Text Leveling System

The Dark at the Top of the Stairs

RDQ:	572	Max Word/Sent	41	Total Words	647		Diff Words	243
Lex	650	Ave Word/.Sent	13	Hi Freq occurs	398	61.5%	Hi freq	99	40.7%
AR	2.9	Long Sentences	19.1	Low Freq occurs	24	3.7%	Low freq	16	6.6%

There was once a wise old mouse 
who lived with his young mice in the corner of a cellar. Every day the old mouse liked to do something interesting with his young mice. "What should we do tomorrow?" he said one bedtime for the young mice were getting ready to sleep and he wanted them to look forward to the morning. "I would like to see the dark at the top of the stairs" said a young mouse whose name was Cob. "Me too" said his sister Hazel snuggling into the warmth. "I want to see the dark at the top of the stairs." "And so do I" said little Berry-Berry the youngest of the three. "We've never been to the top of the big dark stairs where the monster lives." The old mouse thought for a while. It was true that he had not taken his young mice up the cellar stairs. Then he said"What about a walk to the acorn tree in the garden? Or a visit to your cousins in the cornfield? We could even have a swing on the seedheads of the long grass." "No" said Cob. "We want to see the dark at the top of the stairs." "Or we'll climb up there on our own" said Hazel. "And see the monster by ourselves!" cried little Berry-Berry. The old mouse nodded as he made his young mice comfortable in their beds. "Very well then we will go there in the morning" he said. He spoke as if he knew that sooner or later all young mice will try to see the dark at the top of the stairs. In the morning as early sunshine lit up the cobwebs in the corners of the cellar windows they set out on their journey. "Let's not talk about the monster" whispered Cob on the third step up. "I won't mention it if you don't mention it" whispered Hazel. "I won't talk about the monster either" laughed little Berry-Berry who hadn't learned how to whisper yet. After seven steps they stopped once more. There was excitement in their eyes and the young mice hardly dared to look up for they were closer now than they had ever been to the dark at the top of the stairs. "I wonder if it's really really real?" whispered Cob. "You said you wouldn't talk about it" whispered Hazel. "I hope the monster knows we're coming!" cried little Berry-Berry. On the tenth step up only two from the top they paused once more. Hazel turned to the old mouse and whispered" What is the monster like? Is it the most terrible thing anyone has ever seen?"We don't have far to go now" the old mouse said and climbed the last two steps. After him came Hazel and Cob and finally little Berry-Berry who said" I don't see any monster at the top of the stairs." Then something happened. The young mice crept into a crack of light...They saw a monster shadow move toward them as smoothly as a cloud and something breathed out softly one strange word: Meow The young mice did not wait to say goodbye. With wildly beating hearts they went...bumpety-bump and slippity-slide and tumble-thump all the way to the bottom of the stairs where they landed in a wriggle and a heap before making a dash for warm safe wonderful home. At the end of the day the old mouse came to ask his young mice what they would like to do tomorrow. "I would like to go to the acorn tree" said Cob. "I would like to visit our cousins in the cornfield" said Hazel. "I would like to swing backward and forward on the long grass!" said little Berry-Berry. But none of them mentioned the dark at the top of the stairs.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: Some difficult words

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Many Long Complex

Text structure: Story/Poem

Concept: Fanciful

Features

Simple Plot

Topic

Mystery

Mice

Food Chain

Fears

Light

*Feelings, Behaviors

Low Frequency Words

breathed	bumpety	cellar	cousins	hazel
mention	mentioned	ourselves	paused	seedheads
slippity	smoothly	warmth	whisper	wriggle
youngest