Text Leveling System

The Josefina Story Quilt

RDQ:	501	Max Word/Sent	26	Total Words	1381		Diff Words	474
Lex	640	Ave Word/.Sent	6	Hi Freq occurs	842	61%	Hi freq	192	40.5%
AR	2.7	Long Sentences	1.4	Low Freq occurs	26	1.9%	Low freq	21	4.4%

Josefina 
It was May 1850. 
Faith was excited. 
They were going to California 
in a covered wagon. 
"Please" Faith asked Ma 
"Can I take Josefina?" ]]
Josefina was her pet hen 
and Faith loved her. 
She like the way Josefina 
snuggled in her arms. 
She like the way Josefina 
followed her around. 
Ma was baking bread 
for the long journey. 
"Ask your Pa" she said. ]]
Pa and Faith's brother Adam 
were loading the wagon. 
"Please Pa" Faith said 
"please can I take Josefina?" 
"There is no room in the wagon 
for pets" Pa said. 
"That isn't fair" said Faith. ]]
"Adam can bring his colt." 
"A colt is not a pet" said Pa. 
"A colt can carry a load of corn." 
"What can Josefina do?" 
teased Adam. 
"She is too old to lay eggs 
and too tough to eat." ]]
Faith's eyes filled with tears. 
She ran back to the house. 
Ma sat down in the rocker 
and held Faith on her lap. 
"We all must leave things behind" 
she said gently. 
"I love this rocker 
but there is no room for it 
in the wagon." 
Faith gulped down her sobs. ]]
"I have looked after Josefina 
since she was a little chick" 
she said. 
"What will happen to her?" ]]
"Perhaps a neighbor 
will take her" said Ma. 
But nobody wanted a hen 
that was too old to lay eggs 
and too tough to eat. ]]
California Ho! 
Early in the morning 
the wagon was ready. 
It had blue trim 
and a white cloth roof. 
Ma stood back to admire it. 
A big flowerpot on wheels!" 
she said. 
"Isn't it beautiful?" 
Faith did not answer. 
She was worried about Josefina. ]]
"Did you pack the food?" 
Ma asked Pa. 
"And my kitchen things?" 
Pa nodded. 
"Then that is everything 
except the bedding" said Ma. 
Faith thought sadly 
"And Josefina." 
Pa threw mattresses 
into the wagon. 
Ma carefully spread 
their patchwork quilts over them. ]]
"We can't leave these behind" 
she said. 
"All our joys and sorrows 
are sewn up into the patches." ]]
Faith picked up Josefina 
and held her close. 
"We can't leave my hen either" 
she said. ]]
"Josefina must stay!" Pa said. 
"So put her down." 
Faith just stood there. 
She stroked Josefina's feathers 
and tried hard not to cry. 
Ma gave Pa a special look. 
Pa sighed. 
"All right Faith" he said. 
"But if she makes any trouble 
out she goes!" 
"Thank you Pa!" cried Faith. 
"She will be good I promise." ]]
Faith put Josefina in her cage. 
Pa hung it high up 
at the back of the wagon. 
Then he lifted Faith 
up next to it. ]]
Ma handed her the ragbag. 
"Work on a patch 
whenever you can" she said. 
Faith knew how important 
quilts were for remembering. ]]
"California ho!" shouted Pa. 
He snapped his long whip. 
Crack! 
The oxen began to move. ]]
Their bells tinkled. 
The heavy wagon chains clanked. 
And the wheels began 
their creaky song. ]]
Faith smiled happily at Josefina. 
This would be their home 
on the long trail West. 
Faith took some calico 
from the ragbag. 
"I will make my first 
wagon train patch" she said. 
Faith began to sew a wagon wheel 
with careful tiny stitches. ]]
Trouble 
At night the wagons made a circle 
around the animals. 
Women cooked the meals 
over a campfire. ]]
Afterward 
there was singing and banjo music. 
Faith put down 
the wagon wheel patch 
and let Josefina out for a stretch. ]]
Suddenly 
"Woof!" 
A dog ran up to Josefina 
and barked fiercely at her. 
Josefina squawked and ran. 
"Come back!" yelled Faith. ]]
But it was too late. 
Josefina was in the middle 
of the animals. 
Horses snorted and reared. ]]
Cows kicked and mooed. 
Oxen bellowed. 
"That pesky hen!" Pa shouted 
and ran after her. ]]
"She almost started a stampede" 
Pa said angrily. 
"Out she goes!" 
"Please Pa" begged Faith 
"give her one more chance. ]]
It was the dog's fault." 
"Faith is right" said Ma. 
"I saw the whole thing." 
Pa put Josefina back in her cage. 
"Just one more chance" he said. ]]
That night  Faith whispered 
"Josefina please try to be good." 
"Cluck! ... Cluck! ... Cluck!..." 
said the hen. 
They understood one another 
as true friends do. ]]
The rescue 
For a long time 
Josefina was good. 
She quietly watched Faith 
sew patches for the quilt. 
She didn't make a sound 
when hail beat down on the roof 
or when spring rains blew in 
and soaked her feathers. ]]
She made just a little cluck 
when coyotes howled at night. 
But how Josefina fussed 
when they crossed rivers! 
One day they came 
to a wide muddy river. 
Josefina made so much noise 
that Faith had to take her 
out of the cage. 
She held her close. 
"It's all right" Faith crooned. ]]
Pa was driving the oxen into the river 
when squoooosh! 
A back wheel sank into a hole. ]]
Faith let go of Josefina. 
Josefina fell into the river. 
The current carried her away. ]]
"Help!" cried Faith. 
"Save Josefina!" 
Adam jumped into the river 
but the current was too strong. 
It took three men 
to get them out. 
"That does it!" Pa shouted. 
"She is too old to lay eggs 
too tough to eat 
and she falls into rivers. 
Out she goes!" ]]
Just then 
Josefina ruffled her feathers 
let out a proud 
"Caaaa - cackle - ackle!" 
and laid a beautiful big white egg. 
"By thunder!" Pa said. 
"She has begun to lay eggs again." 
"Wonderful!" said Ma. 
"Now we will have fresh eggs." 
So Josefina stayed. 
Faith found a white scrap 
for the egg patch. ]]
Robbers! 
Spring turned into summer. 
The desert was hot and dry. 
Faith counted her patches. 
Now she had fifteen. 
It was time to sew one 
about the desert. ]]
But one bad thing 
came after another. 
Wagon wheels kept falling off. 
There was not enough food 
for the animals. 
Then three oxen died. 
Pa had to throw out his heavy tools 
and Ma's black iron stove. 
Two old people died. 
They were buried 
beside the trail. 
Nobody laughed or sang 
or smiled anymore. ]]
Faith was always hungry 
but she walked on and on. 
She looked for grain or seeds 
for Josefina. 
It was worse in the hills. 
The trail was rocky and steep. 
One morning Indians came to trade 
buffalo meat and water. 
They wanted ma's quilts. 
"Never!" said Ma. 
"I would rather starve." 
They wanted Josefina. ]]
"Never!" cried Faith. 
"I would rather die." ]]
So Pa traded extra clothes 
for food and water. 
Everyone felt better 
after a good meal. 
Soon the food was gone. 
"If those Indians come back" 
Pa told Faith 
"we must trade Josefina for water." 
Faith prayed hard 
that they would never return. ]]
The night was bitter cold. 
Men slept under the wagons. 
Ma gave the quilts 
to Pa and Adam. 
She and Faith 
bundled in old blankets. ]]
About midnight 
two robbers crept into camp. 
They sneaked up to the wagon. 
When they reached for the quilts 
Josefina heard them. 
"Cackle! Cackle! Cackle!" 
she squawked. ]]
Everyone woke up 
and the robbers ran away.
Pa laughed for the first time 
in days. 
"Josefina may be old" he said 
"but she is a humdinger 
of a watchdog."  ]]
Good-bye Josefina 
Pa reached for the cage 
to thank Josefina 
but the poor old hen 
was lying on the cage floor. 
Faith hid her face against Ma. ]]
"You must be brave" 
Ma said softly. 
"Josefina lived a good long life." 
"You can be proud of her" 
Pa added. 
"She died helping us" said Adam. ]]
Faith did not feel better. 
She cried and cried. 
Ma hugged her 
for a long time. 
The next morning 
they had a funeral for Josefina. 
Faith wrapped her 
in the prettiest scrap of cloth. 
Adam buried her 
under a tall pine tree. ]]
"I miss her so!" 
Faith said between sobs. 
At last Faith dried her eyes 
and reached for the ragbag. ]]
"I will sew a pine tree patch 
for Josefina" she said. 
Soon the wagon train 
found food and water. 
When they reached California 
Faith finished the patches. ]]
Pa built a quilting frame 
in their new cabin. 
The family helped Faith 
stitch the patches together 
into a quilt.  
The quilt covered Faith's bed. 
Every day the patches 
helped them remember 
the good times 
and the bad times 
on the wagon train. ]]
And every night 
Faith felt warm and happy 
under the Josefina story quilt. ]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Concepts: Concrete/Simple Social

Features

Integral Setting - Historical

Topic

*Transportation

Travel/Traveling

*History

Sewing

Quilts

Overcoming

Moving

Pets

Birds

Low Frequency Words

angrily	calico	coyotes	current	fault
fiercely	funeral	gulped	humdinger	mattresses
mooed	neighbor	patches	patchwork	prettiest
reared	ruffled	sewn	stampede	stitch
stitches