Text Leveling System

Butterflies

RDQ:	231	Max Word/Sent	21	Total Words	276		Diff Words	154
Lex	490	Ave Word/.Sent	7	Hi Freq occurs	144	52.2%	Hi freq	52	33.8%
AR	2.0	Long Sentences	10.3	Low Freq occurs	7	2.5%	Low freq	7	4.5%

See the butterfly up in the sky.
Watch it as it flutters by!]]
Butterflies start as tiny eggs.]]
Out come caterpillars with
many legs.]]
Little caterpillars growing long,
crawling,
feeding,
getting strong.]]
They love to nibble and to chew.
The eat small leaves
and big leaves, too.]]
Four weeks pass. They grow more.
They shed their skin.
One time,
two times,]]
three times,
four.]]
Once again a change comes around.
Now it is hanging upside down.
Soon,]]
it spins a silky pad
to hold on tight,
and a halter, too,
to keep it upright.]]
Now it sheds its skin
one time more,
to reveal a chrysalis,
not at all like the skin before.]]
Inside this shell it is changing,
growing.
Eyes, legs, wings,
are now almost showing.
What can it be?
Wait and see.]]
It's a butterfly!
Its wings are wet.
It has to rest.
It can't fly yet.]]
Soon, it tries hard with all its might,
spreads its four wings - 
and takes flight.]]
Like a flower in the sky,
what a sight - 
a butterfly!]]
Wings of black, orange,
yellow, and blue,
red, green, gold,
and purple, too.]]
Colors bright as in a rainbow.
What makes these colors?
Do you know?]]
It's layers of little scales that we see.
They make the colors as
bright as can be!]]
Butterflies drink nectar from
pretty flowers.
It tastes so sweet, they sip for hours.]]
They use their long, thin tongues
to drink.
That's kind of odd, don't you think?]]
From caterpillar to butterfly
takes eight weeks in all.
All sizes of butterflies - 
big and small.]]
See the butterfly up in the sky.
Watch it as it flutters by!]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Vocabulary: Few decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Story/Poem

Features

Rhyming

Topic

Changes

Butterflies

Caterpillars

Life Cycle

Nature

*Animals

Insects

Low Frequency Words

chrysalis	crawling	halter	nectar	reveal
tongues	upright