Informational Text Features

Laurie Larsen Buttereld Canyon

Informational Text Features

Informational text features help the reader more easily navigate the text and often provide additional information to help students comprehend the content. Print Features Organizational Aids Graphic Aids

Guide readers through the patterns of organization

Help readers find important information

Represent information in some specific way

Feature
T able of Contents

Helps the Reader...

Identify key topics in the book and the order they are presented in

Feature
Bold Print

Helps the Reader...

By signaling the word is important and/or found in the glossary

Feature
Diagrams

Helps the Reader...

Understand a more detailed or simplied view of information.

Index

See everything in the text listed alphabetically, with page numbers

Glossary Preface

Dene words contained in the text Set a purpose for reading, get an overview of the content Say the words

Colored Print Italics

Understand the word is important Understand the word is important Emphasize key points/ concepts Locate different categories in the text Identify topics throughout the book as they skim and scan Navigate through sections of text Understand a picture or photograph Identify a picture or photograph and/or its parts Gather additional or explanatory information.

Flow Diagram

Understand a complex sequence of movements or actions

Sketches Comparisons

Visualize an important concept Understand the size of one thing by comparing it to the size of something familiar Understand relativity between elements Combine text information with graphical aids Understand where things are in the world Summarize/Compare information Understand something by looking at it from the inside Understand additional information Understand the sequence of time

Bullets

Pronunciation Guide Appendix

Titles

Graphs

By offering additional information

Headings

Figures

Expand the meaning of the text

Illustrations

Subheadings

Maps

Feature
Photos

Helps the Reader...

Understand exactly what something looks like Understand what something could or might have looked like See details in something small

Captions

Charts/T ables CrossSections Overlays TIme-lines

Labels

Drawings

Sidebars

Magnication

Teaching Text Features

Model, Model, Model
Shared/Guided Reading, Interactive/Shared writing

Labels

Cut away diagram

Teaching Text Features

Model, Model, Model
Shared/Guided Reading, Interactive/Shared writing

Text Feature Scavenger Hunt

Students search through informational text with a partner looking for as many features as they can nd. They record the feature and its purpose.

Text Feature Scavenger Hunt

Reader______________________ Date________________

Your job is to investigate text features and try to find examples of as many different features as you can.

Text Feature ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________

Purpose _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________

Found in

Page

_____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______ _____________ ______

Teaching Text Features

Model, Model, Model
Shared/Guided Reading, Interactive/Shared writing

Text Feature Scavenger Hunt

Students search through informational text with a partner looking for as many features as they can nd. They record the feature and its purpose.

Investigations
Synthesize learning and use informational text features to teach the craft writing expository text.