Text Leveling System

Why Robins Hop

RDQ:	206	Max Word/Sent	14	Total Words	251		Diff Words	127
Lex	470	Ave Word/.Sent	6	Hi Freq occurs	125	49.8%	Hi freq	51	40.2%
AR	2.0	Long Sentences	0	Low Freq occurs	3	1.2%	Low freq	3	2.4%

Once, many years ago, all the birds of the world met together. 
They had a problem. 
It all started when foxes began to chase robins. 
Foxes normally chased chickens.
One day, a fox followed the tracks of a chicken. 
Or so it thought. 
The tracks really belonged to a robin. 
At that time, all the birds had the same tracks! 
Chickens knew to run from foxes. 
Robins did not. 
So the fox easily chased the robins.
The robins were tired of being chased.
All the birds met. 
They wanted to protect robins from foxes. 
They needed a plan. 
Owl asked, "What can be done?"
Woodpecker said, "Let robins fly all the time. 
Or make them stay in the trees."
Crow did not like this plan. 
He knew that robins ate worms from the dirt. 
"Robins must walk on the ground," he said.
Hummingbird said, "Let robins eat from flowers."
"That won't work either," said Sparrow. 
"Robins don't have the proper beaks."
The birds thought. 
They talked, and they thought some more.
Finally, Owl said, "Let robins hop on both feet." 
"Robins' tracks will not look like chickens' tracks if they hop," Owl said. 
"Good, good!" cried all the birds. 
They flapped their wings with joy. 
Chickens would walk with one foot after the other. 
Robins would hop. 
Foxes would not get confused.
Owl was glad she could help the robins. 
Now, she could sleep. 
From that day on, foxes only chased chickens. 
Robins could search the dirt for worms in peace.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Vocabulary: Few decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Concept: Fanciful

Additional activities

Features

Topic

Foxes

Food Chain

*Animals

Birds

Low Frequency Words

peace

sparrow

woodpecker