Text Leveling System

Christmas in Camelot

RDQ:	1060	Max Word/Sent	25	Total Words	2661		Diff Words	724
Lex	750	Ave Word/.Sent	7	Hi Freq occurs	1840	69.1%	Hi freq	316	43.6%
AR	3.7	Long Sentences	1.9	Low Freq occurs	139	5.2%	Low freq	90	12.4%

Prologue
Once upon a time, in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, a mysterious tree house appeared in the woods. A boy named Jack and his sister, Annie, climbed into the tree house. They found that it was filled with books.
Jack and Annie soon discovered that the tree house was magic. It could take them to the places they read about in the books. All they had to do was point to a picture and wish to go there. They discovered that during their adventures, no time at all passed in Frog Creek.
Jack and Annie eventually learned that the tree house belonged to Morgan le Fay, an enchantress from Camelot, the long-ago kingdom of King Arthur. On one of their journeys, Jack and Annie visited Morgan's library in Camelot and brought hope and courage to King Arthur.
Now it is winter. Jack and Annie have not seen Morgan or the magic tree house for many months....
A Royal Invitation
Sunlight had faded from the late-afternoon sky. Puffy snow clouds were moving in.
"Let's hurry. I'm cold," said Jack.
He and Annie were walking home from school. Their Christmas vacation was just beginning.
Cooo-cooo.
"Wait," said Annie. "Look."
She pointed to a white bird sitting on a bare tree branch at the edge of the woods. The bird was staring straight at them.
"It's a dove," said Jack.
"It's a messenger," said Annie, "from Morgan."
"No," Jack said, afraid to get his hopes up. They hadn't seen Morgan le Fay in a long time. He really missed her.
"Yes," said Annie. "She has a mission for us. I can feel it."
In the hush of the cold twilight, the dove spread its wings and flew into the Frog Creek woods.
"Come on!" said Annie. "The tree house is back!"
"You're just hoping!" said Jack.
"I'm knowing!" said Annie. She ran into the woods, following the white dove.
"Oh, brother," said Jack. But he took off after Annie.
Even in the growing darkness, they easily found their way. They zigzagged between the bare trees and ran over the frozen ground until
they came to the tallest oak in the woods. "See?" said Annie, pointing to the top of the tree.
"Yeah," whispered Jack.
There it was: the magic tree house. "Morgan!" shouted Annie.
Jack held his breath, waiting to see the enchantress at the tree house window. But Morgan did not appear.
Annie grabbed the rope ladder and started up. Jack followed.
When they climbed inside the tree house, Jack saw something lying on the floor. It was a scroll, rolled up and tied with a red velvet ribbon.
Jack picked up the scroll and unrolled it. The thick, yellowed paper shimmered with large gold writing.
"Wow, Morgan sent us a really fancy note," said Annie.	 "It's an invitation," said Jack. "Listen."
Dear Jack and Annie, Please accept this royal invitation to spend Christmas in the Kingdom of Camelot. M.
"Christmas in Camelot!" said Annie. "I don't believe it!"
"Cool," whispered Jack. He pictured a beautiful, glowing castle lit with candles and filled with knights and ladies feasting and singing.
"We're going to celebrate Christmas with Morgan and King Arthur!" said Annie. "And Queen Guinevere!"
"Yeah," said Jack. "And the Knights of the Round Table, like Sir Lancelot!"
"Let's go!" said Annie. "Where's the book?" She and Jack looked around the tree house for a book about Camelot. The only book they saw was the Pennsylvania book that always brought them home.
"That's strange," said Jack. "Morgan didn't send a book about Camelot with the Royal Invitation. How does she expect us to get there?"
"I don't know," said Annie. "Maybe she forgot."
Jack picked up the invitation. He read it again. He turned it over, hoping to find more information. The back of the scroll was blank. He handed the invitation to Annie.
"She must have forgotten," he said.
"Darn," said Annie, staring at the gold writing. "I really wish we could go to Camelot." The tree branches rustled.
The wind began to blow.
"What's happening?" said Jack. "I don't know-" said Annie.
"Wait a minute," said Jack. "You were holding the invitation, and you made a wish...." The wind blew harder.
"That must have made the magic work!" cried Annie.
Jack felt a surge of joy.
"We're going to Camelot!" he said. The tree house started to spin.
It spun faster and faster. Then everything was still. Absolutely still.
This is Camelot? Jack shivered. He could see his breath in the dim light.
Annie was staring out the window. "This is Camelot?" she said.
Jack looked out with her. The tree house had landed in a grove of tall, bare trees. A huge, dark castle loomed against the gray sky. No light shone from its windows. No banners waved from its turrets. Wind whistled through its tall towers, sounding sad and lonely.
"It looks deserted," said Annie.
"Yeah," said Jack. "I hope we came to the right place."
Jack pulled his notebook and pencil out of his pack. He wanted to write a description of the dark castle.
"Hey, I see someone," said Annie. Jack looked out the window again.
A woman was crossing the castle drawbridge. She wore a long cloak and carried a lantern. Her white hair blew in the wind.
"Morgan!" said Annie and Jack together. They laughed with relief.
Morgan hurried over the frost-covered ground toward the grove of trees. "Annie? Jack? Is that you?" she called.
"Of course! Who'd you think?" shouted Annie. She started down from the tree house. Jack threw his notebook into his backpack. He followed Annie down the rope ladder. When they reached the icy ground, they ran to Morgan and both threw their arms around her.
"I was looking out a window in the castle and saw a bright flash in the orchard," said Morgan. "What are you doing here?"
"You didn't send the tree house for us?" asked Jack.
"With a Royal Invitation to spend Christmas in Camelot?" asked Annie.
"No!" said Morgan. She sounded alarmed. "But the invitation was signed with an M," said Jack.
"I don't understand . . . ," said Morgan. "We are not celebrating Christmas in Camelot this year."
"You aren't?" said Jack. "Why not?" said Annie.
A look of sadness crossed Morgan's face. "Do you remember when you visited my library and gave King Arthur the hope and courage to challenge his enemy?" she asked.
"Sure," said Jack.
"Well, Arthur's enemy was a man named Mordred," said Morgan. "After you left, Arthur defeated him, but not before Mordred's Dark Wizard cast a spell over the whole kingdom. The spell robbed Camelot of all its joy."
"What? All its joy?" whispered Annie.
"Yes," said Morgan. "For months, Camelot has been without music, without celebration, and without laughter."
"Oh, no," said Annie.
"What can we do to help?" said Jack.
Morgan smiled sadly. "This time, I don't think you can do anything," she said. "But perhaps it will lift Arthur's spirits to see you both again. Come, let us go inside the castle."
Morgan held up her lantern and started toward the drawbridge.
Jack and Annie hurried after her. As they walked through the outer courtyard, the frozen grass cracked under their sneakers.
They followed Morgan over the bridge and through a tall gate. There were no signs of life in the castle's inner courtyard.
"Where is everyone?" Annie whispered to Jack.
"I don't know," he whispered back. Jack really wished they had a book about Camelot. It might help them understand what was going on.
Morgan led them to a huge archway with two wooden doors. She stopped and looked at them. "I am afraid no book would help you tonight, Jack," she said.
Jack was startled that Morgan had read his thoughts.
"Why not?" asked Annie.
"On all your other journeys, you visited real places and times in history," said Morgan. "Camelot is different."
"How?" said Jack.
"The story of Camelot is a legend," said Morgan. "A legend is a story that begins in truth. But then imagination takes over. Different people in different times tell the story. They use their imaginations to add new parts. That is how a legend is kept alive."
"Tonight we'll add our part," said Annie. "Yes," said Morgan. "And please, I beg you"-in the lantern light, she looked very serious-"do not let the story of Camelot end forever. Keep our kingdom alive."
"Of course we will!" said Annie.
"Good," said Morgan. "Come, then. Let us go into the great hall and see the king."
Morgan lifted an iron latch and pushed open the heavy doors. Jack and Annie followed her into the dark castle.
The Knights of the Round Table A pair of torches dimly lit the drafty entrance
hall of the castle. Shadows danced on the worn tapestries.
"Wait here," said Morgan. "I will tell the king of your arrival." She headed through the huge stone archway that led to the great hall.
"Let's peek in," Annie said to Jack.
Jack pushed his glasses into place. He and Annie walked quietly over to the big arch and peered in.
The ceiling of the great hall towered high
above a stone floor. At the far end of the room, King Arthur and his knights were sitting around a huge, round table. They all wore brown tunics. They had shaggy hair and beards.
Their names were carved in gold letters on the backs of their chairs.
"The Knights of the Round Table!" whispered Jack.
Morgan was talking to King Arthur. Beside the king sat a woman in a plain gray robe. She had pale skin and brown, curly hair.
"Queen Guinevere," whispered Annie. Morgan left the king, and Jack and Annie moved quickly back into the shadows. A moment later, Morgan appeared.
"I told the king that two special friends of his have just arrived," she said. "Come with me." As they walked with Morgan through the great hall, Jack shivered. The huge room was drafty and damp. There was no fire in the fireplace. The stone floor was so cold that Jack could feel the chill through his sneakers.
They stopped near the Round Table. King Arthur stared at them with his piercing gray eyes.
"Greetings from Frog Creek," Annie said to the king and queen. Annie bowed, and Jack bowed, too.
The queen smiled. But King Arthur did not.
"Your Majesty, you remember Jack and Annie?" said Morgan. "You met them last summer in my library?"
"Indeed, I shall never forget them," King Arthur said softly. "Greetings, Annie. Greetings, Jack. How do you come to be in Camelot on this bleak night?"
"We came in the magic tree house," said Annie.
A shadow crossed the king's face. He looked at Morgan.
"No, Your Majesty. I did not use my magic to bring them here," she said. "Perhaps a bit of magic still lingers in the tree house, and it traveled on its own."
What's going on? Jack wondered. Why does King Arthur seem unhappy about the magic tree house?
King Arthur looked back at Jack and Annie. "However you have come, you are welcome in my kingdom," he said. He turned to the
queen. "Guinevere, these are the two friends who once gave me hope and courage in a time of need."
Queen Guinevere smiled again. But there was a sad look in her eyes. "I have heard much about you," she said.
"I've heard about you, too!" said Annie. "Allow me to present my knights," said King Arthur. "Sir Bors, Sir Kay, Sir Tristram. . ."
As the king named each knight, Jack and Annie nodded shyly. The knights nodded at them in return. Jack waited to hear the name Sir Lancelot, the most famous of Camelot's knights. But the king never said it.
"And finally, Sir Bedivere and Sir Gawain," King Arthur said.
The king then turned to three empty chairs at the table. "And there once sat three who are lost to us now," he said.
Lost how? wondered Jack.
"You may sit at their places and join our dinner," King Arthur said.
"Thank you," said Annie.
Following Morgan around the table, Jack read the names carved on the backs of the three empty chairs: SIR LANCELOT, SIR GALAHAD, SIR PERCIVAL.
Jack took off his backpack and sat down in Sir Lancelot's place.
As he sat tall and straight in the heavy wooden chair, Jack looked at the king and his knights. They were gnawing meat off bones and slurping wine from heavy goblets. They ate without manners or delight.
Jack really wanted to take notes. He reached into his pack under the table and pulled out his notebook and pencil. But before he could write a word, a serving boy brought more food. Jack quickly put his things away. The boy set a greasy slab of beef on a soggy piece of bread in front of him. The food looked terrible.
"Not much of a Christmas feast, huh?" Annie said in a low voice.
Jack shook his head.
Annie leaned close to Morgan and whispered so King Arthur wouldn't hear. "What happened to the three lost knights?" she asked.
"After Mordred's Dark Wizard cast his spell, the king sought help from the magicians of Camelot," Morgan said quietly. "They told him he must send his knights on a quest to the Otherworld, to recapture our kingdom's joy." "What's the Otherworld?" said Jack.
"It is an ancient, enchanted land beyond the edge of the Earth," said Morgan. "The place where all magic first began."
"Wow," whispered Annie.
"The king chose his three bravest knights to journey there," said Morgan. "When they did not come back, Arthur turned against his magicians. He blamed magic for all of Camelot's woes. Hence, he has banned magic of any kind from the kingdom forever."
"But you're a magician," whispered Annie. "Did the king turn against you, too?"
"Arthur and I have a long friendship," said Morgan. "He has allowed me to stay in the castle as long as I promise not to practice the art of magic ever again."
A feeling of dread crept over Jack. "So ... does that mean the magic tree house is ... ?" Morgan nodded. "Yes. Banished from Camelot," she said. "I'm afraid this will be your last journey. And the last time we see each other." Her eyes filled with tears. She looked away.
"What? The last time we see each other? Forever?" said Annie.
Before Morgan could answer, the wooden doors swung open with a bang. A wind rushed through the great hall. The torches and candles flamed brighter, making the shadows leap wildly on the walls.
The sound of hoofbeats filled the room. A knight on a huge horse rode through the arched doorway.
The knight was dressed all in red-from his shining helmet to the long cloak on his back. His horse was dressed all in green-from the armor that covered his head to the cloth that hung from his saddle.
"Oh, wow!" breathed Annie. "A Christmas Knight!"
Who Will Go

I have come to see Arthur the king!" the Christmas Knight said. His deep voice echoed from inside his helmet. His red armor gleamed in the firelight.
King Arthur stood up. He stared fiercely at the knight, but he spoke in a calm, steady voice. "I am Arthur the king," he said. "Who are you?"
The knight did not answer Arthur's question. "So. You are the legendary King Arthur of Camelot," he said in a mocking voice. "And these must be the famous Knights of the Round Table."
"Yes," said King Arthur, "and again, I ask: Who are you?"
The Christmas Knight still did not answer Arthur's question.
"The spell of the Dark Wizard has robbed Camelot of its joy," said the Christmas Knight. "Has it robbed you and your men of your courage as well?"
"You dare to question our courage?" King Arthur said in a low, angry voice.

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Dialog: Unlabeled Speaker

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Story/Poem

Inferences: Some implications

Complexity: Several ideas - closely related

Concept: Fanciful

Chapters

Headings

Features

Integral Setting - Historical

Simple Plot

Topic

*History

Magic

*Holidays, Events, Cele

Christmas

Low Frequency Words

absolutely	adventures	arched	archway	banished
bedivere	breathed	castle's	challenge	cooo
courage	courtyard	drafty	drawbridge	dread
echoed	enchanted	enchantress	eventually	fiercely
firelight	galahad	gawain	gnawing	goblets
grove	guinevere	hence	hoping	imagination
imaginations	invitation	journeys	kingdom	kingdom's
knight	knights	knowing	ladies	lancelot
lancelot's	lantern	latch	laughter	legend
legendary	lingers	magician	magicians	majesty
messenger	mission	mocking	mordred	mordred's
mysterious	orchard	otherworld	peered	pennsylvania
percival	pictured	piercing	prologue	recapture
royal	rustled	scroll	shaggy	shimmered
shone	slurping	sought	sounding	startled
surge	tapestries	torches	towered	tristram
tunics	turrets	twilight	unrolled	velvet
whistled	who'd	woes	yellowed	zigzagged