and munched the sweet red
fruit until their faces were thoroughly smeared
with juice.
Then it was time to go home, so they said
good-bye and went their separate ways.]]
Sebastian snuggled down beside his father on soft
grass that was still warm from the afternoon sun.
Stars twinkled in the sky above them, but Sebastian
didn't feel tired enough to go to sleep just yet.
""Do you know what I want to be when I grow up?""
he said.
His father looked surprised. ""Have you decided 
already?""]]
""Yes,"" said Sebastian. ""I want to be a fireman.
I would wear a bright red uniform and a shiny silver 
helmet.  And if you had a fire, I would come and
put it out for you.""
""It's good to know you'd save us,"" said his father.]]
""That's not the only job I could do!"" said Sebastian.
He was getting excited now, and his words came
tumbling out. ""I could be a pirate!""
""Oh dear,"" said his father. ""Pirates are horrible.
Terrors of the sea!""
""Don't worry,"" said Sebastian, nuzzling his father's
nose. ""I would be a nice pirate, not a horrible one.
I wouldn't sink any ships.""
""What would you do?""]]
""I'd sail away to desert islands,"" said Sebastian.
""And if I found any treasure, I would give it away,
to the poor.""
""That would be kind of you.""]]
""Or I could be deep-sea diver. How about that?
I would diver right down to the bottom of the sea
and have races with the fish. They must run faster
than Theo the snail!""
""I'm sure they do,"" said Father.]]
Father and son gazed up at the moon, which 
glowed softly like a paper lantern in the sky.
Sebastian felt as if the sandman was sending him
to sleep, but he tried not to yawn. Another idea
had just occurred to him, and it was so good that
he had to tell his father.]]
""I could be a sky diver,"" Sebastian said. ""I'd ask
a bird to carry me up into the sky, and I'd jump
off his back and float down with a parachute.
Then I could tell you what the world looks like 
from up there.""
""I'd like that,"" said his father, ""and I'd think you
were very brave.""]]
Now Sebastian was very, very tired. He struggled
to keep his eyes open as he asked his father:
""What did you want to be when you were little?""
""Mmmm, let me think,"" said Father. He looked fondly
at Sebastian. ""I always wanted to be a father,"" he said.
""I hoped to have a son who would make me proud,
whatever he did. As proud as I am of you.""]]
Father Turtle gently stroked his son's back.
Sebastian gave a happy sigh and tucked his
head snugly inside his shell, ready for sleep.
""And I'd like to grow up to be just like you,""
he murmured drowsily.
As the warm night wind carried Sebastian's
words away across the meadow, he was already
fast asleep.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Inferences: Some implications

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Dialog: Unlabeled Speaker

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Features

Integral Setting

Mood/tone

Topic

Dreams

Growth/Growing

Fathers

*Careers

*Feelings, Behaviors

Relationships

Low Frequency Words

drowsily	gazed	islands	lantern	meadow
munched	murmured	nuzzling	occurred	parachute
sandman	sebastian	sebastian's	separate	terrors
theo	thoroughly	yawn