Text Leveling System

Danny, The Duck With No Quack

RDQ:	275	Max Word/Sent	32	Total Words	409		Diff Words	186
Lex	540	Ave Word/.Sent	6	Hi Freq occurs	215	52.6%	Hi freq	63	33.9%
AR	2.1	Long Sentences	1.7	Low Freq occurs	15	3.7%	Low freq	11	5.9%

Every morning, the ducks and the hens gather in the yard for a chat. "How's the quack, Danny?" asks a chicken. "What's the story? Tell us the news." But Danny's a shy little duck, and he never knows what to say. He keeps his beak firmly shut, bows his head; and turns away. "Come on, Danny!" Squawk the birds one day. "Don't be such a scaredy-quack! There must be something you can tell us!" Danny swallows and opens his beak-but nothing comes out. Not a peep, not a splutter, not a cackle, not a hoot. He's lost his quack! Right, thinks Danny, that's it. And he takes off up the lane to find a tale worth telling. Yes, he wanders up the track to find his quack. He waddles along and waddles along, till he meets two scrawny foxes. "This thing's heavy!" " Who'll help us carry it?" "That duck!" "We've carried it far enough," groans one fox. "Now who'll collect the wood?" "The duck with no quack," sniffs the other. And Danny knows he shouldn't-these are hungry-looking foxes. He opens his mouth to say no. But he can't. "Now who'll fill the pot with water?" asks one fox. "The duck with no quack," smirks the other. And Danny knows he shouldn't-these are scary-looking foxes. He opens his beak as wide as he can, and what does he say? Nothing. "Now who'll be the dinner?" says one fox, licking his lips. "The duck with no quack!" cries the other, jumping up. They rush toward Danny and they're just about to grab him, when... "Quackity-quack! It's a duck attack!" squawks Danny. He throws himself to the side of the pot. The two foxes are so surprised, they tumble right inside! "How's the quack, Danny?" asks the other ducks, when he rushes back to the farmyard. "Yeah, what's the cluck, duck?" ask the hens. And aren't they all amazed to hear Danny quacking? Aren't they all astonished at the tale he has to tell? "I wandered down the track and I met a pair of foxes..." "No!" "They were carrying a pot, and I knew they wanted to cook me..." "They made me gather wood..." "I filled the pot with water... and guess who's in it now?" "The foxes!" "Go away!" cluck the angry hens. "And don't come back!" quack the ducks. And Danny's quack is the loudest. "Quackity-quack!" he says. "Don't come back!"

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Features

Simple Plot

Present Tense

Topic

Talking

Foxes

Danger

*Animals

Birds

Low Frequency Words

astonished	scaredy	scrawny	splutter	squawks
swallows	waddles	wandered	wanders	who'll
worth