Text Leveling System

The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo

RDQ:	501	Max Word/Sent	22	Total Words	1480		Diff Words	400
Lex	640	Ave Word/.Sent	6	Hi Freq occurs	1009	68.2%	Hi freq	198	49.5%
AR	2.7	Long Sentences	0.8	Low Freq occurs	32	2.2%	Low freq	14	3.5%

Freddy Dissel had two problems. One 
was his older brother Mike. The other was 
his younger sister Ellen.  Freddy thought a 
lot about being the one in the middle. But 
there was nothing he could do about it. He 
felt like the peanut butter part of a 
sandwich squeezed between Mike and 
Ellen. ]]
Every year Mike got new clothes. He 
grew too big for his old ones. But Mike's 
old clothes weren't too small for Freddy. 
They fit him just fine. ]]
Freddy used to have a room of his 
own. That was before Ellen was born. 
Now Ellen had a room of her own. Freddy 
moved in with Mike. Mom and Dad said 
"It's the boys' room." But they couldn't fool 
Freddy. He knew better.]]
Once Freddy tried to join Mike and 
his friends. But Mike said "Get out of the 
way kid!" So Freddy tried to play with Ellen. 
Ellen didn't understand how to play 
his way. She messed up all of Freddy's 
things. Freddy got mad and pinched her. 
Ellen screamed.]]
"Freddy Dissel!" Mom yelled. "You 
shouldn't be mean to Ellen. She's smaller 
than you. She's just a baby!" 
Ellen didn't look like a baby to 
Freddy. She didn't sound like a baby 
either. She even goes to nursery school 
Freddy thought. Some baby! 
Freddy figured things would never 
get better for him. He would always be a 
great big middle nothing!]]
Then one day Freddy heard about 
the school play. Mike had never been in a play. 
Ellen had never been in a play. This was his 
chance to do something special. Freddy 
decided he would try it. 
He waited two whole days before he 
went to his teacher. "Ms. Gumber" he 
said. "I want to be in the school play." ]]
Ms. Gumber smiled and shook her 
head. "I'm sorry Freddy" she said. "The 
play is being done by the fifth and sixth 
graders. The big boys and girls like Mike." 
Freddy looked at the floor and mumbled. 
"That figures!" He started to walk 
away. 
"Wait a minute Freddy" Ms. 
Gumber called. "I'll talk to Ms. Matson 
anyway. She's in charge of the play. I'll find 
out if they need any second graders to 
help." 
Finally Ms. Gumber told Freddy 
that Ms. Matson needed someone to play a 
special part. Ms. Gumber said"Go to the 
auditorium this afternoon. Maybe you'll 
get the part." 
"Great!" Freddy hollered. ]]
Later he went to the auditorium. Ms. 
Matson was waiting for him. Freddy 
walked right up close to her. He said "I 
want to be in the play." 
Ms. Matson asked him to go up on the 
stage and say that again - in a very loud 
voice. 
Freddy had never been on the stage. It 
was big. It made him feel small. He looked 
out at Ms. Matson. 
"I am Freddy" he shouted. "I 
want to be in the play." ]]
"Good" Ms. Matson called. "Now 
then Freddy can you jump?" 
What kind of question was that 
Freddy wondered. Of course he could 
jump. He was in second grade wasn't he? 
So he jumped. He jumped all around the 
stage - big jumps and little jumps. When 
he was through Ms. Matson clapped her 
hands and Freddy climbed down from the 
stage. ]]
" think you will be fine as the Green 
Kangaroo Freddy" Ms. Matson said. "It's 
a very important part." 
Freddy didn't tell anyone at home 
about the play until dinner time. Then he 
said"Guess what everyone? Guess what 
I'm going to be?" 
No one paid any attention to what 
Freddy was saying. They were too busy 
eating. ]]
"I'm going to be in a play" Freddy 
said. "I'm going to be the Green Kangaroo!" 
Mike choked on his potato and 
knocked over a whole glass of milk. Ellen 
laughed because Mike spilled his milk. 
Dad jumped up. He patted Mike on the 
back to make him stop choking. ]]
Mom ran to get the sponge. She 
cleaned up the spilled milk. Freddy just 
sat there and smiled. 
"What did you say?" Mike asked. 
"I said I'm going to be in the school 
play. I said I'm going to be the Green 
Kangaroo!" 
"It can't be true" Mike yelled. "Why 
would they pick you?" 
"Because I can jump" Freddy said. 
"I can jump too" Ellen said. 
"Everybody can jump" Mike told 
them. 
"Yes but not like me" Freddy said. 
"And besides I can talk loud." 
"I can talk loud" Ellen said. "Listen 
to this." And she screamed. "See how loud 
I can talk." 
"That's enough Ellen" Mom said. ]]
Dad said "Freddy I think it's wonderful 
that you got the part in the play." 
Mom kissed him and said"We're all 
proud of you Freddy." 
Ellen laughed. "Green Kangaroo 
Green Kangaroo" she said over and over 
again. 
Mike just shook his head and said "I 
still can't believe it. He's going to be the 
Green Kangaroo." 
"It's true" Freddy said. "Just me. All 
by myself - the only Green Kangaroo in 
the play." ]]
The next two weeks were busy ones for 
Freddy. He had to practice being the 
Green Kangaroo a lot. He practiced at 
school on the stage. He practiced at home 
too. He made kangaroo faces in front of the 
mirror. He did kangaroo jumps on his bed. 
He even dreamed about Green Kangaroos 
at night. ]]
Finally the day of the play came. The 
whole family would be there. Some of 
their neighbors were coming too. 
Mom hugged Freddy extra hard as he 
left for school. "We'll be there watching 
you Green Kangaroo" she said. 
After lunch Ms. Gumber called to 
Freddy. "Time to go now. Time to get into 
your costume." Ms. Gumber walked to the 
hall with Freddy. ]]
Then she whispered "Well be in the 
second row. Break a leg."  
"Break a leg?" Freddy said. 
Ms. Gumber laughed. "That means 
good luck when you're in a play." 
"Oh" Freddy said. "I thought you 
meant I should fall off the stage and really 
break a leg." 
Ms. Gumber laughed again. She ruffled
 freddy's hair. 
Freddy went to Ms. Matson's room. 
The girls in the sixth grade had made his 
costume. They all giggled when Ms. Matson 
helped Freddy into it. His Green 
Kangaroo suit covered all of them. It even 
had green feet. Only his face stuck out. 
Ms. Matson put some green dots on it. 
"We'll wash them off later. Okay?" ]]
"Okay" Freddy mumbled. He 
jumped over to the mirror. He looked at 
himself. He really felt like a Green Kangaroo. ]]
It was time for the play to begin. 
Freddy waited backstage with the fifth 
and sixth graders who were in the play. 
They looked at him and smiled. He tried 
to smile back. But the smile wouldn't 
come. His heart started to beat faster. His 
stomach bounced up and down. He felt 
funny. Then Ms. Matson leaned close to 
him. She said "They're waiting for you 
Freddy. Go ahead." ]]
He jumped out onto the stage. He 
looked out into the audience. All those 
people were down there - somewhere. He 
knew they were. It was very quiet. He 
could hear his heart. He thought he saw 
Mom and Dad. He thought he saw Ellen. 
He thought he saw Mike and Ms. Gumber 
and his second grade class and all of 
his neighbors too. They were all out
there somewhere. They were all in the 
middle of the audience. But Freddy 
wasn't in the middle. He was all by himself 
up on the stage. He had a job to do. 
He had to be the Green Kangaroo. 
Freddy smiled. His heart slowed 
down. His stomach stayed still. He felt 
better. He smiled a bigger wider smile. He 
felt good. ]]
"Hello Everyone" Freddy 
said. "I am the green kangaroo. 
Welcome." ]]
The play began. Freddy did his big 
and little jumps. Every few minutes one of 
the fifth or sixth graders in the play said to 
him"And who are you?" 
Freddy jumped around and 
answered. "Me? I am the Green Kangaroo."
It was easy. That was all he had to 
say. It was fun too. Every time he said it 
the audience laughed. Freddy liked it 
when they laughed. It was a funny play. ]]
When it was all over everyone on the 
stage took a bow. Then Ms. Matson came 
out and waited for the audience to get 
quiet. She said "A special thank you to our 
second grader Freddy Dissel. He played 
the part of the Green Kangaroo." ]]
Freddy jumped over to the middle of 
the stage. He took a big low bow all by 
himself. The audience clapped hard for a 
long time.]]
Freddy didn't care much about wearing 
Mike's clothes any more. He didn't care 
much about sharing Mike's room either. 
He didn't care much that Ellen was small 
and cute. He didn't even care much about 
being the one in the middle. He felt just 
great being Freddy Dissel.  ]]

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

Complexity: Several ideas - closely related

Concepts: Concrete/Simple Social

Features

Character development

Simple Plot

Topic

Challenges

Children

Fears

Family

Performing

Relationships

Low Frequency Words

audience	auditorium	dissel	figures	gumber
hollered	matson	matson's	neighbors	nursery
practiced	ruffled	sponge	younger