Text Leveling System

Spiders

RDQ:	693	Max Word/Sent	21	Total Words	995		Diff Words	408
Lex	680	Ave Word/.Sent	9	Hi Freq occurs	555	55.8%	Hi freq	136	33.3%
AR	3.1	Long Sentences	1	Low Freq occurs	61	6.1%	Low freq	49	12%

Spiders may look scary but most of them don't hurt
people. There are about 30 thousand different kinds of
spiders.]]
Spiders come in many shapes and sizes. Some are so tiny
that they are no bigger than a speck of dust.]]
Others can be as big as a dinner plate. Most spiders are
brown, gray or black. Some have bright colors.]]
The first spiders lived about 300 million years ago, even
before dinosaurs roamed the earth.]]
Spiders belong to a group of animals called arachnids.
The word arachnid comes from an old Greek legend.
Once there was a woman named Arachne who was angry
when she lost a weaving contest against the Goddess
Athena.  When Arachne died, Athena turned Arachne's
body into a spider so she could weave forever.]]
A Spider's Body
Spiders are not insects.
An Insects Body
Their bodies are different from insects in many ways.]]
A male spider is smaller than a female spider. When a
male spider finds a mate, he must be careful. If the
female spider is hungry, she might eat him. Some male
spiders do a dance or bring an insect to attract a female.]]
A mother spider lays her eggs and encloses them in a 
strong silk egg sac. Some spiders lay a few eggs. Others
lay thousands. After a number of weeks, the baby spiders
creep out of the silk sac. Spider babies are called 
spiderlings.]]
Most spider mothers don't stay with their babies. Some
spiderlings care for themselves as soon as they are born.
They run up to the highest places they can find. The
spiderlings spin out long streamers of silk. A breeze lifts 
them and carries them to their new homes. This way of
traveling is called ballooning.]]
As a spiderling grows, its hard outer skin, called an exoskeleton,
becomes tight. The skin cracks open along its 
back. The spider sheds it by climbing out. This is called
molting. Most spiders molt five to ten times.]]
Some spiders are web weavers. They spin webs to catch
their food. There are spiders that weave tangled webs.
The spider spins a tangled mass of silk. When an insect is
trapped, the spider runs out to get it.]]
Other spiders weave sheet webs. The spider hangs upside 
down beneath the web. When an insect hits the sheet
web, the spider quickly pulls it through the webbing.]]
Spider create funnel webs, too. The top is big and the
bottom is small. The web is held in place by lines of silk.
The spider sits at the bottom and waits for an insect to fly
or walk in.]]
Some spiders spin triangle webs. A triangle web is 
fastened at three pints. The web's band of dry and sticky
silk traps insects.]]
The orb-weaving spider spins a pattern of many circles.]]
The most beautiful spider web of all is the orb web.]]
Not all spiders use webs for catching food. Some hide in
burrows or beneath rocks and stones. When the spider
sees an insect, it quickly runs out and grabs it.]]
One unusual kind of spider lives under water. It weaves a
bell-shaped web. Then it fills the web with tiny bubbles.
The spider stays there, breathing the air from the bubbles
and wait to catch water insects.]]
Another type of spider digs a tunnel and lines it with silk.
To protect itself, it makes a hinged trapdoor from dirt and 
silk to cover the tunnel. When the spider is hungry, it
opens the door a bit. If an insect come close, the spider
 scurries out to catch it.]]
Some spiders hide on or inside flowers. One spider even
changes color, from yellow to white, to match the color
of the flower. When an insect lands, the spider
snatches it.]]
Some spiders are dangerous. One of them is the black
widow spider. The black widow spider bites only when its
web is disturbed or it is in danger. The poison of a black
widow spider can kill a person.]]
The biggest spider of all is the tarantula. When its legs
are stretched out, it can measure about ten inches wide.
It is very hairy. Tarantulas that live in the United States
are not poisonous to people.]]
Spiders have enemies. Some insects. like spider wasps,
hunt and eat spiders. Toads, frogs, and some birds like to
eat spiders, too.]]
Most spiders live for about one year. Some live much
longer. Female tarantulas sometimes live to be 25 years
old.]]
Most people don't like spiders because they are afraid of
them. But spiders help us. They plan an important role 
by eating many insects that are harmful to crops and
people.]]
Spiders can be interesting to watch. Scientists are still
discovering new kinds of spiders and learning more about
them.]]
Spiders...spiders...spiders!
Remember the nursery
rhyme, ""Little 
Miss Muffet""? Little
Miss Muffet was 
a real little girl. Her 
father was a spider
expert who used to 
make her eat mashed
spiders when she was
sick. About 200 years
ago, this was a common
cold remedy.
Some spiders can 
walk on water. The 
raft spider does this 
by spreading its legs
wide while it takes
quick steps.
Spiders have an
excellent sense of
touch. Their bodies,
mouths and legs are
covered with fine
sensory hairs.
A person  who is terrified
of spiders has
arachnephobia.
Spider silk is three
times stronger than 
steel thread the same
thickness.
The deadliest spider
in the world is the
Brazilian wandering
spider.
Spiders don't stick to
their own webs
because their feet are
specially shaped and 
their bodies are covered
with oil.
Some spiders spin a
special line called a
dragline. If the enemy
comes, the spider can
quickly drop down
the dragline and escape.
Not many animals 
eat ants because they
taste badly. One
spider is protected
because it looks like an
ant. It is called an
ant mimic.
Spiders can walk up
walls and across ceilings,
because they
have special grip pads
on their feet.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Simple graphics, not necessary to text

Vocabulary: Some difficult words

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Formal

Captions

Inserts/Side bars

Diagrams

Index

Features

Topic

Spiders

Nature

*Animals

Arachnids

Low Frequency Words

arachne	arachne's	arachnephobia	arachnid	arachnids
athena	carries	deadliest	disturbed	dragline
encloses	excellent	exoskeleton	fastened	funnel
goddess	hinged	legend	measure	mimic
molt	molting	nursery	pints	poisonous
remedy	rhyme	roamed	sac	scurries
sensory	snatches	specially	spiderling	spiderlings
tangled	tarantula	tarantulas	terrified	thickness
thread	trapdoor	triangle	wandering	wasps
weavers	weaves	weaving	widow