Finding age-appropriate words when writing for children

Website design By BotEap.comWriting in general can be a tough business; writing for children is even more difficult. Writing for kids has its own tricks, processes, and rules; one of those rules is to use age appropriate words.

Website design By BotEap.comThe difference between this and writing in general is that the scope of children’s writing is divided into specific age groups. There are picture books and puzzle stories for very young children. The story line and text are simple; they need to tell a story that includes basic conflict and action, but is geared toward young children’s understanding.

Website design By BotEap.comThen come the first readers. Again, the words used and the plot are relatively simple to help the child learn to read. The next genre is chapter books. Here the plot and the words grow just like the child. The story can be more complicated and oriented to keep the child’s attention with a slight mystery, suspense and fantasy.

Website design By BotEap.comThen move on to the medium grade. At this point, the child has grown up and has a greater understanding and vocabulary, as are stories for him. The plot and conflict can be more complex than previous chapter books.

Website design By BotEap.comFinally, it’s up to young adults. Stories in this genre can be sophisticated and complex enough to attract adult readers. But obviously it still needs to be written avoiding the central themes. While it can cover almost any topic, it should lack explicit adult context. Writing for adults is easier; the writer usually writes with the vocabulary to which he is accustomed.

Website design By BotEap.comThe question is: How does a writer know which words are specific to a particular age group? Unless you are an experienced writer and have become familiar with the vocabularies of different age groups, you will need help in this area.

Website design By BotEap.comThree sources / tools for finding age appropriate words

Website design By BotEap.com1. One source that has been very helpful to me is Children’s Writers Word Book, 2nd Edition, by Alijandra Mogilner and Tayopa Mogilner. List specific words that occur at seven key reading levels (kindergarten through sixth grade). Provides a thesaurus of those synonymous words, annotated with reading levels. In addition, it provides detailed guidelines for sentence length, word use, and topics at each reading level. I find it a valuable tool in my writing tool belt.

Website design By BotEap.com2. Another great source is Intervention Central (http://www.interventioncentral.org/htmdocs/tools/okapi/okapi.php) which uses Spache and Dale formulas. This is an amazing site that allows you to enter up to 200 words, choose a readability formula (what grade level you are writing for), and click through to see the results. The program, OKAPI (an Internet application for creating curriculum-based assessment reading surveys) will return a readability analysis of your text, indicating for which grade level the particular content is appropriate.

Website design By BotEap.com3. The following is Englishraven.com ( [http://www.englishraven.com] ). This site provides lists of Dolch words (sight words recognizable by frequency and importance) for each grade level. The lists are limited, but give a good indication of the appropriate words for the particular age group you are writing for.

Website design By BotEap.comThese three resources are helpful in finding the right words for the children’s writer. There are also other books and sites available to help you in your search for age appropriate words for your children’s book, just do a search.

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