Text Leveling System

Beauty and the Beast

RDQ:	808	Max Word/Sent	32	Total Words	1794		Diff Words	593
Lex	700	Ave Word/.Sent	10	Hi Freq occurs	1178	65.7%	Hi freq	230	38.8%
AR	3.3	Long Sentences	5.2	Low Freq occurs	95	5.3%	Low freq	66	11.1%

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a
young prince lived in a shining castle.
Although he had everything a person
could want, he had no love in his heart.
One winter's night, an old woman came to
the castle begging the prince for shelter
from the cold. In return for this kindness,
she offered him a single, perfect rose.
Disgusted by her rags, the prince
sneered at the rose and turned the poor
woman away.
"Do not be fooled by appearances;' she
warned him. "There is beauty to be found
within all things;'
Then, in a flash, the woman's ugliness
melted away to reveal a lovely
enchantress!]]
As punishment for his selfishness, the enchantress
turned the prince into a hideous beast, the
castle into a dark fortress, and the servants into
household objects.
Before she left, she gave the prince two gifts: a
magic mirror that allowed him to see the outside
world, and the rose, which would only live until
his twenty-first birthday.]]
.If you learn to love another and earn her love in
return before the last petal of the rose has fallen,
said the enchantress, "the spell will be broken. If 
not, you will remain a beast forever!"]]
A few years passed. One day, in a village not far 
from the castle, a young girl named Belle was
crossing the town square. Belle loved to read, and
as usual, she had her nose in a book.
The handsome but conceited Gaston watched
her. Gaston admired Belle almost as much as he
admired himself.
"She is the girl I am going to marry' he
declared.]]
When Belle got home her father, Maurice,
greeted her excitedly.
"I've just finished my latest invention!" he
exclaimed. "I hope it works:'
"Of course it will;' Belle reassured him. "I'm
sure it will win first prize at the fair.]]
That afternoon Maurice hitched his invention to
his horse, Philippe, and set off for the fair. But
Maurice and Philippe became lost as they rode
through the forest. Suddenly they heard the howling
of wolves! The frightened horse reared up in
alarm, sending poor Maurice flying through the air.]]
Maurice got up quickly and ran down a hillside
with the wolves snapping at his heels. He saw an
iron gate, slipped through it, and slammed it shut
just in time. He followed a path until he came to a
dark, forbidding castle. When no one answered his
knock, Maurice opened the creaking door and let
himself in.]]
No sooner was he inside than a strange thing 
happened. A candlestick bowed and began talking
to him.
"Welcome, my good man!" said the candlestick.
Then a clock stepped out of the shadows and
scolded the candlestick. "Lumiere, you know our
master said not to let anyone in!"]]
Oh, but now that he's here, Cogsworth, said Mrs. Potts a talking teapot, we must be kind to the old gentleman!" Her teacup son, Chip, agreed.
So they gave Maurice some tea, a bite to eat, and a chair to rest in.]]
Suddenly a dreadful beast burst into the room!
"A stranger!" he roared. "What are you doing
here?"
"I just needed a place to stay;' said Maurice
timidly.]]
"I'll give you a place to stay!" shouted the Beast.
Then he scooped Maurice up in his hairy paws and
carried him off to the dungeon!]]
Back at the village, Belle was waiting for her
father to return when Gaston came to ask for her
hand in marriage. Belle tried to say no politely. "I
really don't deserve you .. ;' she started to say, but
Gaston would not listen.]]
He had backed her up against the door when
Belle reached for the doorknob. She opened the
door and sent him sprawling down the steps into a
giant puddle.]]
Later, Belle heard Philippe whinnying outside
her window. "Where is Father?" she said to the
horse. "Did something happen to him?"
Belle threw on a cloak and leaped onto
Philippe's back. "Take me to Papa;' she
commanded.
Philippe sped through the forest until he came
to the dark and uninviting castle. Belle saw her
father's hat lying just inside the gate. She tied
Philippe to a post and followed the path up to
the castle.]]
"Papa, are you here?" cried Belle. She slowly
pushed open the door of the castle and stepped
inside. Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and Chip
quietly followed Belle through the halls.
"Isn't she lovely?" whispered Mrs. Potts. "Perhaps
she's the one who will break the spell."]]
Finally, Belle found her poor father locked away
in a lonely cell. She was reaching out to touch his
hand when the Beast suddenly appeared. Trembling
with fright, Belle asked the Beast to let her
father go.]]
"He is an old man;' she begged. "Take me
instead."
"Very well;' said the Beast. "But you must promise
to stay here forever;'
"You have my word;' replied Belle.
Then, before Belle could say a proper good-bye,
the Beast dragged Maurice away and sent him
home in an enchanted coach.]]
Soon the Beast returned for Belle.
"You may go anywhere you like," he said, as he
showed her to her room, "but you must never go
near the west wing!'
Then the Beast shut the door. Belle was alone
with Wardrobe, who was delighted to have a lovely
young girl to dress.]]
Meanwhile, Maurice raced to the village tavern to get help.
A hideous Beast has Belle locked up in his castle! Maurice cried.
But Gaston and the villagers only laughed at him, so he left by himself to find Belle.]]
Later that night, Belle sneaked out of her room
to eat and explore the castle. Cogsworth and
Lumiere started to give Belle a tour, but she
slipped away to see the forbidden west wing.
"I wonder what he's hiding there:' she said.
When she came to the Beast's room, she found
the enchanted rose under a bell jar. She was about
to touch its soft petals when the Beast came charging
towards her.]]
"Don' t touch that!" he bellowed. "I told you not to
come here! Get out!"
Belle ran from the room, down the stairs and out
into the freezing night. She leaped onto Philippe
and began to race him through the woods. She
would not stay at the castle with the horrible
beast, no matter what she had promised!]]
Suddenly, a pack of prowling wolves crept out
from the darkness, their yellow eyes flashing in
the night. Philippe reared up in fear, and Belle
tumbled to the ground. But before the fierce creatures
could pounce on her, the Beast came to
Belle's rescue! The wolves attacked the Beast
with their sharp teeth and claws, but he fought
them off.
Belle mounted Philippe , and was about to make
her escape, when she saw the injured Beast stagger
and fall.]]
"I can't just leave him here:' she said softly.
"Help me get him back, Philippe:' Together, Belle
and the horse brought the Beast back to the castle.
Tenderly, Belle cleaned and bandaged the
Beast's wounds.
"By the way;' she said, "thank you for saving my
life Belle smiled at the Beast for the first time.
Shyly, he smiled back.]]
In the days that followed, the Beast took Belle
for walks in the garden, and he showed her his
library. In return Belle began to teach him how to
behave like a gentleman. Slowly, Belle and the
Beast were be coming friends!]]
One night after dinner, the Beast bashfully led
Belle to the ballroom. It wasn't long before they
were waltzing gracefully across the dance floor.]]
"Are you happy here?" the Beast asked.
"Yes, said Belle. "If only I could see Papa 
"There is a way  said the Beast , handing her the
magic mirror. Belle gasped at the sight of her
father, sick and lost in the forest.
"You must go to him:' said the Beast sadly.
"Take the mirror with you.]]
Belle found her
father, and with the
help of Philippe she
got him home to
 bed. Soon , Maurice
was well again .
Not long after, a strange man came to their door.
Gaston and the villagers were with him.
"Gaston tells me that Maurice has been raving
about a beast,' the man told Belle. "I have come to
take your father away to the asylum;'
"Never!" replied Belle. "I will prove to you that
my father is not crazy!" She held up the magic
mirror so that everyone could see the Beast.]]
The villagers cried out in fright when they saw
the Beast in the mirror.
"That Beast is dangerous!" Gaston shouted. "I
say we go to the castle and get rid of him before he
harms anyone!"
Belle tried to stop them, but it was no use.
Soon the angry crowd was storming the
Beast's castle.]]
As Gaston ran upstairs to search for the Beast,
the villagers broke into the dining hall. But the
Beast's loyal servants were ready and waiting to
attack. The villagers were no match for the pitchers,
clocks, footstools and brushes. Soon they
turned and fled from the castle in defeat.]]
Meanwhile, Gaston had found the Beast, and
chased him onto the roof. "Get up and fight!"
Gaston taunted.]]
But ever since Belle had left the castle, the
Beast had lost interest in living. He didn't want
to fight.
Gaston raised his club, ready to kill the Beast!]]
"No!" Belle
cried from below.
She raced upstairs. At the sight of her, the Beast's
spirit returned and he blocked the club's blow. The
Beast grabbed Gaston by the neck, but
he could no longer find it in his heart to hurt anyone. He
released Gaston, unharmed.]]
As Belle arrived and embraced the Beast, Gaston sneaked up from
behind. He stabbed the beast in the back!]]
Roaring in pain, the Beast struck out at Gaston.
Gaston took a step backward and lost his balance.
With a terrible scream, he fell from the roof and
was gone forever.]]
The Beast took a step toward Belle and then
collapsed from his wounds.]]
"At least I got to see you one last time;' said
the Beast.
"You're going to be all right,' said Belle through
her tears. Then she whispered, "I love you."
In the Beast's room, Lumiere and Cogsworth
watched in despair as the rose shed its last petal.]]
But then a sparkling, magical light surrounded
the Beast. His paws became hands and feet, and
the rest of his body was restored to its former
handsomeness. Belle looked on in amazement as
the Beast turned into a prince.]]
One by one the objects in the household became human again. The spell was broken!]]
The Prince and Belle looked into each other's eyes. As they kissed they knew that they would live happily ever after!]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Story/Poem

Features

Retelling of story/fable/legend

Storybook Language

Topic

Witches

Appearances

Magic

Castles

Princes/Princesses

*Fictional Ideas/Charac

Low Frequency Words

amazement	asylum	bashfully	charging	cogsworth
conceited	deserve	despair	dreadful	dungeon
embraced	enchanted	enchantress	excitedly	faraway
forbidding	former	fortress	gaston	gentleman
gracefully	handing	handsome	handsomeness	harms
hideous	household	injured	invention	kindness
loyal	lumiere	magical	marriage	maurice
meanwhile	mounted	objects	pounce	prove
prowling	raving	reared	reassured	restored
reveal	selfishness	servants	sneered	sparkling
sprawling	surrounded	taunted	tavern	tenderly
timidly	tour	towards	ugliness	unharmed
uninviting	villagers	waltzing	wardrobe	warned
whinnying