Text Leveling System

Sending Messages

RDQ:	433	Max Word/Sent	24	Total Words	542		Diff Words	235
Lex	620	Ave Word/.Sent	9	Hi Freq occurs	289	53.3%	Hi freq	92	39.1%
AR	2.5	Long Sentences	1.7	Low Freq occurs	34	6.3%	Low freq	22	9.4%

Introduction
Have you ever written someone a note? Have you ever sent an email? If so, you were sending a message. People have always found ways to send messages to each other. The way we send messages has changed over time. Each change has allowed people to send messages farther and faster.
Messages from Long Ago
Beating on a drum was one of the earliest ways to send a message. Some of the earliest drums were hollow logs. People beat on the logs with large sticks. This sent signals a long distance. Sometimes drumbeats could be heard several miles away. Different drumbeats meant different things. One might send a warning of danger. Another might announce that a meeting was going to take place.
Smoke was also used to send messages. A blanket was placed over a smoking fire. When the blanket was removed, a puff of smoke rose into the air. Each pattern of puffs meant something different.
Mail
Over time, people developed written language. This meant that messages could be written and then sent. Written messages became the first mail.
The first mail carriers carried mail by foot. These runners ran long distances to carry mail. Sometimes a group of runners carried a piece of mail. Each runner ran a part of the total distance.
Later, horses were used to carry mail. This way of carrying mail was called the Pony Express. Trains then replaced horses. Mail is still carried today. Most mail is now carried on trucks and planes.
Telegraph
Over 150 years ago, a man found a way to send signals over a wire. His invention was called the telegraph. His name was Samuel Morse. 
The signals he used were known as Morse code. This code was a series of dots and dashes. Each dot or dash was heard as a signal. Different patterns stood for different letters. Look at the chart below. Can you write your name in Morse code?
Telephone
A little more than 30 years after the invention of the telegraph, someone invented the telephone. This person was named Alexander Graham Bell. Using the telephone, people could send voice messages over a wire. Today, voice messages are sent through the air on radio waves.
Walkie-talkies and Cell Phones
Once people found ways to send signals through the air without wire, new kinds of message senders were invented. One kind was the walkie-talkie. It got its name because you did not have to stay in one place to use it. You could "walk and talk."
Today, many people carry wireless telephones called cell phones. 
These phones are very small and can be carried in a pocket. 
Now people can make phone calls from just about anywhere.
Email
The latest way to send messages is the Internet. Internet messages are called email, which is short for electronic mail. Email is sent from one computer to another. It is much, much faster than regular mail. An email can be sent to someone on the other side of the world in an instant.
Conclusion
One thing is certain. People will always send messages to each other. Message sending has changed a great deal since early messages were first sent. How do you think messages will be sent in the future?]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Simple language

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Oral/Natural

Inferences: Some implications

Captions

Concepts: Concrete/Simple Social

Table of Contents

Index

Additional activities

Features

Topic

*Communication

Low Frequency Words

announce	carriers	conclusion	distances	earliest
electronic	email	future	graham	hollow
instant	internet	introduction	invention	language
messages	senders	series	talkie	talkies
walkie	wireless