Text Leveling System

The Case of the Missing Birthday Party

RDQ:	405	Max Word/Sent	20	Total Words	1045		Diff Words	326
Lex	610	Ave Word/.Sent	5	Hi Freq occurs	570	54.5%	Hi freq	122	37.4%
AR	2.5	Long Sentences	0.5	Low Freq occurs	25	2.4%	Low freq	13	4%

My name is Liz. 
Here is my card:
Henry is my little brother. 
He's a Whiz-in-Training (WIT).]] 
Marv is our dog.
He's smarter than he looks.
Marv's Nose Always Knows.
Henry, Marv, and I are a great team.]] 
It's Saturday.
Henry and I are sitting on the front steps. 
Mary is sleeping.
I say, ""Nothing is going on around here."" 
Mary snores.
""Another boring Saturday,"" I say. 
""Right,"" says Henry, the WIT.
Boy, are we wrong!]]
I jump up from the steps.
""What's that sound?"" I ask.
Henry listens. 
I listen. 
Marv listens. 
Somebody is crying!
It is our neighbor Pauline, 
coming down our block. 
There are ten houses 
on each block. 
Remember that fact.]] 
""What's wrong?"" I ask Pauline. 
""Waa-hh! !"" answers Pauline. 
I look at Pauline's dress. 
It is a pink dress with lots of bows. 
I look at the box she is carrying. 
More bows. Wrapping paper. 
I, Liz the Whiz, put all the clues together.
""Where's the party?"" I ask. 
Pauline isn't talking. 
""WAA-HH!"" she cries. 
""Get her a drink,"" I say to Henry.]] 
Pauline is sipping her lemonade.
Marv is sniffing at the present.
I, Liz the Whiz, take a closer look.
Why is the bow on the present
all chewed up?
I decide to remember that fact.]] 
Pauline tells her story:
""I was invited to Nick's 
birthday party around the corner 
at 5 Twig Street.
I rang the doorbell there but-"" 
Pauline takes another sip
of her lemonade. 
""Go on,"" says Henry. 
""WAA-HH!!"" says Pauline. 
Pauline isn't talking anymore. 
""Let's check out 5 Twig,"" 
I say to my partner. 
""Right,"" says Henry, the WIT.]] 
We ring the doorbell at 5 Twig Street.
Nobody answers.
We ring again.
At last a woman opens the door.
She has yellow paint on her nose.
She is wearing old clothes.
She is holding a paintbrush.]]
We ring the doorbell at 5 Twig Street.
Nobody answers.
We ring again.
At last a woman opens the door.
She has yellow paint on her nose.
She is holding a paintbrush.]] 
I, Liz the Whiz, put all 
the clues together. 
""I guess there's no party at 
your house,"" I say.
The woman laughs. ""That's 
what I told your friend.""]] 
""Are you sure you have the right address, 
Pauline?"" asks Henry, the WIT. 
Pauline holds up the party invitation. 
It is full of holes!]] 
Suddenly, I, Liz the Whiz, put the clues 
together once again.
""Pauline, do you have a new pet?"" I ask.]]
""Yes, I do,"" Pauline says.
""My sweet hamster Spotty.""
I grab the invitation. ""Look!"" I shout.
""Your sweet hamster Spotty
chewed holes all over this invitation!
The party is not at 5 Twig Street.
I'll bet Nick's address has two digits.]]
""I'll bet the five is really in the ones' place.
And the tens' place is all chewed up!""
""You mean - ?"" asks Henry, the WIT.
""Yes! The party is at something -5
Twig Street. Let's go!"" I say.]]
We knock at 15 Twig Street.
We knock at 25 Twig Street.
We knock at 35 Twig and
ring the doorbell at 45.]]
No party.
No party.
No answer.
No party.]]
""Waa-h h!"" cries Pauline. ""We'll never find it.""
""Wait!"" I, Liz the Whiz, say.
""I'm going home to play with my sweet hamster
Spotty,"" says Pauline.
""I just thought of something else!"" I say.
""We're headed for 55 Twig, But suppose the 5 is in 
the tens' place. Then what, WIT?""]]
Henry thinks hard. ""Then the party could be at -""
""Right! Any of the 50-somethings on Twig Street!""
We rush to the next block. Henry and Pauline try
the houses with even-numbered addresses.
Marv and I try the house with
odd-numbered addresses.
Nothing.]]
The last house is empty.
There is a For Sale sign in front.
Marv goes to sleep on the grass.
We sit down beside Marv.
We need a rest.
I look at the invitation again.
Pretty chewed up.
Then I, Liz the Whiz, have a terrible 
thought.]]
""Oh, no!"" I say.
""Suppose the five is in the hundreds' place
instead of the tens' place.
Suppose the tens' and the ones' place
were both chewed up!""
""You mean - ?""asks Henry, the WIT.]]
""Yes,""I say. ""Maybe Nick's address
is a three-digit number!
Maybe the party is at 
500-something Twig Street!""
""But look - "" says the WIT.
He points to my map on the sidewalk.
""There are ten houses on each block...""
Henry says.]]
""...and Twig Street is ten blocks 
long,"" I add.
""That's only 100 houses,""
says the WIT.
""Good thinking!"" I say. ""There are no
500 -something houses on Twig Street.""
""Waa-h h!"" Pauline wails.
Now What?""]]
I look at Henry. ""Well, WIT, we won't find the
party at 500-something,"" I say.
""Nick's probably blowing out the birthday candles
right now!"" Pauline says.
Henry looks at me. ""Or 50-something Twig Street,""
he says.]]
Pauline sobs. ""Soon the birthday cake will be all
gone!""
""We already checked 5, 15,25, Twig,"" I say.
""And 35 and 45,"" the WIT adds.]]
""Wait a minute!"" I say.
All those 5s.
We were looking in the right place all along.
I, Liz the Whiz, look at Henry
and Henry looks at me.
We are both thinking the same thing - 
we must keep going up Twig Street.
""Waa-h h!"" Pauline cries.
""Ruff-ruff!"" Marv barks.]]
I look up Twig Street.
Marv is barking and jumping now.
I take a longer look. Then I see her.
She's wearing a red dress.
She's carrying something.
And she's in a big hurry.
""After her!"" I cry.]]
I grab Marv's leash.
Henry grabs Pauline's hand.
We follow the girl.
We race past 65 Twig and start to catch up
with her.
I can see she's wearing a fancy dress.
Remember that fact.]]
We race past 75 Twig and close in on her.
She's got a box with something written on it
under her arm.
Remember that fact, too.]]
The girl turns up a walkway.
We're right behind her.
I get a look at the mailbox.
85.
I get a look at what's on the girl's box.
Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday.
Happy Birthday.]]
Marv runs up and sniffs. He barks.
The Nose always Knows a birthday
cake when he smells one.
I put two and two together.
""We're here,"" I cry.]]
""Thank you!"" says Pauline.
""You're a whiz!"" says the WIT.
""Case closed,"" I say.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Inferences: Some implications

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Simple phrases

Text structure: Story/Poem

Features

Topic

Birthdays

Helping

Parties

*Math

Numbers

Low Frequency Words

digit	digits	invitation	lemonade	listens
neighbor	numbered	partner	sipping	somethings
spotty	whiz	wrapping