Text Leveling System

All About Arthur: An Absolutely Absurd Ape

RDQ:	1069	Max Word/Sent	24	Total Words	499		Diff Words	290
Lex	750	Ave Word/.Sent	10	Hi Freq occurs	218	43.7%	Hi freq	54	18.6%
AR	3.7	Long Sentences	6.4	Low Freq occurs	79	15.8%	Low freq	79	27.2%

In Atlanta one autumn day an absolutely absurd accordian-playing ape named Arthur felt all alone. In Baltimore Arthur befriended a bashful banjo-playing bear named Ben. Ben was bored beyond belief. In Cincinnati he came across a cool calico cat selling cotton candy on a corner. The cat was named Cindy. In Denver down by a dingy drugstore he met a dapper dancing dalmation dog named Danny. In evensville by an enormous elm tree he met an eccentric but exceptionally easygoing elephant named Eddie. With Eddie was an elegant electric eel. In Fairbanks he found four faithful friends: a freaky frog Fred; a funny fish Flora; a frisky falcon Fletcher; and a fresh fox Fay. They called themselves "The Four Fantastics." In Galveston he got to meet a grumpy gazelle Gus. Gus was good on gymnastics and was glad to go with the groovy group. In Houston on Halloween he met haughty Harriet and her henpecked husband Hector two hungry but happy hippos. In an inn in Indiana he met an intelligent ibis named Ivan and an inquisitive iguana Isabel. Both had an interesting idea; let's Imitate indians. In Jacksonville he met a jaguar who could juggle. His name was John. A jolly judge had just released John from jail. In Kansas City he met a kind kangaroo named Kenneth who had just knocked over a kettle while kissing his kooky wife Kate. In Louisville he met Leo a lonely lion licking a lollipop; Lana a lovely llama; and Lisa a lady lizard. At midnight he arrived in Memphis. Under the moon he met a magnificent mouse named Max who was a magician. He could turn a mole into a marshmellow. Near New York he met a nutty nightingale wearing a necktie. His name was Nathan. In Oklahoma he met an odd octopus named Otto who was eating oysters and onions.  In Philadelphia he found quite a pair playing poker - Peter a pompous parrot and Quincy a quaint-looking quail. The were quietly quarreling over a quarter. "Pardon me" said the parrot. "I quit!" said the quail. In Reno on a rugged ranch he met a rich and respectable rhino who couldn't remember his own name! (It was Richard.) South of Seattle he met a silly seal Sally suffering from the sun. She had a scorched stomach. In Tucson he met two troublesome twin toucans. She was Trudy he Theadore. He played the trumpet she tennis. In Utica he met a unique unicorn named Uris. He was utterly useless unless he was upstairs playing the ukulele. On a vacant lot in Valley Forge he met a very vain vulture named Victoria sitting on a vase viewing the valley. In Washington he met a wonderful walrus with whiskers. William was his name. He was worried about his weight. In Yonkers he met Mr. X a zany young yak who played the zither the xylophone and a yo-yo (all at the same time.) Now Arthur doesn't feel alone anymore.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Unconventional format

Vocabulary: Some difficult words

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Some Long/Complex

Text structure: Difficult

Concept: Fanciful

Features

Alliteration

Unusual use of vocabulary

Topic

Cities

Alphabet

*Animals

Musical instruments

Performing

Places

Low Frequency Words

absolutely	absurd	accordian	befriended	calico
dalmation	denver	dingy	easygoing	eccentric
elegant	evensville	exceptionally	fairbanks	falcon
fantastics	fletcher	forge	galveston	gazelle
groovy	gymnastics	halloween	haughty	henpecked
houston	ibis	iguana	inquisitive	intelligent
isabel	ivan	jacksonville	jaguar	judge
kooky	lana	llama	louisville	magician
magnificent	marshmellow	memphis	nathan	necktie
nightingale	otto	oysters	pardon	philadelphia
pompous	quaint	quarreling	quincy	reno
respectable	rugged	scorched	seattle	theadore
toucans	troublesome	trudy	tucson	ukulele
unicorn	unique	uris	utica	utterly
vacant	vain	viewing	vulture	walrus
whiskers	xylophone	yak	yonkers