1. INFORMATIONAL TEXTS

2. WHAT IS AN INFORMATIONAL TEXT?  When you read nonfiction, you learn information. These look very different from fiction pieces and there are special features (see next slide) such as photographs, diagrams, or maps.  Different from fiction May be chapter titles and section headers that preview information Each page has words in a variety of fonts and sizes Bold or italic fonts may be used to signal important words/phrrases

3. TEXT FEATURES  See handout for various text features  Here are some examples….

4. DIAGRAMS

5. PHOTOS/ HEADLINES AND SUB HEADS

6. U.S NEWS EXAMPLE  http://www.usnews.com/education/high- schools/articles/2012/09/17/high-school-students-need-to-think- not-memorize http://www.usnews.com/education/high- schools/articles/2012/09/17/high-school-students-need-to-think- not-memorize

7. SCAVENGER HUNT  Using magazines, books, and the internet, locate as many text features as you can using the chart to record the features as well as purpose for the features.  You have 20 minutes….go!

8. INFORMATIONAL TEXT ACTIVITY

9. ARTICLE  In small groups, please read the Atlanta Magazine article  One piece of paper per group but everyone has their own article…

10. PRE-READING QUESTIONS  What type of genre is this text? How do you know?  Look at the cover of the article. What Text Features do you see?  Why do authors use pictures when writing informational articles?  Why do you think the author chose to use this picture for the article?  What predictions can you make about the information in this article (generate a list)

11. DURING READING QUESTIONS  Skim the article for text features  Flip the article and make a list of what you know about this reading selection  Make a group list; make a point of how much information you gained in just a one minute skim of the article  Read the article together and summarize each section out to the side

12. AFTER READING QUESTIONS  Identify examples of text features in the article and explain why you think the author used that feature and/or how it helped them to better understand the reading selection  Working in your groups, make a list/chart of each text feature and tell me the effect on you and your group (for example, pictures help me to see the perspective of the author)