Text Leveling System

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

RDQ:	746	Max Word/Sent	33	Total Words	1776		Diff Words	594
Lex	690	Ave Word/.Sent	9	Hi Freq occurs	1210	68.1%	Hi freq	242	40.7%
AR	3.2	Long Sentences	7.7	Low Freq occurs	101	5.7%	Low freq	75	12.6%

One snowy night in a castle far away a little princess was born. Her parents named her Snow White. As the years passed, the child grew up to be a lovely young woman. Her beauty and her gentle nature won the hearts of all who knew her.]]
After Snow White's father died, she lived in the castle with her stepmother, the Queen. The Queen was very beautiful, , but she was cold and heartless. She was jealous of Snow White's beauty.
So she dressed the Princess in rags and forced her to work as a maid.]]
The Queen's most prized possession was a magic mirror.
Every day she would stand in front of it and ask, "Mirror,
mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?"
And every day the mirror would reply, "You, O Queen, are
the fairest in the land."]]
while the queen spent her time admiring herself
in the mirror, Snow White worked long hours in the
castle. She always did her chores  with a smile, often
singing while she worked. One day, as she drew water from the well, she sang a song about her fondest dream. She wished a handsome prince would come to the castle and carry her away.]]
"Please make my
wish come true:'
whispered Snow
White.
No sooner had she said these words than a handsome prince appeared next
to her. Snow White gazed shyly into the Prince's eyes. The
Prince fell in love instantly, but Snow White suddenly became frightened
and fled to the safety of the castle.]]
That evening, as usual, the Queen asked the mirror, "Mirror, mirror, on
the wall, who is the fairest one of all?"
But this time her mirror replied, "Her lips blood red her hair like night. Her skin like snow, her name Snow White!"]]
The Queen was so furious that she immediately
called for her huntsman.
"Tomorrow, take Snow White deep into the forest
and kill her,' she commanded. Then she gave the
huntsman a jewelled box and told him to bring her
proof that he had obeyed the order.
The huntsman feared the evil queen and
promised to do as she wished.]]
The next morning, the huntsman took Snow
White deep into the forest. He watched as the
Princess stopped to place a baby bird back in its
nest. At that moment, the huntsman knew he
could never harm this kind-hearted girl. He fell
to his knees and begged her forgiveness.]]
"My dear Princess;' he said, "you are not safe.
The Queen is jealous. She has ordered me to kill
you, but I could never hurt you.
Quickly," he added, "run into the forest
and never return!"
Now White was frightened by his words but did as she was told. She ran and ran until she could run farther. Lost and alone, she sank to the ground and sobbed herself to sleep.]]
The huntsman placed an animal's heart inside
the box the Queen had given him and presented it
to her that night. The evil woman rejoiced, for she
believed the huntsman had carried out her order.
"Now I am the fairest one of all!" she exclaimed
triumphantly
When she awoke the next morning, Snow White
found herself surrounded by forest animals.
Curious birds, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and
even a mother deer and her fawn crept up for a
closer look. Snow White laughed. She didn't feel
lonely any longer!]]
"Do you know of a place where I can stay?"
Snow White asked her woodland friends.
In response, two little birds chirped excitedly
and began to tug gently at her cape. Snow White
followed her new friends to a tiny cottage nestled
among the trees.
"Oh! It's just like a doll's house!" Snow White
exclaimed.]]
Since no one seemed to be home, Snow White stepped inside.
Oh my! What a terrible mess!" she cried. She stared in wonder at the seven little chairs. "Seven children must live here;' she said. "I'll just tidy up a little and surprise them. Perhaps they'll let me stay for awhile."]]
Snow White began to clean the cottage. The animals helped her
sweep and dust and wash and scrub. Soon the cottage was neat and tidy.
Snow White went upstairs, where she found seven little beds lined up in a row. Each one had a name carved on it.
"What funny names for children;' remarked Snow White as she read the names aloud. "Happy, Dopey, Grumpy, Sneezy, Bashful, Doc, and Sleepy." Then she
yawned. "I'm a little sleepy myself;' she added.
Snow White lay across the tiny beds and promptly fell asleep.]]
Meanwhile, seven little men were hurrying home
from a hard day's work in the diamond mine. They
didn't know it , but they had a surprise waiting for
 them. For these were the seven dwarfs who lived in
the cottage where Snow White lay sleeping.]]
They sang merrily as they walked through the
forest. Doc led the way with the lantern. Behind
him were Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Bashful,
and, last of all, Dopey.]]
As they neared the house, the dwarfs noticed that
something was different. The windows were clean!
Cautiously, they crept inside. Everything was neat
and tidy.
"Just as I thought!" cried Doc. "Someone's
been here!"
"M-m-maybe it's a goblin," said Bashful. "And
m-m-maybe it's still here!"
"Only one way to find out, said Grumpy.
So up the stairs they went. But instead of a
goblin, the dwarfs found Snow White, fast asleep
on their beds.
"It's a girl,' declared Doc.
She's beautiful, added Happy.
Snow White was awakened by their voices. "Oh!"
she cried when she saw them. "Why, you're not
children at all. You're little men.
"That's right, said Doc. "But who are you?"
Snow White introduced herself and told them all
about the wicked queen.
"You can stay with us;' said Doc. "We won't let
anything happen to you?' All the other dwarfs agreed.]]
Back at the castle, the Queen once again
consulted her magic mirror. "Mirror, mirror, on the
wall, who is the fairest one of all?" she asked. She
was sure she knew the answer.
But the mirror replied, "Over the seven jewelled
hills, beyond the seventh fall, in the cottage of the
seven dwarfs, dwells Snow White, fairest one of all."
The Queen was outraged. "The huntsman lied!" she
shouted, knocking the jewelled box to the ground. "Now I will
have to take care of her myself:'
The queen ran down the stairs to a dark dungeon room where she kept an assortment of enchanted powders and bubbling liquids. She quickly mixed herself a magic potion.]]
When she drank the potion, she instantly turned into an ugly old woman.
Then she cast a magic spell over a luscious red apple. "One bite of this
poison apple and Snow White will sleep forever!"
she cackled with glee.]]
That night at the little cottage, Snow White cooked a special meal for the dwarfs.
"Supper's almost ready;' she told them. "You'll just have time to wash:'
"Wash?" chorused the dwarfs. They had almost forgotten what the word meant.
But Snow White was firm, so they all went outside to scrub themselves clean. Even Grumpy got a soaking.]]
After dinner, it was time for some fun! The dwarfs played their
musical instruments and took turns dancing with Snow White.
Dopey climbed on Sneezy's shoulders and covered them both with
a long coat. Now he was as tall as Snow White. But not for long. One
sneeze from Sneezy sent them both tumbling to the floor!]]
Before they set off for work the next morning, Snow White gave each dwarf a good-bye kiss.
"Beware of strangers, warned Doc. "No telling what that wicked queen might do.
"Don't worry;' replied Snow White. "I'll be careful.
After the dwarfs left, Snow White began making pies.
"All alone, my pet?" she heard someone ask. Snow White turned and saw an old woman at the window.
"How would you like to taste one of my nice apples?  They're wishing apples, you know, the old woman said.
"They do look good;' replied Snow White.]]
The animals recognized the Queen at once, but Snow White didn't.
Snow White took the apple and made a wish. As soon as she bit into the apple, she fell to the floor.
Only love's first kiss could wake the sleeping princess.
"ha, ha, ha!" cackled the Queen. "Now, my pretty princess, you will sleep forever!"]]
The animals hurried to the mine. They tugged at the dwarfs clothes until the little men understood that something was terribly wrong. The dwarfs jumped onto the deer and headed for the cottage.]]
On their way they spotted the old woman and
recognized the Queen in her disguise!
"Follow her!" Grumpy shouted. So they chased her all the way up a steep cliff.]]
The Queen reached the top of the cliff and was trapped on a narrow ledge. She was about to push a huge boulder onto the dwarfs when a bolt of lightning struck
the ledge.
With a horrible scream, she fell to the jagged rocks below.
The wicked queen was gone forever!]]
When the dwarfs finally arrived home, they found Snow White asleep
on the floor. Nothing they did could wake her from her sleep.
With tears in their eyes, they gently laid Snow White on a bed.]]
The next day, the dwarfs built a golden casket for Snow White. It was covered with glass so that they could al ways see her. Then they carried the casket
to a peaceful glen in the depths of the forest, where the tall pine trees carpeted the ground with their fragrant needles. For many days the dwarfs stayed
by Snow White's side, hoping she would wake up. But Snow White slept on and on.]]
Meanwhile, the lonely Prince had been searching for Snow White far and wide.
One day, he heard of a beautiful maiden who slept in a golden casket deep in the forest, surrounded by seven little men.]]
Finally, he came upon Snow White. He lifted the heavy glass lid.
"My beautiful Snow White. At last I have found you,' he whispered.
Then he kissed the sleeping princess. Snow White opened her eyes. The
spell was broken!]]
The Prince gathered Snow White in his
arms and lifted her onto his horse. This
time Snow White was not afraid of her handsome
prince.
"Good-bye!" she called out to the dwarfs.
"You have been good, kind friends. I will
never forget you:'
Snow White kept her promise. She included the
dwarfs in all the festivities at the castle, where
she and her prince lived happily ever after.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Vocabulary: Few decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Features

Retelling of story/fable/legend

Topic

Princes/Princesses

Good/Evil

*Fictional Ideas/Charac

Low Frequency Words

admiring	assortment	awakened	boulder	carpeted
casket	cautiously	chorused	consulted	curious
depths	diamond	disguise	dungeon	dwells
enchanted	excitedly	fairest	fawn	fondest
forgiveness	fragrant	furious	gazed	glee
goblin	handsome	hearted	heartless	hoping
huntsman	immediately	instantly	instruments	introduced
jagged	jealous	jewelled	knocking	lantern
ledge	lied	liquids	love's	luscious
maiden	meanwhile	merrily	musical	nature
neared	nestled	obeyed	outraged	peaceful
possession	potion	powders	presented	prized
promptly	recognized	rejoiced	remarked	response
seventh	sneezy	supper's	surrounded	terribly
tidy	triumphantly	warned	woodland	yawned