Voice: How do you use text features to gather information about a nonfiction text?

Voice: in this lesson, you will learn how to get ready to read an article by looking at the text features.

Voice: We know nonfiction texts have text features- that may not be found in fiction stories. Examples of text features include photos and captions and information boxes.

Voice: In a previous lesson, we learned how to prepare for reading by focusing on the title and subtitles, which are also important nonfiction text features that can help us gather information about a text.

Voice: Let’s talk about a common mistake Voice: Let’s talk about a common mistake. Oftentimes readers will start reading a text and forget to look at the text features.

Voice: When a reader forgets to look at text features they miss important information. So remember, text features help us gather information about what the text will teach!

What will this text teach me? Text Features Jot observations What will this text teach me? Voice: In this lesson, we will be using the nonfiction article, The Declaration of Independence and the First Fourth of July. We will practice looking at the text features, jotting our observations, and asking the question, what will this text teach me?

Voice: To jot our observations, we will use pencil and paper- or you can jot your notes in your reader’s notebook! I will start most of my sentences with “I notice”. When we make an observation, we are noticing details- in this case, noticing details about our text, The Declaration of Independence and the First Fourth of July!

Voice: Let’s begin. Take at look at the first page of our article Voice: Let’s begin. Take at look at the first page of our article. What text features do you see? I see a title, photo, caption, and a word in bold (which means it’s written darker than other words and stands out to the reader)

I notice the American flag once had only 13 stars I notice an old document with the word Congress Voice: Let’s take a minute to jot our observations by looking at the photo and reading the caption: Did you know that during the American Revolution the American Flag had only 13 stars to represent the 13 colonies. What do you notice from these two features? This is what I jotted on my paper. I notice the American flag- and how it once had only 13 stars. I also notice the folded paper or document- it looks old and it has the word Congress written at the top

Voice: Let’s see if we can find more text features Voice: Let’s see if we can find more text features. On page 2, I see an information box, a subtitle, and more words in bold.

I notice a section on Writing the Declaration I notice the year 1861 written in the caption Voice: On page 3, we can see another subtitle and bolded word, along with a picture in black and white- with a caption underneath. The caption says: This engraving from 1861 shows the signing of the Declaration of Independence. So let’s jot another observation: I notice a section on Writing the Declaration; I notice the year 1861 written in the caption. This article is packed with text features that will give us important information about the text.

Take a look at these text features: the title, photos and captions, a word in bold, and a subtitle. These are just a few of the many text features from this article, and already, by making observations from these features, we have a better understanding of what this text will teach!

I notice a section on Writing the Declaration I notice the year 1861 written in the caption I notice the American flag once had only 13 stars I notice an old document with the word Congress Voice: It’s important to remember, after looking at your text features and jotting your observations, ask yourself, what will this text teach me? Listen as I first reread my notes- As I read, I will highlight important details. I notice the American flag once had only 13 stars. I notice an old document with the word Congress. I notices a section on writing the declaration and I notice the year 1861 written in the caption. Now I need to ask myself, what will this text teach me? This text will teach me about the Declaration of Independence- I will learn about the time period of when the Declaration was written, and about the first Continental Congress.

Voice: So readers, in conclusion, 1) Look at the text features 2) Jot your observations and 3) Ask, “what will this text teach me?”

LearnZillion Notes: --This is the lesson conclusion. On this slide you’ll change your original lesson objective to past tense and explain what the student has just learned. You can retype it here or you can delete the text on this slide and then just copy and paste the text box from the original Lesson Objective slide and then edit it to make it past tense!

Practice jotting your observations by looking at these text features. What will this text teach you?

1. Cut out the text features from a printed article (with permission from your teacher!) 2. Organize your features on a large piece of paper or poster board 3. Share the information you can gather, just by using the text features 4. Teach your friends this important reading strategy!

It’s your turn to write. Choose an interesting topic It’s your turn to write. Choose an interesting topic. After researching your topic, brainstorm how you could write your own article using text features. Will you include an information box? Will your article be divided into subtitles? Will you include a photo and caption?

Look at the features on this page Jot your observations