Text Leveling System

Baby Rattlesnake

RDQ:	258	Max Word/Sent	26	Total Words	680		Diff Words	240
Lex	510	Ave Word/.Sent	8	Hi Freq occurs	417	61.3%	Hi freq	112	46.7%
AR	2.1	Long Sentences	5.1	Low Freq occurs	11	1.6%	Low freq	10	4.2%

Out in the place where the rattlesnakes lived 
there was a little baby rattlesnake who cried all the time because he did not have a rattle. He said to his mother and father "I don't know why I don't have a rattle. I'm made just like my brother and sister. How can I be a rattlesnake if I don't have a rattle?" Mother and Father Rattlesnake said "You are too young to have a rattle. When you get as old as your brother and sister you will have a rattle too."  But Baby Rattlesnake did not want to wait. So he just cried and cried. He shook his tail and when he couldn't hear a rattle sound he cried even louder. Mother and Father said "Shhh! Shhh! Shhhhh!" Brother and Sister said "Shhh! Shhh! Shhhhh!" But Baby Rattlesnake wouldn't stop crying. He kept the Rattlesnake People awake all night. The next morning the Rattlesnake People called a big council. They talked and they talked just like people do but they couldn't decide how to make that little baby rattlesnake happy. He didn't want anything else but a rattle. At last one of the elders said "Go ahead give him a rattle. He's too young and he'll get into trouble. But let him learn a lesson. I just want to get some sleep." So they gave the Baby Rattlesnake a rattle. Baby Rattlesnake loved his rattle. He shook his tail and for the first time he heard "Ch-ch-ch! Ch-ch-ch!" He was so excited! He sang a rattle song  "Ch-ch-ch! Ch-ch-ch!" He danced a rattle dance  "Ch-ch-ch! Ch-ch-ch!" Soon Baby Rattlesnake learned to play tricks with his rattle. He hid in the rocks and when the small animals came by he darted out rattling  "Ch-ch-ch! Ch-ch-ch!" He made Jack Rabbit jump. He made Old Man Turtle jump. He made Prairie Dog jump. Each time Baby Rattlesnake laughed and laughed. He thought it was fun to scare the animal people. Mother and Father warned Baby Rattlesnake "You must not use your rattle in such a way." Big Brother and Big Sister said "You are not being careful with your rattle." The Rattlesnake people told Baby Rattlesnake to stop acting so foolish with his rattle. Baby Rattlesnake did not listen. One day Baby Rattlesnake said to his mother and father "How will I know a chief's daughter when I see her?" "Well she's usually very beautiful and walks with her head held high" said Father. "And she's very net in her dress" said Mother. "Why do you want to know?" asked Father. "Because I want to scare her!" said Baby Rattlesnake. And he started right off down the path before his mother and father could warn him never to do a thing like that. The little fellow reached the place where the Indians traveled. He curled himself up on a log and he started rattling.  "Ch-ch-ch! " He was having a wonderful time. All of a sudden he saw a beautiful maiden coming toward him fro a long way off. She walked with her head held high and she was very neat in her dress. "Ah" thought Baby Rattlesnake. "She must be the chief's daughter." Baby Rattlesnake hid in the rocks. He was excited. This was going to be his best trick. He waited and waited. The chief's daughter came closer and closer. When she was in just the right spot he darted out of the rocks.  "Ch-ch-ch! Ch-ch-ch!" "Ho!" cried the chief's daughter. She whirled around stepping on Baby Rattlesnake's rattle and crushing it to pieces. Baby Rattlesnake looked at his beautiful rattle scattered all over the trail. He didn't know what to do. He took off for home as fast as he could. With great sobs he told Mother and Father what had happened. They wiped his tears and gave him big rattlesnake hugs. For the rest of the day Baby Rattlesnake stayed safe and snug close by his rattlesnake family.

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Inferences: Some implications

Concept: Fanciful

Features

Topic

Snakes

Growth/Growing

Teasing

Appearances

Age/Aging

Family

Noises

Low Frequency Words

council	curled	elders	fellow	maiden
prairie	rattling	warn	warned	whirled