Text Leveling System

Mouse Trap!

RDQ:	289	Max Word/Sent	30	Total Words	328		Diff Words	151
Lex	540	Ave Word/.Sent	14	Hi Freq occurs	173	52.7%	Hi freq	44	29.1%
AR	2.2	Long Sentences	26.1	Low Freq occurs	21	6.4%	Low freq	18	11.9%

Once upon a mousetime, two little squeaks went cheesing... searching for cheese, strong yellow cheese, cheese as round as the moon.  Under the kitchen table, the old grey meow was sleeping... With snorting snores and twitching claws, she dreamed of squeaky mice.  Quickly up the table leg the little squeaks went sneaking.   Then-sniff, sniff-they caught a whiff of cheese in a great glass dish.  They tried to lift the lid of... the glass was far too heavy. But their huffs and puffs were loud enough to waken the sleeping meow.  They old grey meow came out with a yowl and the two little squeaks went running... down the table, across the floor, and under the kitchen door.  Now the old grey meow was far too stiff for kittenish leaping and pouncing, but that wise cat knew a thing or two... and she planned to catch those mice.  She crawled up on the table and pushed the lid off the platter.  Then, with a swish of her claws in the dish, she swiped a hunk off the cheese.  Back on the floor by the table, the old meow lay like a statue... her mouth open wide, with the cheese inside, waiting for the squeaks to return.  As she waited with baited breath, the squeaks sneaked back to the kitchen.  They could smell the cheese strong on the breeze, and it made their whiskers shake.  As quietly as two little feathers, the squeaks came closer and closer... paw after paw, towards the cat's jaw and the marvellous mound of cheese.  Another moment and the meow would have her sweet mouse supper... but the cheese made her sneeze.  A-a-a-a-a-a-choooo!  And she blew it!  She really blew it!  The cheese... the squeaks... her supper... She blew them right away.  Back inside their mousehole, the squeaks were ready for feasting.  They nibbled... and spat!  ""We can't eat that!  It smells like the old grey cat!""

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little support

Inferences: Some implications

Vocabulary: Few decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Simple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Sequence of Events: Chronological

Features

Simple problem/solution

Topic

Cats

Mice

Food Chain

*Animals

Food

*Animal Life

Low Frequency Words

cheesing	grey	kittenish	marvellous	mound
mousehole	mousetime	platter	pouncing	spat
statue	swiped	towards	twitching	waken
whiff	whiskers	yowl