Topic: Word Lists

[Tatumhart]

Forgive me if this has been discussed already. I searched but couldn't find a thread on it.

Is there any kind of industry-standard list of words that should be used in easy readers? I've seen the Dolch list, and I have my first grader's sight word list (They are almost the same.). And maybe it's the kind of thing that would vary by publisher. But I just don't know for sure.

Any thoughts?

[JFriday]

Writers Digest publishes the Children's Writers Word Book. It has words by grade level. That sounds like what you're looking for.

 It's not necessary to only use words from certain lists, just make sure they're familiar to an early reader. You can get a sense of that by reading other easy readers.

Good luck!

[Tatumhart]

Thanks for the reply.  Last year, a librarian told me that this one publisher gave all their staff writers this word list, and they all had to write easy readers using only words from the list.  It was something to do with Dr. Seuss because it was at the "library time" on his birthday.  Maybe I heard her wrong.  I had my 5-year-old and 1-year-old with me, so she didn't have my full attention.

Anyway, I'm working on some poems, and it would be a little challenging to work from a word list...

Thanks again!