Text Leveling System

Clifford The Small Red Puppy

RDQ:	215	Max Word/Sent	16	Total Words	499		Diff Words	195
Lex	470	Ave Word/.Sent	7	Hi Freq occurs	324	64.9%	Hi freq	89	45.6%
AR	2.0	Long Sentences	0	Low Freq occurs	4	0.8%	Low freq	4	2.1%

Hi!  I'm Emily Elizabeth
And this is Clifford, my big red dog.]]
Yesterday my friend Martha said,
""I got my dog from a fancy pet store.
where did you get yours?""
So I told her how I got Clifford.]]
When I was little I lived in the city.
I didn't have a dog.]]
One day the man down the hall called us.
his dog had puppies.  He wanted to give me one.]]
One puppy was smaller than the rest.
The man said, ""Don't take him.  He is the runt.
He will always be small and sick.""
But I loved that little puppy.  He needed me.]]
I named my puppy Clifford.
He was so tiny that I had to feed him
with the doll's baby bottle.]]
We got the smallest collar we could find
for Clifford.]]
It was too big.
When he began to eat dog food,
we had to watch him all the time.]]
He was so little that he was always getting lost,
even in our small apartment.]]
Daddy said Clifford was just too small.
He didn't think he could live through the winter.
I was very sad.
That night I told Clifford I wished he would grow to be
a big healthy dog.  I told him I loved him.]]
Next morning he looked bigger to me.]]
He seemed to have an easier time
eating his dog food.
And his collar wasn't so loose.]]
In fact, by the time Daddy got home
the collar was too small.]]
By bedtime Clifford's tiny basket
seemed a little too small for him.]]
So I let him sleep on my pillow again.]]
That was a mistake.]]
Next morning Mommy thought
Clifford looked different.
Daddy said, ""I think he is growing.""]]
I decided to take Clifford for a walk.
At the corner I saw a big dog coming.
I knew I should pick Clifford up
So the big dog couldn't hurt him.]]
I shouldn't have worried.
Clifford really was growing!
We ran home to show Mommy how big he was.]]
Had our apartment door grown smaller?
Daddy couldn't believe it.  We put Clifford
in the garden to sleep that night.]]
In the morning the lady upstairs called us.
It was about Clifford.]]
In fact, all the neighbors
were starting to notice him.]]
The landlord called the police.
They came to see Clifford.
They said Clifford would have to go.
But how?  He couldn't go through the door.]]
There was just one way to get him
out of our garden.]]
We sent him to live with my uncle
who lived in the country.]]
I was sad.  I missed my little puppy.]]
And he missed me.]]
One day we got a surprise.
My uncle wanted Daddy to come work
with him in the country.
We moved right away.]]
Clifford was waiting for me.
I said, "" Clifford, stop growing.
You are just right.""]]
""So,"" I said to Martha,
""That's how I got my dog.
Tell me again how you got your dog.""
Martha said, ""Forget it.""]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Dialog: Two speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: Few decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Concepts: Concrete/Simple Social

Features

Character traits

Character development

First Person

Topic

Dogs

Caring/Hugs

Love

*Animals

Pets

Low Frequency Words

healthy

landlord

neighbors

runt