Text Leveling System

The Iguana Brothers

RDQ:	598	Max Word/Sent	18	Total Words	1376		Diff Words	332
Lex	660	Ave Word/.Sent	4	Hi Freq occurs	783	56.9%	Hi freq	121	36.4%
AR	2.9	Long Sentences	0	Low Freq occurs	87	6.3%	Low freq	41	12.3%

It was a sunny morning in Mexico. 
Tom and Dom were lolling on a roof. A bug crawled near Dom. Dom's tongue shot out. Slurp. "Adiós, bug," said Dom. A bug crawled near Tom. Tom did not move. Dom moved. His tongue shot out. Slurp. "Adiós, bug." Dom slurped many bugs. Tom slurped none. "Tom?" Dom asked at last. "I am catching many bugs. You are catching none. Are you sick?" "Sí, Dom. I am sick. I am sick of bugs." "Ay, Tom," said Dom. "Ay, ay, ay. Bugs are crunchy. Bugs are munchy. Bugs are deliciosos. " "Bugs are gross-os," said Tom. "You eat them all. They are not for me." "But, Tom, " said Dom. "Everybody eats bugs." "You are wrong, Dom," said Tom. " People screech at bugs. They do not eat them. I will not eat them, either." Dom said, "You will get thin, Tom. You will get flaco, flaco, flaco." I would rather be flaco than eat bugs." "You will get pale, Tom," said Dom. "You will get pálido, pálido, pálido." "Bugs make me pale already." "And your tail will drop right off," said Dom. Tom looked at his tail. He asked, "De veras? Really?" "De veras, Tom. Really." "I will take that chance," said Tom. Dom looked very worried. "But what will you eat?" he asked. Tom looked around. He saw a pig. The pig was big. "I will eat pigs, Dom," he said. Dom said," Pigs are bigger than bugs. They will be hard to catch." Tom thought about that. He blinked. He always blinked when he thought. "You are right," Tom agreed. "I will not eat pigs." Tom saw a snake. "I will eat snakes, Dom," he said. Then he cried, "Snakes! No, no, no! I am loco! Snakes are worse than bugs. I will not eat snakes." Tom blinked a lot. He thought a lot. He saw something else. Flowers. He said,"I will eat flowers, Dom. Flowers are pretty." "Flowers are prettier than pigs and snakes," said Dom. "But how do they taste?" Tom tasted a flower. He blinked. He thought. He said,"Flowers taste pink, Dom. They taste better than bugs." Dom tasted a flower. He said, "De veras, Tom. Flowers taste better than bugs. You are my smartest brother."' I am your only brother," Tom said. "I know that." Dom grinned. After that, Tom and Dom ate only flowers. No bugs. The flowers tasted good. Tom  and Dom were happy. Nobody got flaco. And nobody got pálido. And nobody's tail dropped off. De veras. It was a lazy afternoon. Dom was sunning himself on a vine. Tom was not sunning. He was blinking. And thinking. "Dom," he said. "I am thinking.." "Por favor, Tom," said Dom. "Think quietly. I am sunning." "Stop sunning," said Tom. "Get up. I am thinking my best thought ever." Dom opened one eye. "The best, Tom? La mejor?" "La mejor, Dom. The best." "Okay," said Dom. "Tell me this best thought." Tom said, "Dom, look at me. What do you see?" Dom looked at Tom with one eye. He made a wild guess. "An iguana?" he asked. "Wrong, Dom," said Tom. "You do not see and iguana." Dom was surprised. "What do I see,Tom?" "A dinosaur!" Dom opened his other eye. "That is your best thought, Tom?" "Sí. Isn't it truly amazing?" Dom said, "It is truly loco. You are not even sunning. And you have had too much sun. "No, Dom," said Tom. I am a dinosaur. You are, too." Then Dom was truly amazed. He looked at himself carefully. "I am, Tom?" he asked. "Claro que sé,Dom." "How can that be?" Tom said, "Dinosaurs had scales, right?" "Right," Dom agreed. "And dinosaurs had long, lashy tails?" "Right." "And claws?" "Right." And fearsome jaws?" "Right." Tom stopped. "Let me see your jaws, Dom," he said. Dom showed his jaws. "Are they fearsome, Tom?" he asked. "Very fearsome." Then Tom went on. "Dinosaurs roared a lot," he said. "Let me hear you roar, Dom." Dom made a little coughing sound. "R-r-r-r-r" "Good, Dom," said Tom. "We have scales. We have tails. We have claws. And jaws. And we roar." "We are dinosaurs!" the brothers cried. "And, Dom," said Tom, "dinosaurs ruled the earth. Now you and I rule the earth." Dom and Tom felt proud. They puffed themselves up. They strutted up and down the vine. They roared. "R-r-r-r-." Along came a little lizard. It heard them roaring. It looked at them. "Yek!" roared the little lizard. "Yeeeeek!" screeched Tom and Dom. They nearly fell off the vine. The little lizard laughed and ran away. Tom said, "Dom, let's not be dinosaurs anymore." "Let's not, Tom," said Dom. "Let's go sun ourselves." Dom and Tom lay on a vine in the sun. Dom opened one eye. "Tom?" he said. "Sí, Dom?" "I like being an iguana. I do not like ruling the earth." "Me neither," said Tom. "But, Tom?" "Sí, Dom?" "Can I rule something smaller?" "What, Dom?" "Can I rule this vine?" "You can rule a leaf," said Tom. "Fine." They both laughed. Then they took siestas in the sun. It was evening now. The sun sank low. The stars began to glow. Tom and Dom were staring at the stars. Dom felt dreamy. "Tom?" he asked. "Sí,Dom?" "That is my favorite constellation." "What is your favorite, Dom?" asked Tom. "The Big Iguana." "Sí. The Big Iguana is twinkly and beautiful," Tom agreed. "I would like a friend just like that, Tom," said Dom dreamily. "Twinkly and beautiful." Tom blinked. Tom thought. He said, "No hay problema. I will find you one. A friend like the Big Iguana." So Tom went looking for a friend for Dom. He met a tarantula. It did not look like the Big Iguana. But is was close enough. "Hola, tarantula," said Tom. "Will you be my brother's friend?" "How many legs does he have?" the tarantula asked. Tom blinked. Tom thought. "Four," he said at last. "Four legs! How hilarious! He must have eight legs to be my friend." The tarantula crawled away, laughing. Tom went on. He heard a squawk. He saw a toucan in a tree. It did not look like the Big Iguana. But it was colorful, even at night. "Hola, toucan," said Tom. "I am looking for a friend for my brother. Will you be his friend?" "What color is he?" asked the toucan. Tom blinked. Tom thought. "He is the color of dirt," he said. "How attractive," the toucan said. "Can he fly?" it asked. "No," said Tom. "What a ninny," said the toucan. "I cannot have a ninny for a friend." The toucan flew off. Tom went on. An armadillo came out of the bushes. It did not look like the Big Iguana. But Tom could not be fussy. "Hola, armadillo," said Tom. "My brother needs a friend." "Who doesn't?" said the armadillo. Then it asked,"What's so great about him?" Tom blinked. Tom thought. "Well, he eats flowers. He likes stars. And he rules a leaf." "Rules a leaf?" asked the armadillo. "He sounds weird." "My brother is not weird," Tom said. "Can he roll into a ball like this?" the armadillo asked, rolling up tight. Tom did not remember Dom rolling into a ball. "No, he cannot do that," Tom said. "Well, when he can roll into a ball, maybe I will be his friend," the armadillo said. And it rolled away. Tom went home. "Dom," he said sadly. "lo siento.I did not find you a friend. Everyone I found was not right." "Who did you find, Tom?" "A tarantula. And a toucan. And an armadillo. Not one single iguana." "Oh," said Dom. Then he cried,"Oh!" "What?" asked Tom. Dom said, "You are an iguana, Tom." "Es cierto," said Tom. "And you are my brother," said Dom. "Sí." "Can brothers be friends, Tom?" Tom blinked.Tom thought. " Claro que sí!" he shouted. "Brothers can be friends!" they both shouted. Then Dom said,"I like you better than the Big Iguana, Tom. He cannot eat flowers. He cannot be a dinosaur. He can only twinkle." Tom felt good. He felt like twinkling. So did Dom.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Dialog: Two speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Concept: Fanciful

Features

Foreign words

Topic

Sky

Likes/Dislikes

Food Chain

Reptiles

Dinosaurs

*Animals

Family

Friendship

Pretend

Relationships

Low Frequency Words

adiós	cierto	claro	constellation	coughing
deliciosos	dreamily	fearsome	flaco	gross
hilarious	hola	iguana	lashy	loco
lolling	mejor	munchy	ninny	ourselves
pálido	por	prettier	problema	que
ruling	sí	sé	screech	siento
siestas	slurp	slurped	strutted	sunning
tarantula	toucan	truly	twinkly	veras
weird