Text Leveling System

Daniel's Duck

RDQ:	333	Max Word/Sent	15	Total Words	1152		Diff Words	293
Lex	560	Ave Word/.Sent	6	Hi Freq occurs	828	71.9%	Hi freq	143	48.8%
AR	2.3	Long Sentences	0	Low Freq occurs	9	0.8%	Low freq	4	1.4%

Jeff and Daniel were brothers. 
They lived in a cabin on a mountain in Tennessee. Jeff had a good knife. He could carve with it. He could carve things out of wood. He made a dish. He made a cup and a spoon. His mother and father were proud. "Some day" they said"you may be as good as Henry Pettigrew." Henry Pettigrew lived in the valley. They had never seen him but they had seen his work. He was a wood-carver. Some said he was the best wood-carver in Tennessee. Henry Pettigrew carved animals. His birds looked as if they could fly. His horse looked as if they could run. All his animals looked real. Jeff and his brother Daniel had seen some of them in town. "I want to carve an animal" said Jeff. "I want to carve a deer or a turkey or a bear like Henry Pettigrew's. But animals are hard to do." "I want to carve an animal too" said Daniel. "You're not old enough" said Jeff. "Yes I am" said Daniel. "I could carve one if I had a good knife and some wood." "It takes more than a good knife and some wood" said Jeff. "What does it take?" asked Daniel. "You have to know how" said Jeff. "It's hard to carve an animal." "I know how" said Daniel. "Let's see if you do" said his father. He gave Daniel a knife like Jeff's. He gave him a block of wood. It was winter. The nights were long. "This is a good time to sit by the fire and carve" said Jeff. "I'm going to make something for the spring fair." Every spring there was a fair in the valley. It was time for people to meet after the long winter. It was a time to show things that they had made. Sometimes they sold what they had made. Sometimes they traded with one another. Father knew how to make Indian moccasins. On winter nights he made moccasins to take to the fair. Mother cut pieces of cloth. She sewed them together to make a quilt. "This will be a warm quilt for somebody's bed" she said. "I'll take it to the fair." "I'm going to make a box for the fair" said Jeff. "I'm going to carve little moons on the lid." He said to his brother "You haven't done anything with your block of wood. What are you going to make?" "I have to think" said Daniel. Days went by. Then he began to carve. "What are you making?" asked Jeff. "You'll see" said Daniel. One night Jeff looked at what Daniel was carving. He saw a neck and a head. He saw a wing. "Now I see" he said. "It's a bird." "It's a duck" said Daniel. "You're not doing it right" said Jeff. "Its head is on backward." "I want it that way" said Daniel. "My duck is looking back." "That's no way to do it" said Jeff. Father said "Let him do it his way." Spring came. It was time for the fair. Mother had made her quilt. Father had made three pairs of moccasins. Jeff's box was done. "It took a long time" he said. "My duck took a long time too" said Daniel. "Are you sure you want to take it to the fair?" asked Jeff. "Yes" said Daniel. They went down the mountain in a wagon. Father drove the horses. They drove into town. There were people everywhere. Everyone had come to the fair. Father took the quilt and the moccasins. He took Jeff's box and Daniel's duck. He left them at the hall. The hall was a long house in the middle of town. "This is where the show will be" said Father. "People are getting it ready now." They walked down the street. They saw the river. They talked with friends. Father said "The hall is open." They went to the show. There were pictures that people had made. There were quilts and rugs and baskets. There were dolls. There were coonskin caps. "Where are the wood carvings?" asked Daniel. "Over here" said Jeff. They went to the end of the hall. The carvings were there on tables. On a small table was carved deer. It was so beautiful that people were quiet when they looked at it. Everyone knew it had been done by Henry Pettigrew. On a big table were the carvings that others had done. "I see my box" said Jeff. "I see my duck" said Daniel. Many people were looking at the carvings. They were laughing. "What are they laughing at?" asked Daniel. Jeff didn't answer. Someone said "Look at the duck!" Someone else said"That duck is so funny!" More people came to look. More people were laughing. Now Daniel knew. They were laughing at his duck. He wanted to go away. He wanted to hide. Then he was angry. He went to the table. He picked up his duck and ran with it. He ran out of the hall. Someone was running after him. He ran faster. He came to the river. He started to throw the duck as far as he could. But he could not throw it. A man had hold of his arm. The man asked "What are you doing with that duck?" "I'm going to throw it in the river!" said Daniel. "You can't do that" said the man. "I can if I want to" said Daniel. "It's mine." "Did you make it?" asked the man. "Yes" said Daniel. "Why were you going to throw it away?" asked the man. "They all laughed at it" said Daniel. "Listen to me" said the man. "There are different ways of laughing. The people liked your duck. They laughed because they liked it." "No. It's ugly" said Daniel. "It isn't ugly. It's a good duck. It made me feel happy. That's why I laughed." The man was not laughing now. "You're hot and tired" he said. "Come and rest in the shade." They sat under a tree. "Would you sell your duck?" asked the man. "Who would buy it?" asked Daniel. "I might think of someone" said the man. A boy and girl came up to them. "How are you Mr. Pettigrew?" they asked. "I'm fine" said the man. The boy and girl went on. Daniel said "You're Henry Pettigrew!" "Yes" said the man. "I'm a wood-carver too." "I know that" said Daniel. He was holding his duck. He looked down at it. It wasn't ugly. It was a good duck. Henry Pettigrew had said so and he knew. Shall we go back to the fair now?" "Yes" said Daniel. They got up. The man was looking at the duck. "Will you sell it to me?" he asked. "No" said Daniel. He held the duck a little longer. Then he gave it to Henry Pettigrew.

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little 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

Inferences: Some implications

Concepts: Concrete/Simple Social

Features

Character traits

Character development

Simple Plot

Topic

Shapes

Feelings/Emotions

Markets

Buying/Selling

*Arts & Crafts

Low Frequency Words

pettigrew

pettigrew's

sewed

tennessee