Text Leveling System

Barack Obama

RDQ:	560	Max Word/Sent	18	Total Words	820		Diff Words	314
Lex	650	Ave Word/.Sent	10	Hi Freq occurs	488	59.5%	Hi freq	121	38.5%
AR	2.8	Long Sentences	0	Low Freq occurs	50	6.1%	Low freq	29	9.2%

Introduction
Every child dreams about growing up. Some children know what they want to be as adults. Others have no idea. Some do not find a direction for their life until they are adults.

This is the story of just such a child. Things happened in his life that made him feel as though he did not fit in. He was bothered by many things around him. Over time, those things helped him discover his path in life. He developed a strong desire to improve the world. That desire led him to become president of the United States of America.
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Growing Up
Barack Obama, Jr.-called Barry during his childhood-was born in 1961 in Hawaii. His mother was from the state of Kansas. His father was from the country of Kenya, in Africa. His parents met and married while they were students at the University of Hawaii. The marriage did not last. By the time Barry was four, his father had moved back to Kenya.
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Barry's mother married a man from Indonesia when Barry was six. The family moved from Hawaii to Indonesia. Barry sometimes felt strange being so far from Hawaii. He felt he was not part of the community where he now lived. His parents were of different races and from different continents. Barry wondered who he was and where he belonged in the world.
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Barry's mother taught him about races and cultural groups. She told him about slavery and civil rights in the United States. Barry also learned about important African Americans who helped to improve the world. Barry's mother wanted him to be proud of his background.

But Barry also learned that some people were ashamed of the color of their skin. And he learned about people who thought others were bad just because of their skin color or religion. Barry was confused. It was a lot for a young boy to think about.

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Barry lived in Indonesia for four years. Then, his mother thought he could get a better education in the United States. So in 1971, at age ten, she sent Barry back to Hawaii. He lived with his grandparents while he went to school.

In Hawaii, Barry again felt like an outsider. He was one of only two African American students in his class. Some of his classmates made fun of his unusual name.

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Finding His Way
Barry graduated from high school in Hawaii. Then he went to college in Los Angeles. Barry started using his Kenyan name, Barack, which means "blessing." He learned that he didn't have to choose between his white and black backgrounds. He was both.

Barack wanted to learn how laws and government worked. He wanted to help change some of the unfair things he saw. Starting in 1981, he studied politics at a university in New York City. He graduated in 1983.
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Barack wanted to help people in communities. He wanted to involve people in creating better lives for themselves. He also wanted local laws changed so people would be treated fairly. He found a job and moved to Chicago in 1985. He led an organization that helped people in poor neighborhoods improve their lives.
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Barack's work in Chicago made him happy because he was helping poor people. But he saw that to make lasting changes, he would need to learn how to change laws. By changing unfair laws, communities could improve the lives of their people.

Barack entered a very good law school near Boston in 1988. He earned a law degree in 1991.
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After finishing law school, Barack moved back to Chicago. He worked for a law company. He met a lawyer named Michelle, and they became friends. Barack invited her along when he visited some of the people he had helped in the 1980s. Michelle was moved by Barack's desire to help people and improve the world. Barack and Michelle married in 1992.
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Getting into Politics
Barack had become a lawyer to help people. But he soon saw that helping people as a lawyer was slow. He decided that entering politics and changing laws would be a faster way to help.

In 1996, he won a seat in his state's senate. In 2004, he won a seat in the U.S. Senate.

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Barack gave a hopeful speech at a meeting of the Democratic Party in 2004. He asked all Americans to work together to help the United States become an even greater country. Barack's words inspired many people. They wanted Barack to run for president in 2008. They were inspired by Barack's clear thinking and his respect for all people. They wanted a president who believed in peaceful ways to solve problems.
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Conclusion
Barack's job as president will begin on January 20, 2009. He, his wife, and their two daughters will move into the White House. Barack will keep working to help people and make the world a more peaceful place.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little support

Simple graphics supplementary to text comprehension

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Formal

Captions

Maps/Key

Concepts: Concrete/Simple Social

Table of Contents

Glossary

Index

Headings

Additional activities

Features

Topic

*Careers

Politics

Low Frequency Words

college	community	conclusion	continents	cultural
democratic	education	government	graduated	hawaii
hopeful	improve	indonesia	inspired	introduction
involve	january	lawyer	marriage	organization
outsider	peaceful	politics	president	respect
senate	slavery	speech	studied