Text Leveling System

Rani the Enchanted Dragon

RDQ:	1537	Max Word/Sent	29	Total Words	3181		Diff Words	910
Lex	830	Ave Word/.Sent	8	Hi Freq occurs	2304	72.4%	Hi freq	408	44.8%
AR	4.4	Long Sentences	1	Low Freq occurs	183	5.8%	Low freq	123	13.5%

Rani's sister, Anjali, stood in the middle of
the stage, her silky dress floating like a cloud
around her. Rani was watching from the side
of the stage, her heart beating fast. Her family
ran the Magic Star Theater, so Rani saw most
of the plays over and over. But it didn't matter
how many times she saw this one-she never
grew tired of It. Anjali was a great actor. for]]
one thing. And for another, Anjali was moving
to another city to study acting in a few weeks.
Rani was going to miss her, and wanted to
spend as much time with her big sister as she
could before she left.
Onstage, the golden spotlight made Anjali
glow. "The dawn is coming. I must fly!" she said,
stretching up her arms. The audience gasped
as she leapt into the air and flew-she actually
flew!-across the stage.
Rani hugged herself. This scene was so
spellbinding. She knew how the flying trick
worked, of course. Rani had watched the
stage technicians put the harness, attached
to wires, on Anjali. But somehow, whenever
she saw it onstage, it looked truly magical.
With a little jolt, Rani remembered she had
a job to do! She flicked the switch on the]]
machine next to her. Smoke curled out and
billowed across the stage like a cloud. Rani
wiggled her fingers, pretending that she had
made the cloud with her magic powers. Being
able to do spells would be so amazing!
Slowly, the cloud turned pink and orange.
This was thanks to Rani's mom, who was in
the lighting booth at the back of the theater.]]
Hidden high above the stage, stagehands scattered
tiny pieces of shiny paper, which floated
down like shimmering raindrops.
Next came the highlight of the scene, in]]
Rani's opinion. Anjali floated into the middle of
the stage and hovered.
Rani held her breath, waiting.
Anjali clapped her hands and disappeared
in a cloud of stars!
-Of course, Anjali didn't really disappear. The
stunt was a combination of clever lighting and
a pulley system.
The audience clapped and cheered loudly as
the red curtain fell.
"Well done, everyone!" the director called.
"Quick, take your places for final bows!"
The clapping grew steadily louder. Rani
watched as the entire cast hurried onto the
stage, whispering excitedly to one another.
But underneath all the noise, Rani could hear
something else. It sounded like singing.]]
Magic Forest, Magic Forest, come explore ...
Rani looked around. Had someone turned a
radio on? Was it someone's ringtone? No one
else seemed to have heard it. Onstage, Anjali and
the other actors held hands as the curtain rose.
The audience roared with delight and Rani
joined in. Sometimes, Rani felt a tiny bit jealous
of Anjali. She was so talented and got so
much attention. But other times, like now, Rani
felt so proud of her sister she could burst.
Despite all the applause, Rani heard that
strange singing again.
Magic Forest, Magic Forest, come explore ...
How odd! The voice seemed to be swirling
above her somewhere. I bet it's Dad, thought]]
Rani. He's probably working on some cool new
sound effect.
A smile twitched on Rani's lips. This might
even be a little test her father had set up to see
If she could figure out what was going on.
While the audience continued to cheer and
clap, Rani snuck into the area behind the
stage. She had a feeling this was where her
dad would be. It was where all the scenery and
props for their plays were stored.
Rani ducked around a cardboard lamppost,
a stack of chairs, and a row of wooden trees
with fabric leaves. She strained her ears, listening
for the song. It seemed to have faded,
but excitement buzzed through Rani. It was
like the feeling she got on the opening night of
a new show.
"Dad? Are you there?" she half whispered.]]
There was no reply. The noise from the stage
seemed very far away. Rani kept going, walking 
between the fake trees. Her hand brushed
against one of them and she yelped. The painted
bark felt real-not like a prop at all. And since
when had the backstage area gotten so big?
Magic Forest, Magic Forest, come explore ...
The singing was louder now. And Rani had
the weirdest feeling that it was being sung just
for her. Or just to her.
"Who's there?" Rani called. You know, this
area is out of-"
A layer of fog curled around her feet. Oh
no! She must have forgotten to turn off the
smoke machine! But this smoke was different.]]
It swirled with colors-aqua, pink, and purple.
Also, it smelled of flowers.
Rani's fingers began to tingle. If this was a
special effect that her dad had created, it was
his best yet. But as the colored smoke continued
to build, Rani realized this was not her
dad's work.
Something very unusual was going on. When
she heard the mysterious song again, Rani felt
like the words were already inside her.
Magic Forest, Magic Forest, come explore.
Magic Forest, Magic Forest, hear my roar!
Rani took a step forward. Her pulse was
very fast, but she wasn't afraid. She knew she
was being called upon to play an important]]
role. But not a role on the stage, like her sister.
Something bigger, and maybe a little
dangerous.
"I'll gladly come and explore," she called into
the darkness. "Just show me the way."
A single beam of light fell from above, lighting
up a spot on the floor. Rani stepped onto it.
The fog curled tightly around her like a blanket.
She was surrounded by streaks of swirling
color. Then came a burst of stars!
Rani closed her eyes against the brightness
as the floor dissolved beneath her feet.]]
Even without opening her eyes, Rani knew she
was no longer backstage. She could feel it! The
air smelled like a lush garden on a summer's
night. A gentle breeze tickled her face, and she
could hear the sound of rustling leaves.
Rani opened her eyes and looked around. She
was in a forest at twilight! Could this possibly
be real? Rani had always hoped something]]
magical would happen to her. Had it finally?
But Rani had grown up in the theater, so she
knew this could all be a fancy set. The trees
and grass might be props. The breeze could be
a wind machine, the chirping insects the work
of a sound artist.
Rani looked up. Overhead, ripples of color
moved against a darkening sky. As she watched, 
the colors split apart and danced away.
If this was done by a lighting expert, then
they were very talented!
I'm going to explore, Rani decided. But after
a couple of steps, she stopped. What was going
on with her body? It felt different. Like, really
different. She glanced down and nearly fell
over in surprise.
Her sneakered feet had become massive
paws, each with a set of curved talons. And]]
her legs were covered in gleaming scales 
and so was the rest of her body! Looking
over her shoulder, Rani saw a tail dragging
behind her. Best of all, on her back was a pair
of powerful wings.
"I've turned into a dragon!" Rani said. She
shook her head, feeling dazed. "No, that's
impossible. I must be in a costume. And this
place can't be real."
From a nearby bush came a whispered conversation.
"Did you hear that? The Dragon Girl
doesn't believe she's a dragon!"
And she doesn't think the Magic Forest is
real! Even though she's standing right in the
middle of it!"
"I wonder if that happens with all Dragon
Girls when they first arrive?"
Rani froze. Maybe there were dangerous]]
animals lurking? She shook the thought
away. Animals couldn't talk. Besides, the voices
sounded friendly.
Rani knelt down-a little awkwardly in her
powerful dragon form-in front of the rustling
bush. "Hello!" she said. "Who's in there?"
Rani heard frantic whispers. "She heard us!"
"We're going to be in so much trouble!"]]
 "Quick! Let's go before she sees us."
Very carefully. Rani reached out and parted
the bushes. Three tiny creatures tumbled
onto the grass. Rani stared at them. She had
never seen animals like them.
The first one looked like a very small, very
fuzzy lion cub with big green eyes. On her
back sprouted a pair of blue-and-green butterfly
wings. She growled in surprise as she
rolled to a stop.
The second one was a pale blue puppy with
flecks of gold through her fur. She also had
wings. Her bright blue eyes were fixed on Rani.
The final creature looked like some kind of
penguin, except that she was purple and her
webbed feet (which were currently waggling in
the air) and eyes were gold.
"Hello! What kind of creatures are you?"]]
Rani asked softly, not wanting to scare them
away. She'd never seen anything so cute in
her life!
"We're Questies," said the butterfly-lion cub
in a soft, purry voice. "My name is Flittercub."
"Questies is short for Quest Friends,''
explained the puppy, wagging her tail and
flapping her wings all at once. "Our job is to]]
help Dragon Girls on their quests in the Magic
Forest. I'm TrustyPup, by the way."
And I'm Splishi," the tiny penguin said,
finally righting herself and standing up. "Also,
we're not big Questies yet. We're just juniors.
But we'll be real Questies one day. We just
need everything to go back to normal so we
can finish our training."
"That's why we are SO excited you're here!"
Flittercub purred. "There are some big problems
in the Magic Forest right now. You'll fix
them for us, right? That's what Dragon Girls
do, after all."
"Umm ... " Rani had no idea what to say. How
could she fix anything? Her brain was still
struggling to accept that she was a Dragon
Girl, whatever that meant.
It was funny. Whenever Rani couldn't sleep]]
at night or concentrate at school, magic was
what she daydreamed about. But now that
something magical was definitely happening,
Rani wasn't sure how she felt about it.
TrustyPup gave a little bark. "Where are the
other two Dragon Girls?" She looked around.
"There are always three, aren't there?"
"Maybe things are different this time, Splishi 
suggested, scratching her beak with a wing.
"The whole forest Is topsy-turvy."
Rani felt like she'd been dropped onstage
halfway through a play. She had no idea what
was going on.
"What are the problems?" she asked finally.
That felt like an Important first thing to
understand.
The creatures eyes widened nervously.
There's bad magic in the air,  Flittercub]]
whispered. "It's like the forest has been put
under a spell.
"And all the trained Questies have disappeared,
TrustyPup added, her tail drooping,
including my big brother. She gave a sad little
howl.
"Plus, the forest is full of weird, scary lights,
Splishi said in her high voice.
"You mean the ones up in the sky?" Rani
asked. She was surprised. The colorful swirls
had looked beautiful to her, not scary.
"No, those are Sky Swirls,  Flittercub said.
"They're good."
"The swirls come every year," Splishi
explained. "They get bigger and brighter for a
few days, then they rain their colorful magic
over the forest.
"This gives all the plants and creatures their]]
magical power," Splishi said. "The Sky Swirls
are very important."
"But this year, they're not getting brighter."
 Flittercub growled softly. "In fact, they're
already fading."]]
Rani tilted her head. So what are the weird,
scary lights you mentioned?"
"We don't know. They move through the forest
like shadows," TrustyPup said.
"But they are bright and glowing," Splishi
added with a shudder! We don't trust them
at all!"
Rani could understand why. A bright, glowing
shadow sounded all wrong. Right then, Rani
made a decision. She had no idea what was
going on, but it was clear that these adorable
creatures needed her help. The only problem
was where should she start?
"You must go to the glade," Splishi said
suddenly.
Rani stared at her in surprise. "Did you read
my mind?"]]
"Not exactly." Splishi said. "But Questies are
good at sensing what Dragon Girls are thinking and feeling. The more time they spend
together, the better they get."
"Shows that we are natural Questies!" Flittercub
said proudly. She turned to Rani. "You must go
to the glade," she explained. "That's where the
Tree Queen lives. She'll tell you what to do."
The Tree Queen! Rani felt a ripple of excitement.
This Magic Forest was getting more and
more interesting. She tried to imagine what a
Tree Queen would look like. And what would
she say?
Flittercub did a loop in the air. It was slightly
wonky but still impressive. "Have you ever
flown before, Dragon Girl?" she asked.
"Not really," Rani said. She had tried out the]]
harness with wires at the theater. But that
probably didn't count as real flying.
"Go on, then-give it a try!" Splishi flapped
her own little wings furiously, rising off the
ground.
The three Questies looked expectantly
at Rani.
Feeling like she was in a dream, Rani gave
her huge wings a flap. Nothing happened. She
 tried again. Still nothing. Her wings were surprisingly
heavy, Flapping them took a lot of
strength.
"Don't give up, Dragon Girl!" Splishi called.
"Flying was hard for us at the start, too." As
If to prove this. Splishi suddenly plummeted
downward, just managing to stop before she
hit the earth.]]
I can do this. Rani told herself as the other
two Questies copied Splishi, taking turns at
diving toward the ground and stopping at the
last moment. Maybe I need to pretend I'm in
the flying harness at the theater?
Rani pictured herself onstage, slipping on the
harness. She imagined the long wires attached
to the harness lifting her up.
This time when she flapped her wings, she
rose smoothly into the air.]]
A huge smile stretched across Rani's face.
Zooming across the stage in a harness was
very fun. But it was nothing like this! She felt
all her muscles working as she flew to the top
of the tall trees. The leaves rustled wildly as
she flapped. Her wings were so powerful!
For a moment she hovered in place, looking
around the forest. It was beautiful, bathed in]]
the light of early evening. Then, pressing her
wings against her body, Rani dove toward the
ground. She felt like a comet streaking through
the sky. As she neared the ground, she swerved
high again.
The Questies flew up to meet her. "Flying's
the best, isn't it?" Flittercub said.]]
"But it's also really hard," TrustyPup said.
"Especially in a group."
"Group flying isn't hard," Splishi said, just
 as she crashed into the other two. The three
 little creatures tumbled down onto the soft
grass. They jumped to their feet and flew back
into the air.
Rani got the feeling it wasn't the first time
this had happened.
"So, should we go and meet this Tree Queen?"
Rani was feeling a little nervous. She had never
met a queen before-especially not one who
was also a tree! "Can you lead me there?"
The three creatures exchanged a look.
"You do know the way, don't you?" Rani
asked.
"I have no idea!" Splishi admitted cheerfully.]]
"I am pretty sure it's that way," Flittercub
said, pointing a paw.
"I went past the glade once with my brother
PlushyPup," TrustyPup said. "But I was only
little then."
Rani fought back a laugh. It was hard to
imagine TrustyPup being any smaller than she
already was.
"Well, I'm sure we'll figure it out together,"
Rani said, trying to sound more confident than
she felt. "Come on, everyone. Let's go!"
Flapping her wings strongly, Rani began
flying in the direction Flittercub had pointed.
The Questies hurried to overtake her so they
could lead.
Rani could hear them whispering.
"Are you sure this Is the right way?"
I'm sort of sure."]]
"We can't get the Dragon Girl lost. That
would be bad."
Back home. Rani was always the youngest
and the smallest. The one everyone else protected.
But here, she suddenly felt like the big,
responsible one.
"You three are doing great," Rani called.
"You'll get me there, I know it."
She just hoped this turned out to be true!
As she grew more confident flying, Rani
started to look around. The sun had now fully
set, but the forest was far from dark. The swirling
colors overhead illuminated everything in
soft pinks, greens, and oranges. Down below,
Rani saw little bell-shaped flowers that glowed
like fairy lights.
Something caught her eye. Deep within the
thick trees ahead, Rani saw a strange shape.]]
It was flat like a silhouette but made of light. It
was very bright but also seemed cold somehow.
A bad feeling gripped Rani's chest. There]]
was something dangerous about that light.
She watched it moving through the forest.
sliding over the grass and across fallen leaves.
Everything it touched instantly curled up or
withered away.
What would happen if it touched an animal?
"Watch out!" squeaked the Questies, banging
into one another in their panic. It's a Bright
Shadow!"
Every instinct in Rani's body told her to
fly away as quickly as she could. But then
she would never get to the glade. She also
hated seeing the Questies so scared. Fighting
that instinct, Rani instead lunged toward the
strange, glowing shadow.
"Go away!" Her voice sounded very loud. In
fact, it was a roar! It echoed through the forest.
The Bright Shadow stopped, then slipped]]
off the way it had come, leaving a burned trail
behind it.
The Questies whooped and looped through
the air. "You did it, Dragon Girl!"
Once again, their wings got tangled up and
they tumbled to the ground.
Laughing, Rani swooped down to help them
up. "Come on, you three. We have a glade to
find, remember?"
"Actually, I think we've found it!" TrustyPup
said, pointing with her paw to a gap in the
trees.
Rani saw a clearing, protected by a wall
of shimmering air. It looked like the heat rising
from the pavement on a hot day. As they
got closer, Rani saw the outline of trees and
flowers.
"That's definitely the Tree Queen's glade!"]]
TrustyPup said, clapping her paws. "I remember
seeing that force field when PlushyPup
and I went past."
"See? I told you we'd find it." Splishi said.
Rani chose not to remind Splishi that she'd
said nothing like that!
"Go on, Dragon Girl. You can fly through
that force field." Flittercub gave Rani a friendly
nudge with her nose. "But you must go through
alone."
"The Tree Queen will be waiting for you,"
TrustyPup added.
"So I guess this is goodbye?" Rani had known
these tiny animals for only a short time, but
she was already very fond of them.
"Yes," TrustyPup said, a little sadly. "For now,
at least."
"I am sure we'll meet again," Splishi added.]]

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: Story/Poem

Concept: Fanciful

Chapters

Mature concepts: With common experiences or clear fantasy

Features

Integral Setting

Complex Problem/Solution

Topic

Magic

Danger

Dragons

Forests

Helping

Kings/Queens

*Fictional Ideas/Charac

Low Frequency Words

applause	audience	billowed	combination	concentrate
confident	conversation	curled	currently	curtain
curved	daydreamed	decision	despite	dissolved
drooping	echoed	effect	excitedly	expectantly
fabric	flecks	flittercub	flown	flying's
frantic	fully	furiously	glade	gripped
harness	highlight	hovered	illuminated	imagined
impressive	instantly	instinct	jealous	jolt
juniors	knelt	lamppost	leapt	lighting
looped	lunged	lush	magical	managing
massive	mentioned	mysterious	neared	nervously
nudge	onstage	opinion	outline	overtake
panic	parted	pavement	penguin	pictured
plummeted	plushypup	props	prove	pulse
purry	questies	quests	raindrops	responsible
righting	ringtone	ripples	rustled	rustling
scenery	sensing	shimmering	shudder	silhouette
sliding	smoothly	sneakered	spellbinding	splishi
spotlight	sprouted	stagehands	steadily	streaking
stunt	surprisingly	surrounded	swerved	swirled
swirling	swirls	talons	tangled	theater
tilted	tingle	topsy	truly	trustypup
turvy	twilight	twitched	waggling	weird
weirdest	whispers	whooped	widened	withered
wonky	yelped	youngest