Text Leveling System

Nancy Drew Scream for Ice Cream

RDQ:	1050	Max Word/Sent	24	Total Words	3182		Diff Words	860
Lex	750	Ave Word/.Sent	7	Hi Freq occurs	2091	65.7%	Hi freq	372	43.3%
AR	3.7	Long Sentences	1.4	Low Freq occurs	147	4.6%	Low freq	96	11.2%

Chapter One
What's the Scoop
"Can we taste the ice cream now?" Bess Marvin
asked.
George Fayne rolled two doubled-up coffee
cans on top of the picnic table. The middle can
was filled with very cold milk, sugar, vanilla,
and blueberries. "I told you a gazillion times,
Bess," she said. "Not until it's ready!"
"Unless you want mushy ice cream," eight year 
old Nancy Drew said with a giggle.
Bess and George were Nancy's two best friends.
They were cousins, too, but as different as strawberry
and fudge ripple ice cream. George was
really into computers. Bess 
could fix or build anything-like the homemade ice-cream maker ]]
George found instructions for on the Web.
Nancy had been counting the days until Saturday.
That's when the new Jim and Barry's
Ice Cream Factory would open on River Street.
It was also the day of the Jim and Barry's ice cream
flavor contest. Whoever came up with
the best flavor would win a special silver ticket.
The ticket would allow the winner to come
into the factory any time for a free pint of ice
cream.
The thought of Jim and Barry's ice cream
always made the girls' mouths water. They had
neat flavors like Squirrel Nut Crunch, Gorilla
Vanilla, and Cookie Crumble!
For the contest, Nancy, Bess, and George
came up with a flavor called Clue-berry. It was
vanilla ice cream loaded with blueberries and
a secret surprise-. like a big juicy strawberry on
the bottom.
"The best part, Nancy said, "is the clues on
each container leading to the surprise!
"It's like a mystery in every pint! George
declared.]]
And everybody knows we love mysteries.
Bess exclaimed.
That's because Nancy, Bess, and George were
great at solving mysteries. They had even started
their own detective club called the Clue Crew.
Their detective headquarters were in Nancy's
room. They carefully kept their dues in Nancy's
desk drawer. George wrote their detective files
on Nancy's computer.
"Can we taste it now?" Bess asked, twirling a
lock of her blond hair around her finger.
"Not until it's ready! Nancy and George said
together.
Just then the sound of bells filled the air.
Nancy would know that sound anywhere-it
was the jingle of the Mr. Drippy ice-cream truck.
"If you want ice cream so badly, Bess. George
said, "why don't you buy some from Mr. Drippy?"
"Mr. Drippy? Bess answered. She gave a little
shudder. "I'd rather buy ice cream from Godzilla!"
"Mr. Drippy is Godzilla, Nancy said. "He's the
meanest ice-cream man in River Heights. Maybe
the world! ]]
The truck pulled up to the sidewalk. Three
kids walked over to it. Mr. Drippy leaned out
of the square window on the truck. Without a
smile he began to bark, "Fall in line! Heads up!
First customer-go!"
The first boy in line wore a baseball cap
and a very worried look on his face. "Um," he
gulped, "Panda Bar."
Mr. Drippy narrowed his eyes. "No please, no
Panda Bar!" he. declared. "Next!"
A girl in a white T-shirt and red shorts marched
up to the window. She threw back her shoulders
and shouted, "One chocolate ice-cream pop,
please, sir! Thank you, sir!"
Mr. Drippy nodded as he handed the girl the
pop.
"See?" Bess whispered. "Mr. Drippy
doesn't give ice cream to anyone who
forgets to say please or thank you I"
Nancy saw a boy inside the truck. It was
Henderson, Mr. Drippy's son. Henderson was
in the fourth grade at River Heights Elementary ]]
School. He was also the biggest brat in school!
"Henderson probably never says please or
thank you," Nancy said. "And he must get all
the ice cream he wants."
"Forget it," George said. "If we win this contest
we won't ever have to buy ice cream from
Mr. Drippy again."
As the truck pulled away from
the curb, Henderson leaned out ]]
the window. "What's the matter, girls? he
sneered loudly. Don't you like ice cream?"
"We don't like you," George muttered under
her breath.
"At least Jim and Barry are nice," Bess said.
Nancy brushed a wisp of her red dish blond
hair from her forehead. "Guess what? My dad
read in a newspaper that Jim and Barry will
be at the factory tomorrow," she said. "That's
when we're supposed to sign up for the.
contest!"
"I'll be there too!" a voice said.
Nancy, Bess, and George turned their heads.
Deirdre Shannon was walking into the yard.
Deirdre was in the girls third-grade class at school.
She usually got whatever she wanted like
her own Web site , called Dishing with
Deirdre.
"Hi, Deirdre ," Nancy said. "We're making ice
cream!"
"What a cowinky-dink Deirdre said. She
held up a small red notebook. "I'm writing ]]
about the contest. So I have to taste everybody's
ice cream. It's called research."
George tossed her dark curls as she laughed.
"You mean it's called getting to eat a ton of ice
cream! she teased.
"Ha  ha ," Deirdre said with a frown.
"Our ice cream isn't ready yet, Deirdre ,"
Nancy said. "But Hannah has a pitcher of lemonade in the kitchen ."
Hannah Gruen was the Drews' housekeeper.
She had been taking care of Nancy since Nancy's
mother died when she was only three years
old. Hannah cooked the best vegetable lasagna,
baked the best cookies , and gave Nancy the
best hugs in the whole world.
"Will Hannah give me one of her famous
oatmeal cookies, too?  Deirdre asked , her eyes
flashing.
"If you say please! Nancy said.
"I'm there!" Deirdre said , running toward the
house.
"Wow," George said. She stopped rolling to ]]
shake out her hand. "My hand hasn't been this
tired since I instant-messaged my pen pal in
California for an hour."
"An hour?" Bess cried. "You call that instant?"
Suddenly-Nancy heard a rustling noise. She
thought it was a squirrel in the hedge until she
heard a girl's voice hiss, "Nancy! Bess! George!"
"Who's there?" Nancy hissed back.
A girl slowly stood up behind the hedge. It
was their friend Kendra Jackson. Her shiny
black hair was tied back in a tight ponytail. She
wore a pair of black sunglasses. She looked very
mysterious. She looked like a spy!
"Hi, Kendra," Nancy said. "What's-"
 Kendra said, putting her
index finger to her lips. "I need
you to keep a secret ... a TOP SECRET!"]]
Chapter two
Kendra's Secret
"We're good at keeping secrets, " Nancy said.
"We're detectives," George said. "Secrets are
our business!"
Kendra walked into the yard. She was holding
a blue and white picnic cooler by the handle. "I
know," she said. "That's why I picked you guys
to share my secret with."
Bess bounced up and down on the
bench. "I love secrets " she squealed.
"What is it? What is it?"
Kendra placed the cooler on the table. She lifted the lid. Nancy looked
inside and saw a white Styrofoam container.
t's my flavor for the contest,"]]
Kendra explained. I made it with my grandfather's old 
ice cream maker."
Why did you bring it here?" Nancy asked.
"I need another opinion," Kendra answered.
"My mom and dad love it, but parents always
love everything their kids do.
Nancy watched as Kendra pulled the lid off
the container. The ice cream inside was dark
brown.
"I call it Chock Full of Chocolate," Kendra - . said. "It has chunks of chocolate inside. Four kinds of chocolate."
"Four?" Bess asked.
"I can only think of two," Nancy said.
Kendra laid the container on the table. She ]]
gave the girls each a plastic spoon. "Ready, set,
go," she said.
Nancy stuck her spoon inside the container
and into her mouth. She felt the ice cream melt
on her tongue. The .chocolaty flavors exploded
in her mouth like fireworks!
"Well?'; Kendra asked. "What do you think?"
Nancy swallowed and said, "Three words: OH
MY GOSH!"
George was still chewing on a chocolate chunk
when she said, "This ice cream is awesome! 
"It's super-awesome!" Bess said.
Kendra gave a little jump. "Do you think it's
a winner?" she asked.
"What's a winner? What's a winner.
All four girls spun around. Standing a few
feet away and holding an oatmeal
cookie was Deirdre.
Kendra stared at Deirdre with
wide eyes. She turned to her
cooler and shut the lid. "I've
got to go," she said.
"Wait, Kendra! I know you ]]
told Nancy, Bess, and George something," Deirdre
said. She turned to the girls and said, "She did didn't
she?,,
"Um," Nancy said.
"Er," George said.
Bess shrugged and said, "Only because we're
good at keeping secrets!
Nancy and George glared at Bess. She was
sometimes better at keeping secrets than keeping
her mouth shut!
"Since when am I not good at keeping secrets? 
Deirdre asked Kendra.
"Since you spilled the beans about Marcy
Rubin's surprise party," Kendra said. "And the
time you told me what I'd be getting from my
Surprise Santa at school. ...  
"Don't forget the time you told everybody my
real name," George said.
"Give me a break! Everybody knows your real
name is Georgia!" Deirdre said. She turned to
Kendra. "Tell me your secret, Kendra. Please?
Pretty please? With sugar on top?"
Kendra took a deep breath. Then she said,]]
"Okay, Deirdre. I invented a flavor for the ice cream
contest."
"Cool! What's in it?" Deirdre asked.
"Can't tell you," Kendra said. "Not that you'd
steal it, but you might tell people about it on
your Website."
Deirdre's lower lip jutted out. Her face turned
red.
They can't have a fight, Nancy thought. Kendra
and Deirdre are good friends!
"I know, Deirdre," Nancy said. "Why don't
you promise Kendra you won't write her recipe
on your Web site."
Deirdre turned to Kendra. "I won't write your
recipe on my Web site," she said. "Cross my
heart and hope to croak-drop an eyeball in
 my Coke!,,
 "In that case," Kendra said. She lifted the lid
of the cooler and pulled out the ice-cream container. "It's called Chock Full of Chocolate. It has four kinds of chocolate-"
Deirdre wasn't listening. She grabbed a
spoon, stuck it into the ice cream, then put it ]]
into her mouth. The girls watched as Deirdre's
eyes popped wide open. Right away she began
licking every drop of ice cream off her spoon.
I'll take a wild guess and say you like it,"
George said.
"Are you serious? I totally love it!" Deirdre
cried. "Chock Full of Chocolate is the real deal!"
"Remember, Deirdre," Kendra said. "You
promised."
"Your secret is safe with me," Deirdre said.
Kendra smiled.
"Good, " she said. "Who wants to come to
my house and see my grandfather's ice-cream
maker? He used to .make ice cream on the porch
with his own grandpa when he was a kid!"
"They had ice cream in those days? " Deirdre
asked. "This I've got to see!
Nancy, Bess, and George decided not to go.
They still had a pint of ice cream to make. The
Clue Crew said good-bye to Kendra and Deirdre
 as the two friends left the Drews front yard.
"I'm glad they're still friends," Nancy said.
Bess was twisting her hair nervously. "What ]]
if Kendra's ice cream is better than Clue-berry? "
she asked.
"There's one way to find out," George said.
She lifted the lid off their coffee-can ice -cream
maker. The ice cream inside wasn't rock hard,
but it was firm enough to taste.
One by one the girls taste d their Clue-berry
"It's good!" Nancy said.
"But it's not Chock Full of Chocolate." Bess
sighed.
"Maybe we should hide a strawberry and a
chunk of chocolate on the bottom," George suggested.
"Or maybe we should just hope we win,"
Nancy said.
"I have an idea, Nancy, " Mr. Drew said. "Let's
have some of your ice cream for dessert."
It was early evening. Nancy's father was barbecuing
in the backyard. Mr. Drew was a lawyer.
 He liked helping Nancy with her Clue Crew
cases. He also liked barbecuing in his favorite]]
stain-splattered red and white checked apron.
"Sorry, Daddy," Nancy said. "Our ice cream is
for the contest this Saturday."
Mr. Drew pretended to look hurt.
"But don't worry," Nancy said. "If we win the
contest, we'll have a different Jim and Barry ice
cream every week!"
Hannah walked over carrying a bowl of fruit
salad with walnuts. Nancy's Labrador retriever
puppy, Chocolate Chip, jumped after her.
"What about my desserts?" Hannah asked.
"Those guys will put me out of business!
Nancy wrapped her arms around Hannah's
waist and gave her a big hug. "That will never
happen, Hannah," she said. "Your desserts rock!"
The cordless phone on the patio table rang.
Nancy ran to answer it. "Hello?" she asked.
"She did it!" Kendra's voice stammered. "I
told you she'd do it-and she did it!"
"Who did what, Kendra?" Nancy asked.
"Deirdre!" Kendra said. "She broke her
promise!"]]
Chapter three
Backpack  Attack
No way!" Nancy gasped. "Did Deirdre write
your secret recipe on her Web site?"
"No," Kendra answered. "But she did write
that I had a winning recipe."
"What's wrong with that?" Nancy asked.
"Don't you see?" Kendra asked. "Now all the
kids in the contest will want to steal my secret
recipe!"
Nancy shook her head, even though she knew
Kendra couldn't see her do it over the phone.
They can't do that unless you tell them your
 recipe," she said. "Besides, most of the kids we
know are honest."
"Yeah," Kendra snorted. "Until they want to
win free ice cream!"]]
Click.
Kendra had hung up. But Nancy wasn't worried.
Tomorrow they would all sign up for the
contest. It would be so exciting that Kendra
would forget about Deirdre's Web site.
Nancy reached down to scratch
Chocolate Chip behind her floppy
little ears. "And may the best ice
cream win!" she declared.
"There it is," Bess said, pointing. "Is
that the most awesome building you
ever saw in your whole life?"
"And just think," Nancy said. "It's filled with
the yummiest ice cream in the whole wide
world!"
It was Thursday morning. Hannah had
driven Nancy, Bess, and George to the Jim and
Barry's Ice Cream Factory. A huge crowd of kids]]
stood in front of the factory, all set to sign up
 for the ice-cream flavor contest.
Nancy could see a stage set up in front of
the factory. Purple, yellow, and white balloons
swept over the stage in an arch.
"If this is just for the sign-up, Nancy said I 
can't wait to see what they do for the contest!"
"I'm going down the street to buy some fruits
and vegetables," Hannah said. "Stay here and
stay together."
Nancy Bess, and George nodded. The friends
all had the same rules. They could walk or ride
their bikes five blocks from their houses as long as
 they were together. Anywhere farther than that,
 they had to be driven by a parent or Hannah.
"And if you get any free ice-cream samples,
Hannah said with a wink, "save one for me!"
Nancy hugged Hannah good-bye. Then the
 three excited friends joined the crowd. Music
blared from loudspeakers as kids from the River
 Heights Dance School tapped across the stage
in ice-cream cone costumes. Nancy saw their
 friend Nadine Nardo dancing with the group.]]
Nadine wanted to be an actress and loved being
on stage. But today she was frowning as her ice cream
hat began tipping over her face.
Mayor Strong stood on the side of the stage.
He was smiling and holding a folded piece of
paper in his hand.
Probably his speech, Nancy thought. Mayor
Strong loves making speeches.
Nadine's hat fell off as she took a bow. Then
the dancers tapped off the stage.
"Wasn't that great. Mayor Strong asked as
he walked onto the stage. He put on a pair. of
glasses, unfolded his speech,. and began to read.
"You know, when I was a kid-
Nancy heard George groan under her breath.
Mayor Strong always talked about being a kid.
"-we had only one ice-cream parlor, and it
sold only two flavors!" Mayor Strong said. "Can
you imagine that, kids?"
"Is he kidding?" a voice muttered. "I'd do a
headstand on a pyramid for just one flavor."
Nancy turned around. Standing behind them
was a boy from their class named Kevin Garcia.]]
Kevin's parents owned the Mean Bean Health
food Store on River Street. Kevin wasn't allowed
to eat sweets, so he always mooched snacks
from everybody's lunchboxes.
"What are you doing here, Kevin?" Nancy
asked. "You're not allowed to eat ice cream."
"I heard Jim and Barry are giving away free
samples of ice cream," Kevin said. He leaned
closer to the girls and whispered,  Got any
candy on you?"
"No," Nancy said.
 "Hey," Kevin said. "Is it true that Kendra has
a winning recipe for the contest?"
Bess and George raised their eyebrows at
Nancy. She had told them that morning about
Deirdre and her Web site.
"Um ... maybe," Nancy blurted.
"Got any gum?" Kevin asked.
"No!" George said. "And don't ask us again!"
Kevin looked disappointed. He turned around
and disappeared into the crowd.
"Kevin must have read Deirdre's Web site,"
Bess said.]]
Nancy looked for Kendra and found her in
the crowd. Everyone near Kendra was pointing
at her.
"I guess a lot of kids read Deirdre's Web site. Nancy said.
The mayor was still giving his speech. "I
even remember riding my shiny red bicycle all
the way to the next town for another flavor. But
when I got there, they also had only two flavors!"
One or two people in the audience laughed.
"Where are Jim and Barry?" George asked.
She stood on her tiptoes to see over the crowd. "I
don't see them yet!"
"They're probably scooping out the free
samples," Nancy said, rubbing her tummy.
"I hope it's not Marshmallow Martian," Bess
said. She stuck her finger in her mouth, pretending to gag.
"Yes, Bess," Nancy said with a smile. "We
know how much you hate green ice cream no
matter how good it is!
A voice snapped, "What's wrong with Marshmallow
Martian?"]]
Nancy, Bess, and George spun around. Standing
behind them this time was fourth grader Daisy
Dorfer and members of the Jim and Barry Fan
club. Daisy started the club for the summer. 
They met e very week to taste a new Jim and
Barry flavor that they picked out at the supermarket.
"Nothing's wrong with it," Bess said with a
shrug. "It just makes me-"
want more!" Nancy cut in.
Good," Daisy said. "Because Marshmallow
Martian is my favorite flavor!"
Nancy heard Bess gagging under her breath.
"Um," Nancy said, trying to switch the subject. 
"Are you guys entering the contest?"
Peter Patino from the girls third-grade class
said, "Daisy's dad bought her an electronic ice 
cream maker. It has digital controls and everything!"
Now all we need is a recipe," fourth grader
Melissa Rios said. She was wearing dangly ice-cream cone earrings.
Daisy planted her hands on her hips. "We'll ]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: No support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Dialog: Unlabeled Speaker

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Concepts: Concrete/Simple Social

Chapters

Features

Topic

Competition

Behaviors

Tastes/Tasting

*Home Arts & Food

Low Frequency Words

audience	blared	blurted	chock	chocolaty
cousins	cowinky	curb	curls	dangly
deirdre	deirdre's	detective	digital	disappointed
dishing	dorfer	doubled	drawer	drippy's
dues	earrings	electronic	elementary	eyeball
fayne	gagging	garcia	gazillion	glared
godzilla	gruen	gulped	headquarters	headstand
hedge	heights	henderson	honest	instant
instructions	jutted	kendra	kendra's	labrador
lasagna	lawyer	lemonade	loudspeakers	lunchboxes
marshmallow	martian	melissa	messaged	mooched
muttered	mysteries	mysterious	nadine	nadine's
nancy's	nardo	nervously	oatmeal	opinion
parlor	patino	pint	pyramid	recipe
research	retriever	rios	rubin's	rustling
samples	shrug	shrugged	shudder	sneered
speech	speeches	splattered	squealed	stammered
styrofoam	supermarket	swallowed	swept	t's
twirling	unfolded	vanilla	walnuts	website
wisp	yummiest