Text Leveling System

Three Cheers for Tacky

RDQ:	444	Max Word/Sent	27	Total Words	659		Diff Words	280
Lex	620	Ave Word/.Sent	6	Hi Freq occurs	362	54.9%	Hi freq	110	39.3%
AR	2.6	Long Sentences	9.8	Low Freq occurs	53	8%	Low freq	31	11.1%

There once lived a group of penguins in a nice icy land. One was goodly, one was lovely, one was Angel, one was neatly, one was perfect. And one was tacky. Tacky Was the odd bird.
When they grew old enough, goodly, lovely, Angel, neatly, perfect, and tacky went to school.
They read books. They wrote their names. They learn their numbers.
One day at school but penguins noticed a sign with an exciting announcement: their class had been invited to take part in a great Penguin cheering contest. Penguin classes from all over the iceberg would be there and the team with the finest cheer would wind shiny blue bow ties.
Imagine what they could do with shiny blue bow ties!
Right after school, goodly, lovely, Angel, neatly, and perfect hurried away to practice their cheer. Softly and properly they began: 123 left! 123 right! Stand up! Sit down! Say good night! They did it beautifully, even the first time through.
Then up waddled tacky, a little late. And a little loud. What's happening? He blared.
We're practicing our cheer, that's what's happening, they replied.
123 left! 123 right! Stand up! Sit down! Say good night!
Tacky gave it a try.
123 left!
A, B, C, right!
Plopped down! Roll over! Say, what's for supper?
Tacky, they said patiently, we are a team, and if you are on the team you must be exactly like the rest of us.
He wanted very much to be on the team, so tacky tried to cooperate and move with a stiff upper beak like the rest of them. But how could he see where he was going with a stiff upper beak in the way?
And directions were not always easy. 123 left! 123 left! 123 left! 123 left! Where is everybody? He wondered.
Tacky Had trouble coming up with the proper costume.
And his pompoms were never quite right. Would this team ever have the chance to win the shiny blue bow ties?
The Penguins practiced and practiced and practiced and practiced until finally, the day before the contest, 123 left! 123 right! Stand up! Sit down! Say good night! Tacky got it right!
The next morning teams from all over the iceberg gathered for the great Penguin cheering contest. Each team waited nervously to perform. But no team was more nervous than tacky's. Could he do it right, just one more time? The first team marched onstage. Pip, Pip, Pip. Pip, Pip, Pip. Pip, Pip, Pip, Rah. And the judges looked bored.
Another team marched forth 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 sis boom Bah and backed off,10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. And the judges yawned. The third team chanted, waving the pompom, hold it high, bow politely, say goodbye! And the judges snored.
Finally there was only one team left-Tacky's. With quivering beaks they face the sleeping audience and the snoring judges. This was it. Goodly, lovely, Angel, neatly, perfect, and tacky began. One, two, three, oh for crying out loud! The audience gasped, startled by Tacky's loud voice. The odd bird had tripped over the tails of his Hawaiian shirt and crashed belly down.
His horrified teammates carried on, one, two, three, right! Poor tacky, now a bit muddled, pulled his sweater over his head. The sight of a headless Penguin got the whole crowd laughing.
Stand up ! Sit down! Say good night!
By now the crowd was on its feet begging for more. Bravo! That was great! Another cheer! Tacky poked his head out. Another cheer? Well, if they insisted. He gave them a second cheer.
123 left! A, B, C, right! Flop down! Roll over! Say, what's for supper? 
The crowd roared, the judges slapped each other on the back, and even the other Penguin teams clapped wildly.
So tacky lead everyone in a third cheer!
123 yay! Rooty toot toot hooray! High flippers! High flippers! We're okay!
Penguins everywhere gave high flippers.
There was no question who wore the shiny blue bow ties home. Tacky was an odd bird, but a nice bird to have around.

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Dialog: Two speakers

Vocabulary: Few decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Concept: Fanciful

Features

Simple Plot

Topic

Competition

Challenges

Winning/Losing

Mistakes

*Feelings, Behaviors

Low Frequency Words

announcement	audience	blared	bravo	cooperate
goodly	hawaiian	headless	horrified	judges
muddled	nervously	onstage	patiently	penguin
penguins	perform	pompom	pompoms	practiced
practicing	properly	quivering	rah	rooty
startled	sweater	tacky	teammates	waddled
yawned