1. Text Features Help Students Understand Nonfiction Text
Understanding
Nonfiction
Text
Text Features
Examples of Text Features
With Definitions
Explanations for How Text Features Help Readers
Text Features Help Students Understand Nonfiction Text

2. What are text features?
Authors include text features to help the reader better understand what they have read.
Text features provide information that may not be written in the text itself.
Text features can be found in textbooks, magazine articles, newspapers, reports, web pages, and other forms of nonfiction text.

3. The reader would understand animal adaptations better because the definition tells them what it means to adapt.
Definitions
A statement of the exact meaning of a word
Definitions help the reader better learn and understand the key terms. A
Acid rain (AS ihd rayn) rain that carries certain kind of pollution.
Adapt (uh DAPT) to change in order to survive in new environments
How would the definition of adapt help the reader understand text about animal adaptations?

4. The titles all talk about space so the articles are all about space.
Titles (Heading)
Titles tell the reader the topic and main idea of the text.
Titles help the reader by letting them know what they are about to read.
Titles focus the reader on a topic so they can make connections between what they already know and the text.
What do the titles of the articles in these newspapers tell you?

5. Subheadings (Subtitle)
A fire ant is a kind of ant so the reader would look in Types of Ants.
Where would the reader look to find out about a fire ant?
Subheadings (Subtitle)
THE LIFE OF ANTS
Helpful Ants
Although ants are frustrating when they get in homes, ants do help the environment. They help control the population of damaging pests such as termites.
Types of Ants
Types of ants include fire ants, which cause a painful sting, and carpenter ants, which damage wood structures while nest building. Other types of ants include honey, pharaoh, house, Argentine, and the thief ant.
Subheadings divide the text into sections.
Subheadings tell the main idea of each section of text.
They are printed in large or bold type to make them stand out.
Subheadings help the reader to locate information in the text by telling them where to look.

6. White Space THE LIFE OF ANTS
See how the information stands out more because of the space around it?
White Space
THE LIFE OF ANTS
Helpful Ants
Although ants are frustrating when they get in homes, ants do help the environment. They help control the population of damaging pests such as termites.
Types of Ants
Types of ants include fire ants, which cause a painful sting, and carpenter ants, which damage wood structures while nest building. Other types of ants include honey, pharaoh, house, Argentine, and the thief ant.
White space is the extra spaces between text to separate it into sections.
White space makes it easier for the reader to find information.

7. Text (Bold, Color, & Italics)
The words in italics help the reader by focusing the reader on the answer to a question.
Text (Bold, Color, & Italics)
The style and color of the text sends the reader signals about how to read the content.
Key words to notice are in bold or in color.
Text in italics is used in picture captions, book titles, and any other element that needs to stand out.
Text in bold, color, or italics draw the readers’ attention to important information.
The Wetlands of the South
Why are the South’s wetlands so important?
The Okefenokee (oh kuh fuh NOH kee) Swamp is a large wetland in the South. A wetland is a place where the ground is soaked with water for at least part of the year.
How do the words in italics help the reader understand the text?

8. Photographs Illustrations
The pictures would help me understand what the animals look like and where the live.
Photographs Illustrations
Photos and illustrations (hand drawn pictures) give information in a visual way.
They help tell the story.
They work with the words and headings to help teach material.
They help the reader understand an idea from the text that was unclear.
How might these photos help the reader understand the text?

9. Labels The illustration is labeled so we can see the different parts.
petals
Labels help the reader identify a photo or illustration and/or its parts.
They help the reader understand a photo or illustration more fully.
stem
leaf

10. Captions These gold coins were found on the ocean floor!
The caption explains that the coins are from the bottom of the ocean.
The caption would help me understand where the treasure was found.
Captions
A caption explains what is shown in a picture or illustration.
Captions help the reader understand information that may or may not be in the text.
Photo by MARCIN SZCZEPANSKI
These gold coins were found on the ocean floor!
How does this caption help the reader understand the picture? If this article was about finding treasure, how would this caption help the reader understand the text?

11. The textbox contains the mystery to help create interest for the reader.
A textbox provides more information than is in the text about a topic.
A textbox can include interesting facts or important information the author wants the reader to know.
Textboxes help readers understand by creating interest or emphasizing important information.
One of the textboxes above asks the reader to solve a mystery about a Tasmanian Devil. Why would he include this mystery?

12. The map could help the reader understand where Texas is located and how the location relates to the text.
Maps
Maps are drawings that show the basic shape of the land and other geographical, political, or historical features.
They present information in a visual form.
They help the reader understand where an event happens.
They help the reader understand how far away an event took place.
How would a map of the United States help the reader understand an article about Texas?

13. The diagram helps the reader understand the parts of a volcano and how they erupt.
Diagrams
A diagram is a drawing that shows or explains something.
To understand a diagram the reader should read the titles, labels, captions, and numbered parts.
Diagrams help the reader understand steps, how objects are made, or information in the text.
How could this diagram help the reader understand volcanoes?

14. The cutaway lets us see what the inside of the beaver’s lodge looks like.
Cutaways
Cutaways help the reader understand something by looking at it from the inside.
It’s like cutting a slice of something.
How could this cutaway help the reader understand beavers?

15. Close-ups This close-up let’s us know why this person is so upset.
Close-ups help the reader to see small details in a picture.
They help the reader understand everything that might be going on in a situation, even if it’s something you normally wouldn’t be able to see or wouldn’t notice.

16. The table would help the reader understand where and how often volcanoes erupt.
Tables
Tables organize large amounts of information in a small space.
Tables present all kinds of data, from numbers and amounts, to calendars and menus.
Tables help the reader compare information in the text.
How would a table about volcano eruptions help the reader understand volcanoes?

17. Charts and graphs help the reader see relationships between things.
There are several different kinds of charts (pie, bar chart, flow chart, etc.)
Charts and Graphs
Charts and graphs also present all kinds of data to help the reader understand important information.

18. Table of Contents Table of Contents
You find the table of contents at the beginning of books.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Flowers………………..…………..3
Vegetables………………..……....9
Fruit………………………
Trees…………………………….15
Glossary………………………...20
Index……………………………24
Table of contents gives the heading and beginning page number for each section of the book.
The heading titles give the reader an outline of what the book is about.
How would a table of contents help you find information more easily?

19. The timeline would show that computers may not have been affordable until late in an older persons life.
Timelines
Timelines show important events in chronological order or time order.
Timelines help the reader better understand the order of events and how one event may have lead to another.
How would a timeline help a reader understand an article about why some older people aren’t knowledgeable about computers?

20. Side Bar
Side bars provide extra information, definitions, objectives, or photos.
They offer information that complements but is not always essential to the main text.

21. Index An index is found at or near the end of a text.
An index is an alphabetical list of almost everything covered in a text with page numbers.
It is a way to quickly find information that is in the text.
The reader can use key words or people’s names to help them locate information in the text.
The index gives the page number where you can find the information.
Index
butterfly food………..……..10
life cycle…………..……
types of....…………………..12
caterpillars………………….6
Gibbons, Gail…..………...…1

22. A glossary is usually found at the end of the book or near the back.
A glossary is a list of key words in a text and their meanings.
It helps the reader understand the key words that are in the text.
It is in alphabetical order.
Glossary
flower: the part of the plant that makes new seeds
fruit: the part of the plant that holds the seeds
seed: the part of the plant that can grow into a new plant
It’s like a small dictionary of words in a text. How could this be helpful if you came across a word you didn’t know in your reading?

23. Columns Columns are the vertical (up and down) sections of text.
It is easier to read than text that stretches across the page.
The columns are separated by white space.

24. Bullet Points
Bullet points are the dark black dots used to identify items in a list.
They help organize information or make it easier to see important points.
These are bullet points.

25. Find an article and find an example of each text feature
Find an article and find an example of each text feature. Explain how each example helps you to understand what you read.

26. TEXT FEATURES SCAVENGER HUNT…
Your assignment is to cut, glue (just a dot), and label examples of text features from a newspaper and/or magazine onto a piece of construction paper. You must have 10 separate cut-outs; you cannot find more than one text feature per cut-out. You will be scored on participation and cooperation. Use your notes to help you find examples of the 10 text features.

27. NOW THAT YOU KNOW ABOUT TEXT FEATURES
I CHALLENGE YOU TO USE THEM TO COMPLETE A SCAVENGER HUNT
Read the article, Flying High. Your goal is to identify as many informational text features as possible. Write the types you find on a separate sheet of paper and then check your work by viewing the next slide.

28. SCAVENGER HUNT ANSWERS
THE TEXT FEATURES YOU SHOULD HAVE FOUND:
Title (Flying High)
Subheading (Hand-wing)
Labels
A Caption
A Photograph
A Diagram
Bold Print
Italics
NEXT TIME YOU READ
Pay attention to the text features as you read. See if you can put them to use to increase your comprehension and maybe you will even finish your assignment in less time!