Text Leveling System

Cam Jensen The Mystery of the Gold Coins

RDQ:	683	Max Word/Sent	29	Total Words	3049		Diff Words	636
Lex	680	Ave Word/.Sent	7	Hi Freq occurs	2223	72.9%	Hi freq	317	49.8%
AR	3.1	Long Sentences	3	Low Freq occurs	67	2.2%	Low freq	37	5.8%

Chapter One
Cam Jansen and her friend Eric Shelton
were carrying their science fair projects to
 school. Cam had made a box camera. Eric's
project was a big, heavy wooden sundial.
Cam looked at Eric. His face was turning
red.
"I think we should stop here and rest,"
Cam said.
"No. I can go a little farther."
Eric took a few more steps. Then the sundial started to slip from his hands.]]
"O.K.," Eric said. "We can rest now if
you want to."
They were standing close to a bus stop.
Eric put the sundial down quickly, before
it could fall. Then he sat on the bus stop
bench. Cam sat next to him. She put the
black cloth bag she was holding on her lap.
The camera was inside the bag.
"You didn't have to make your sundial so big," Cam said.]]
"I made it big so we could put it in the
garden after the science fair. My mother
said she'll plant ivy around it."
Eric looked at the cloth bag Cam was
holding and asked, "What are you going to
do with your camera?"
"I'll keep it, of course."
"Why? Your mental camera takes better
pictures than any real camera. And your
mental camera never needs film."
Cam's mental camera is her memory. She
can look at a scene and remember every
detail. It's as if she had a photograph of the
scene stored in her mind.
Whenever Cam wants to remember
something, she looks at it carefully and
says, "Click." Cam says "Click" is the sound
her mental camera makes when it takes a
picture.
When Cam was younger, people called

her Jennifer-that's her real name-and
"Red," because she has red hair. But when ]]
they found out about her photographic
memory and heard her say, "Click," they
started calling her "The Camera." Soon
"The Camera" was shortened to "Cam."
"I know that my mental camera doesn't
need film," Cam told Eric, "but I can't show
people the photographs stored in my brain.
And I can't put my mental photographs in
an album. So I need a real camera, too."
Just then a bus stopped. A young couple
got off. They looked at Eric's project.
"What's that?" the man asked.
"It's a sundial."
"Can it really tell time?" the woman
asked.
"Sure. If the arrow is pointed north and
the sun is shining."
"And you carry that around all the time,"
the man said. He laughed. "It must be
heavy. Wouldn't it be easier 
to wear a wristwatch?" Eric started to explain that the sundial ]]
was for the fifth grade science fair. But the
man wasn't listening.
"I should have asked him how he winds
it, or if it tells time underwater," the man
said to the woman as they walked away, laughing.]]
"Let's go," Cam said to Eric, "before
someone asks you what time it is."
Eric stood behind his sundial. He
straightened his collar and smiled.
"First take my picture."
Cam stepped back a few feet. She
looked straight at Eric and said, "Click."
"No. Use your real camera."
It was a bright spring day. The sun was
behind Cam. "With this camera, you have
to stand perfectly still for five seconds," she
told Eric. "If you move, the picture will be
a blur."                       
Cam took the camera from the bag. She
held it with both hands. She pulled a string                                 
that lifted a cardboard flap. Then she
counted, "One Mississippi, two Mississippi,
three Mississippi, four Mississippi, five Mississippi."
She let the string go 
and the flap fell down again. "Do you think it will come out?" Eric asked.]]
"If I aimed the camera right, you'll come
out. You stood still. But behind you will be
a blur. A car drove past. A man came out
of one of the stores, and someone walked
by with a dog."]]
As Cam put the camera in its bag, a
young man in a red plaid jacket ran past.
He knocked into Cam. Her camera fell,
and the man bent down to pick it up. But
Eric had it.
"It's lucky I caught this before it hit the
ground," Eric said. "It might have broken."
Cam wasn't listening. She was watching
the man run off. "He must 
be in some rush," she said. "He didn't even say he was sorry."]]
Chapter Two
Cam put her camera back in the bag. Eric
picked up his sundial, and they walked together
toward school.
As they walked past a large wooded area,
Cam heard the sounds of twigs breaking.
Eric stopped walking so he could rest.
Cam stopped, too. So did the sounds. Cam
turned around, but no one was there.
"Did you hear anything?" 
Cam asked Eric. "No." Eric said he was ready. He picked up the ]]
sundial, and he and Cam began to walk.
Cam heard the sounds of twigs breaking
again.
"Did you hear that?" Cam whispered.
"Yes. It sounds like something moving in
the woods. Maybe it's an animal."
"Stop for a minute."
Eric put down the sundial, and the 
sounds of footsteps stopped. "It's not an animal," Cam whispered.]]
"An animal wouldn't stop whenever we do.
Someone is following us."
"Why would anyone follow us?" Eric
asked.
"I don't know. But let's not stay here and
find out! Can you run with that thing?"
"I'll try."
Eric picked up the sundial. He tried to
run, but his knees kept hitting the sundial.
He and Cam stopped at the corner. Cam
turned, but she didn't see anyone behind
them. Then Cam and Eric crossed the
street and ran the one block to school.
They went in through the side entrance.
When they got inside, Eric dropped the
sundial and collapsed on the floor.
"Were we followed here?" he asked. He
was out of breath.
"I don't know. I don't see anyone out
there," Cam said.
Cam waited while Eric rested. Then they went together to the auditorium. Near the]]
door a teacher was sitting behind a desk.
"I'm Jennifer Jansen and this is Eric
Shelton. Where should we put our science
projects?"
The teacher looked at Cam for a moment.
Then she said, "Are you the girl Ms.
Benson told me about, the one with the
amazing memory?"
"Yes, she is," Eric said. "We call her Cam,
and she remembers everything. Just
watch."
Eric told Cam to look at the teacher and
say, "Click."
Cam looked at the teacher. She said,
"Click," and closed her eyes.
"Now ask Cam anything," Eric said. "Ask
her what color your hair is or what it says
on that button you're wearing."
"All right. What does the button say?"
the teacher asked.
Cam's eyes were still closed. She said, "You're wearing a lot of buttons. ]]
The campaign button you have on your collar says,
'Vote Smart. Ed Smart for Senator.' The
buttons on your dress say GGC for Gully,
 Gully Clothes. And the second button from the top is chipped."
The teacher looked at her second button.
It is chipped," she said. "Amazing. Well,
it's a real pleasure to meet you, Jennifer."
The teacher looked at a list she had on her desk and said, "Jennifer, you can set ]]
up your project on table 54. Eric, you can
set your project up next to table 48."
Cam and Eric walked into the school
auditorium.
"Look over there," Eric said. "Linda
Baker is talking to Ms. Benson. I'll bet she's
telling Ms. Benson how great her project is.
She'd do anything to win."
Cam said, "Let's set up our projects.
Then we can look at what Linda and
everyone else made."
Cam went to table 54. She took her camera,
two folders, and some tape from the
bag she was holding. Cam opened the
folders and taped them to the table. The
first folder explained how Cam had made
the camera. The second folder had some
photographs Cam had taken with the camera.
Cam put her camera between the two
folders and went to find Eric.
Eric was looking at Linda Baker's project. It was called "Light Helps Plants ]]
Grow." There were a few pots with
different-size plants growing in them and
with signs saying how many hours of light
each plant got each day. One pot was
empty. The sign in the empty pot said,
"Zero."
"How do you like my project?"
Linda asked. "Ms. Benson said it was very well done."]]
"It's very nice," Cam said.
Linda smiled. "I think it's going to win.
I'll get a science trophy just like my brother
did."
As they walked away, Eric whispered to
Cam, "I'll bet Linda never watered the
plants that she didn't want to grow. She'd
do anything to win."
Cam and Eric looked at some of the
other projects. There was one called "The
Invisible Zoo." It had empty cages-and a
report on animals that are extinct. There
was a scale made from a hot water bottle
and a tube. And there was one girl who
experimented with her baby teeth. She let
the teeth soak in soda. After two weeks the
teeth had dark stains.
While Cam read the report "Soda, Sugar,
and Teeth," Eric wandered off, looking at
other projects. Then he came running back. "Cam, Cam, where's your camera?"]]
"It's where I left it, on table 54."
"No, it's not. The folders are there, but the camera is gone."]]
Chapter Three
Cam ran to table 54. The camera wasn't
there.
"Help me look for it," Cam said to Eric.
They looked on the other tables and on
the floor. Then, as Cam was looking near a
window, she saw a man outside run past.
He was carrying something under his
jacket and running toward the woods. Cam
looked straight at him and said, "Click."
Cam called to Eric. "Come 
with me. I think whoever took my camera ran outside with it."]]
Eric followed Cam to the side entrance.
No one was out there.
"Let's go back in," Eric said. "Let's tell
Ms. Benson. I'll bet it was Linda or her
brother who took your camera."
No. Not now. I just saw a man run from here. 
Maybe he has the camera. If we hurry, maybe we can catch him."]]
Cam ran ahead. She stopped running
when she reached the edge of the woods.
She had seen the man run in there, but
now it was dark and quiet. Cam saw a few
birds and some squirrels moving in the
woods, but nothing else.
When Eric caught up with Cam, she told
him to be quiet and listen.
Cam and Eric stood at the edge of the
woods for a minute. Then they heard a
noise. Cam saw a man move in the middle
of the woods. She looked straight at him
and said, "Click."
The man turned and saw Cam and Eric.
He dropped what he was holding and ran.
"Let's get Ms. Benson," Eric said.
Cam wasn't listening. She was already
going into the woods. She tried to run, but
she couldn't too many low branches got in
her way. When Cam reached the other side
of the woods, the man was gone. "Did you see which way he went?" Eric ]]
asked when he caught up with Cam.
Cam shook her head.
"Let's go back then."
"No. He dropped something. Let's look
for it."
Cam closed her eyes and said, "Click."
"He dropped it into a big leafy bush next
to a tree with white bark, a birch tree,"
Cam said with her eyes still closed.
Cam and Eric found the birch tree. They
searched in the bushes nearby.
"Look! Over here!" Eric said. "I found it!
I found your camera! Now we can go back
to school."
"But why would someone take it and
then throw it away?" Cam asked.
"Maybe he was scared," Eric said.
Cam took the camera from Eric and
looked at it. "Whoever took my camera
opened it up. I can tell because 
he didn't put the top on right. Now the film is ruined."]]
Cam opened the camera. "The film isn't
ruined. It's gone!"
Cam sat on the ground. She held the
camera in her lap. Eric sat next to her.
"You have your camera back. Why are
you so upset?" Eric asked.
"I'm not upset. I'm puzzled. Why would someone want the film in my camera?"]]
"I still think it was Linda's brother. That
Baker family must really love science
 prizes. 
Cam shook her head and said, "No. I
don't think Linda or her brother would
want to win that way."
Cam sat there and thought for a while.
Then she said, "Whoever took the camera
must have wanted what was on that film.
That's why he took the film and left the
camera. But the only picture I took was of
you standing next to your sundial. Why
would anyone want that?"
Cam closed her eyes and 
said, "Click." She shook her head. Then she said, "Click,"
again.
"That's it," Cam said and opened her
eyes. "I have a picture in my head of you
standing next to the sundial. One of the
people in the background was leaving a
store. He bumped into me and 
knocked the camera from my hands. He was wearing a ]]
red plaid jacket. I think he's the same
man I saw in the woods."
"He probably followed us to school," Eric
said. "But why?"
"Come on," Cam said. "Let's go back to that store and find out."]]
Chapter Four
When Cam and Eric reached the bus stop,
Cam looked at the row of stores. Then she
closed her eyes and said, "Click."
"He was leaving a coin store," Cam said.
She opened her eyes and pointed to a
small shop right behind the bus stop.
"That's the one."
They walked to the store. Cam tried to
open the door. She couldn't. It was locked.
"There's a sign," Eric said. "It says,
'Collins' Coin Shop. Coins for Collectors. Grand Opening, Monday April 21.]]
"That's next week," Cam said. "Then the
store was closed when I took that picture."
Cam thought for a moment. Then she
said, "That's it! That explains why that
man wanted the film!"
"What's it?" Eric asked, but Cam wasn't
listening.
She looked through the store window.
"There's someone inside," Cam said, and
she knocked hard on the glass.
An old man came to the window. He
pointed to the sign and said something.
Cam and Eric couldn't hear him.
. The old man moved his lips slowly,
forming the words, "We're closed."
Cam moved her lips, too. But the man
didn't understand what she was telling him.
Cam turned to Eric. "Do you have a pencil and paper?"
Eric took a folded sheet of paper and a pencil from his pocket and gave them to ]]
Cam. "Don't lose the paper," Eric said. "My
homework is on it."
Cam turned the paper over and wrote, "I
think you were robbed," in large letters.
She held the paper up to the store window.
The old man read the note. Then he
opened the door and asked, "Why do you
think I've been robbed?" Cam told him about the stolen camera ]]
and the man she saw leaving his store.
Since you were closed, I thought that
maybe he robbed your store and stole my camera and the film so that no one would
 know he was inside."
The man smiled and said, "It couldn't
 have been this store. The door was locked
when I left and it was still locked when I
came in. And the alarm was still set. You
must have seen him leaving someplace
else."
"No. It was this store. It had to be," Eric said.
Cam said, 'Click,' and when she says that, she remembers everything."
"I don't know about clicks, but I do know
I haven't been robbed. Come in and see for
It was a small, crowded shop. Locked
glass cases with coins in them were hanging
along the walls. The old man stood next to
a large glass counter. It was filled with coins, old dollar bills, and catalogues.]]
"I'm Mr. Collins," the old man said. "I've
worried that my store might be robbed.
The coins in this shop are worth a lot of
money. That's why there's a lock on each
case and an alarm on the door. Everything here is just the way I left it last night."]]
Cam told Mr. Collins that she was sorry
to have bothered him. Then she and Eric
left the store.
As they walked toward school, Eric said,
"I still think it was Linda Baker's brother.
I'll bet the Bakers have a shelf just waiting
for that science trophy."
Cam and Eric stopped at the corner and
waited for the traffic light to change. Then,
just as they were crossing the street, they
heard someone call to them. It was Mr.
Collins.
"Come back!" he yelled. "I have been robbed!"]]
Chapter Five
Cam and Eric ran back into the store. Mr.
Collins was standing by the door, holding
two small display boxes. The boxes were
empty.
"These were two of my most valuable
coins," he said. "They were gold and almost
a hundred years old. And now they're
gone."
"Was anything else taken?" Cam asked.
"No. I didn't know anything was gone
until I found these empty boxes. They were in the case where I left them. And the ]]
case was still locked." He closed the door of
the case.
Mr. Collins telephoned the police. Then,
after he hung up the telephone, he said to
Cam and Eric, "I just don't understand
it. I've been robbed and I haven't even
opened the store yet. The locks weren't
broken."
Cam and Eric stood by the door and
waited for the police. Mr. Collins kept
shaking his head and saying, "I just don't
understand it."
Cam and Eric heard a siren. The noise
got louder and louder. Then a police car
drove up and parked in front of the coin
shop. The siren stopped. Both front doors
of the car opened. The driver got out first.
It was a tall, thin policewoman. Then a
policeman got out from the other side of
 the car. He was fat and 
had a mustache. Both police officers came quickly into the store.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: No support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Dialog: Unlabeled Speaker

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Story/Poem

Chapters

Features

Simple problem/solution

Topic

Mystery

Stealing

Problem Solving

Cameras

Low Frequency Words

auditorium	birch	blur	campaign	collectors
extinct	ggc	gully	invisible	ivy
linda's	mississippi	mustache	photograph	photographic
photographs	plaid	pleasure	policewoman	project
projects	science	senator	shelton	shortened
siren	straightened	sundial	trophy	underwater
valuable	wandered	watered	wooded	worth
wristwatch	younger