Text Leveling System

Junie B. Jones Cheater Pants

RDQ:	802	Max Word/Sent	26	Total Words	3062		Diff Words	680
Lex	700	Ave Word/.Sent	6	Hi Freq occurs	2282	74.5%	Hi freq	303	44.6%
AR	3.3	Long Sentences	0.4	Low Freq occurs	104	3.4%	Low freq	70	10.3%

A May
Monday
Dear First grade journal,
Yesterday was the weekend. The weekend is the nickname of Saturday and Sunday. Only I don't know why. Those two days zoomed by speedy quick. That's how come I didn't have time to do my homework Cause what do I look]]
 like? A clock or something? Last night I begged to stay up to do it. But Daddy said no and he turned out my light. That was not helpful. Now I am at school. And Mr scary said to please take out our homework. I feel sickish inside. 
I hope that Daddy is proud of himself. From Junie B First Grader
Next to me, May got her homework out of
her backpack. And she put it on her desk.]]
She smoothed out her paper and smiled.
"I'm sure I'll get another A+ on this one.
I get an A+ on all my homework papers,
Junie Jones," she said. "One time, my
homework was so perfect, Mr. Scary sent a
happy note home to my mom and dad."
I did a shrug. "Blah, blah, blah," I said
back.
May did a mad face at me.
Then she quick tapped Lennie on the
back of his head.
"Lennie, did you hear what I just said to
Junie Jones?" she asked. "I told her that I
always, always get A+'s on my homework."
Lennie turned around.
"Please don't touch my hair, May," he
said. "I used my brand-new gel to spike it
today. And I don't want you messing it up."
I waved at Lennie across the aisle.]]
"I would never touch your hair,
Leonard," I said. "Your hair looks like an
interesting glob of artwork, almost. And
artwork should just be gawked at."
Lennie nodded. "Thank you, Junie B.
Jones."
"You're welcome, Lennie Whose-Last Name-
Starts-with-an-S, I think," I said.
After that, I smiled at May very smuggy.
Lennie likes me way better than he likes
her.
May squinted her eyes at me. "How
come you didn't take your homework out
yet, Junie Jones?" she asked. "You're not
following directions very well this morning,
are you?"
I did a big breath.
Then I quick reached into my backpack.
And I pulled out a rumpled paper. And I]]
pretended it was my homework.
"There," I said. "There's my homework.
Now please mind your own beeswax, you
snoopy pooper, May."
May's face got reddish and flushy.
She started to raise her hand to tattletale.
Only just then, the teacher called her name.
"May? It's your day to take the attendance
sheet to the office," he said. "Would
you like to come up here and get it,
please?"
"Yes!" she said. "I would love to, Mr.
Scary!"
The attendance sheet is when teachers
send the names of the absent children to the
office.
I do not actually approve of that
practice.
May hurried to the front of the room.]]
"I'm never absent, Mr. Scary," she said.
"I'm always, always here. Have you ever
noticed that? Huh? Have you ever noticed
how I'm always, always here?"
Mr. Scary closed his eyes for a second.
"Oh, yes, May," he said. "Believe me.
I've noticed."
May did a giggle. "Also, I'm always
punctual," she said. "Have you noticed
that, too? Have you noticed how punctual I
am?"
She smiled at the class.
"Punctual means 'on time,' everyone,"
she explained. "Last year, I was so
punctual, I got the Punctual Award. The
Punctual Award is an award for the child
who is the most punctual."
Mr. Scary stared at her. He said to please
stop saying punctual.]]
After that, May took the attendance
sheet. And she skipped to the door.
"Don't worry, Room One. I will get this
attendance sheet to the office all safe and
sound," she said real loud. "Then everyone
who isn't here will get reported to the
principal. And that's exactly what they
deserve."
Mr. Scary did a sigh. "Please, May. Just
go, okay?" he said.
May did a wave. Then she hurried out
the door.
After she was gone, I roamed my eyes
around the room. All of the children had
their homework papers out but me.
My insides felt sickish again. 'Cause
pretty soon Mr. Scary would find out that I
didn't do my assignment.
I swallowed real hard.]]
My eyes kept on roaming around.
And then what do you know? They
roamed over to May's desk.
And surprise, surprise!
I saw her homework paper sitting there!
It was right out in plain view, I mean!
My heart pounded and pounded at that
sight. 'Cause my brain was getting an idea,
that's why.
I tapped on my chin very thinking.]]
Then, quiet as a mouse, I pulled May's
paper a little closer. And I copied what it
said.
After I got done, I breathed in relief.
'Cause now I had a homework paper!
I smiled to just myself.
Then I closed my eyes.
And I whispered thank you to May for
letting me borrow her homework.]]
Weekend Fun
May got back from the office.
She stood at the door and waved again.
"I did it, everyone! I got the attendance
sheet to the office. Just like I promised."
She looked at Mr. Scary. "It went very
well, too," she said. "There were no
problems I couldn't handle."
Mr. Scary raised his eyes from what he
was doing.
"Okay ... well, thank you, May. You
can take your seat now, please," he said.
But May kept right on talking.]]
"At first, I didn't know where to put it .
But then the secretary told me to put it in
the wire basket. So I followed her directions
perfectly," she said.
Mr. Scary pointed at her seat. "Excellent,"
he said. Now please sit down,
okay?"
May didn't pay attention again.
"When I was in kindergarten, I got an
E+ for following directions," she said. "E+
is better than excellent. The plus sign means
extra, extra excellent."
Just then, Mr. Scary stood up. And he
took May's hand. And he walked her to her
seat.
As soon as he went back to his desk, I
strained my brain for something nice to say
to her. 'Cause I was still happy at May for 
leaving her homework out.]]
Finally, I tapped on her arm. And I
smiled.
"Welcome back, madam," I said real
friendly.
May did a frown at me. "What kind of
crack was that?" she said.
I just looked at her.
Friendly does not come natural to us, I
think.
Pretty soon, Mr. Scary stood up at his
desk. Then he walked to the board and he
wrote these words:
This weekend, one thing I did for fun
was ...
"Okay, everyone," he said. "For your
homework over the weekend, I asked you
to complete that sentence, remember?"
Room One nodded.
"Good," said Mr. Scary. "Because this]]
morning, I'd like for each of you to read
your homework paper to the class. That
way we'll find out what our classmates do
for enjoyment. Doesn't that sound fun?"
Room One nodded again. Even if it
doesn't sound fun, you still have to nod.
Mr. Scary smiled. "We'll go up and]]
down each row until everyone gets a turn."
He pointed at Lucille. "Lucille, why
don't you start us off?" he said.
Lucille sits in the first row by the
window. Last year, me and her were bestest
friends. But this year, we're just regular. 
Lucille stood up and fluffed herself.
Then she picked up her paper. And she  
started to read.
"This weekend, one thing I did for fun
was my richie nanna took me to her
expensive beauty salon. And both of us got
manicures and pedicures."
Mr. Scary looked surprised at that news.
"You got a pedicure, Lucille? Wow!
That's pretty fancy stuff, isn't it?" he said.
Lucille shrugged. "For some people,
maybe," she said.
She looked down and kept on reading.]]
"Also, we each got a papaya-fruit facial.
And Nanna got an herbal body wrap. Plus I
got a seaweed scalp massage."
Mr. Scary stood there for a second. Then
he nodded very slow.
"All rightie, then," he said.
After that, he pointed to Camille.
Camille is the sister of Chenille. Those
two are twin sets.
Camille stood up. "This weekend,
Chenille and I made a puppet theater out of
a cardboard box. And we put on a show
for our little brother, Neil."
Mr. Scary beamed at that news.
"Oh, that's great, girls," he said. "I bet
doing a puppet show for your brother was
a lot of fun, wasn't it?"
"Not really," said Camille. "Neil kept
on grabbing the puppets off our hands. And]]
he made them kill each other."
"We don't like Neil," said Chenille.
"Neil is a boob," said Camille.
Mr. Scary just stood there some more.
Then finally, he moved on to Roger.
Roger was the best one so far.]]
"This weekend, one thing I did for fun
was I went to get pizza with my dad.
And I ate a whole entire anchovy! And I
didn't throw up till I was almost home!"
Room One clapped and clapped for that
amazing story.
Mr. Scary was right.
It was fun to learn what our classmates
did on the weekend.
I couldn't wait for it to be my tum.
'Cause I love to talk in front of the class, of
course. Plus all I had to do was tell about
my weekend, and Mr. Scary would think I
did my homework!
I put the paper I copied from May into
my desk.
I didn't need it after all.
'Cause what do you know?
Today I lucked out!]]
Twitching
Finally, we got to .the row right next to 
mine.
That is where Jose and Lennie sit.
When Jose's turn came, he smiled very
proud.
He said on Saturday his daddy bought
him brand-new soccer shoes. And he wore
them to his soccer game. And he kicked the
winning goalie with those things!
Lennie went next.
He said he got brand-new hair gel. Plus
also, he got a thickening cream.]]
"A thickening cream can make even the
thinnest hair feel rich and full," he said.
"Whoa," I said .
. "Whoa," said Herb and Jose.
Whoa is what we say to be supportive.
May sits behind Lennie.
She stood up. And she read her paper
real loud.
"This weekend, one thing I did for fun
was on Saturday, I made a pot in my
pottery class. And after that, I was punctual
to my ballet class. And the teacher said I
danced like a gazelle!"
Mr. Scary did a chuckle. "A gazelle,
huh?" he said. "A gazelle is a very graceful
animal, isn't it?"
"Yes," said May. "Would you like to see
me do a few steps?"
After that, she ran to the front of the]]
room.  And she started to ballet. But Mr.
Scary said to please sit down again.
As soon as she got back, I jumped right
up.
"My turn! My turn!" I said real thrilled.
I tapped on my chin. "Okay, well, let's
see now ... on Saturday my grampa Frank
Miller came to baby-sit me. And he let me roller-
skate in the house. Plus also, he let
me jump on Mother's bouncy bed. Only
pretty soon, I got very pooped. And so I ran
into the kitchen. And I drank chocolate
milk right out of the carton. Without even a
glass, I mean!"
"Whoa!" said Herb.
"Whoa!" said Lennie and Jose.
Mr. Scary raised his hand to interrupt
me.
"Uh ... excuse me, Junie B.," he said.]]
"It sounds like you had a great time on
Saturday. But I'm wondering why you're
not reading from your homework paper."
Just then, my heart got poundy and
nervous. 'Cause I should have thought
about that problem.
I swallowed real hard. "Um, uh . . .
well, let's see," I said kind of quiet. "Why
aren't I reading?"
Mr. Scary smiled. "It's all right," he said.
"You can start over. Just take out your
paper and read us what you wrote."
After that, I stood there very frozen. And
I couldn't even move.
Mr. Scary crossed his arms at me.
"You do have a homework paper; don't
you, Junie B.?" he asked next.
I stood there a little while longer.
Then finally, I reached into my desk.]]
And I pulled out the homework I copied
from May.
I waved it in the air kind of weakish.
"Here it is," I said. "Here's my homework
paper:. See it? It's right here."
Mr. Scary nodded. "Yes. Good. Now
could you read it for us, please?" he asked.
I took a deep breath.
Then I looked down at my paper.
And I read it silently ... to just myself.
"Okay. Done," I said.
After that, I quick sat down. And I
stuffed the paper back into my desk.
Mr. Scary came back to where I sit.
He said could he please see my paper?
I felt shaky and sickish inside.
Very slow, I took out my paper again.
And I handed it over.
After he read it, he shook his head.]]
Then he took my hand. And he walked
me into the hall.
"It seems that you and May had very
similar weekends. Doesn't it, Junie B.?" he
said.
I did a gulp. "Yes," I said. "It does."
Mr. Scary read my paper once more.
"So  you take a pottery class, do
you?" he said.
I rocked back and forth on my feet.
"Yup, yup. I do," I said. "I take a
pottery class. And I make little . . . well,
you know ... pots."
Mr:. Scary breathed real deep.
"And let's see, you take a ballet class,
too, huh?" he said. "And gee, what a
coincidence . . . on Saturday your teacher
said you danced like a-"
"Gazill," I said very fast.]]
"Gazelle," said Mr. Scary.
"Whatever," I said.
My teacher sucked in his cheeks and
looked at the paper again.
"And you were punctual, too," he said.
"That's amazing, isn't it?"
I looked up at him.
"Well, you know  not if you get an
early start," I said real soft.
Mr. Scary bent down next to me. His
face was not jolly.
"Junie B. Jones, do you have any idea
how disappointed I am in you right now?"
Just then, tears came in my eyes; And I
didn't even expect that trouble.
I quick hanged my head so he couldn't
see.
"Sorry," I said. "Sorry you're disappointed.]]
Mr. Scary took a big breath. He said we
would talk more at recess.
Then he gave me a tissue from his
pocket. And I wiped my tears.
After that, we went back into the room.
I sat down at my desk very slumping.
'Cause what do you know?
I didn't luck out after all.]]
Cheater Pants
It's still dumb Monday
Dear first grade journal
Right now it is recess. I am not playing on the playground. Instead I am sitting at my desk. And I'm waiting to get yelled at. I wish I could disappear into thin hair. If I could disappear,]]
I would run outside and I would find May. I would clunk her on the head. I wish I didn't even sit next to that girl. Cause people should never leave homework on their desk for other people to borrow. That is just asking for trouble mister. From Junie B First Grader.
Mr. Scary was writing at his desk.
He looked up and called my name.
"Junie B.?" he said. "I'm ready for you]]
now. Could you bring your chair up here,
please?"
My stomach flipped and flopped. 'Cause
here came the yelling part, that's why.
I did some deep breaths.
Then I pulled my chair to the front of
the room. And I sat down next to him.
Mr. Scary took my homework paper out
of his drawer. He set it in front of me very
serious.
"I want you to explain this, Junie B.,"
he said. "I want you to tell me exactly
why you copied May's homework this
morning."
I tried to swallow, but nothing went
down .
"Um, well, let's see . . . the reason I
copied was ... was ..., ,
I tapped on my chin.]]
Then, all of a sudden ... I thought of it!
"Daddy!" I said. "It was my daddy's
fault!"
My teacher looked surprised at that
answer.
"Your daddy?" he said. "Your daddy
told you to copy May's homework?"
"Yes," I said. "I mean, no. I mean, last
night I wanted to stay up late to do my
homework. But Daddy turned out my light.
And so he is the reason that I had to come
to school without it."
"Oh ... I see," said my teacher.
"Your daddy wouldn't let you stay up. So
that's what forced you to copy May's
paper."
I nodded real fast. "Yes," l said. "That's
exactly it."
Mr. Scary raised his eyebrows. "So did]]
May actually give you her paper to copy?"
he asked next.
I rolled my eyes at that crazy question.
"No, silly. May would .never be that
nice," I said. "It's just that this morning
she kept on bragging about how her homework
is always an A+. And then she left
the paper on top of her desk when she went
to the office. And that is just asking for
trouble, mister."
Mr. Scary leaned back in his chair.
"Ah," he said. "So when May left for
the office, you saw her paper and you just
decided to-"
"Borrow it," I said. "I decided to
borrow it to copy."
My teacher did a frown. "Borrow?" he
said. "No, Junie B. I'm sorry. But borrow is
not the right word here at all. When you]]
copy someone else's paper, that's called
cheating."
My eyes got big and shocked at that
word. 'Cause what was he even talking
about?
"No, Mr. Scary. No. I didn't cheat. I
didn't," I said. "Cheating is when you steal
answers off of someone's test. But homework
isn't a test. Homework doesn't even
count, hardly."
"Oh, but homework does count, Junie
B.," he said back. "Cheating is not just
about stealing test answers. Cheating is anytime
you take someone else's work and you
present it as your own."
He looked at me.
"When you cheated this morning, you
broke my trust in you, Junie B.," he said.
"We have a rule about this in Room One.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: No support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Table of Contents

Chapters

Features

Character traits

Simple Plot

Topic

Teacher/Teaching

Cause/Effect

Mistakes

*Feelings, Behaviors

*Schools & Education

Low Frequency Words

aisle	anchovy	approve	assignment	attendance
ballet	boob	borrow	breathed	chenille
coincidence	deserve	disappointed	drawer	enjoyment
excellent	facial	fault	flushy	gawked
gazelle	gazill	goalie	graceful	grampa
gulp	hanged	herb	herbal	interrupt
journal	kindergarten	lennie	leonard	lucked
madam	manicures	massage	nanna	nickname
papaya	pedicure	pottery	poundy	punctual
reddish	richie	rightie	roamed	roaming
rumpled	salon	secretary	shrug	shrugged
similar	smoothed	smuggy	snoopy	spike
squinted	supportive	swallow	swallowed	tattletale
theater	thickening	thinnest	tissue	twitching