• Topics that relate to their daily lives
• Ample background, usually in summary form rather than detail
• Practical information rather than theory
• Extended definitions
• Stories and other human interest information

Organization

• Narrative, chronological, least complex to most complex, most interesting to least interesting, general to specific

Style/Tone

• Informal, readable. OK to be personal. Can use "I"
• Plain language—few technical terms and no jargon
• Active Voice
• Analogies
• Shorter sentenced and paragraphs
• Generally, 5^th to 9^th grade reading level
• Verbal explanations of data rather than formulae or equations

Layout and Illustration

• Simple charts, maps, bar graphs, photos
• Lots of white space, color, other eye-catching graphics