TEXT FEATURES
Text features are parts of informational (nonfiction) text other than the body that help the reader understand the content more clearly.
Headings Headings give the reader clues about what he or she will find in the text below it. If the reader is trying to locate a specific fact, he or she can look at the headings to figure out where to find the information. That way, he or she does not have to read the entire article to find the information he or she needs! allows a reader to be efficient in our reading -- skim the headings to focus on the purpose of our reading Think of headings as "titles" and subheadings as "mini-titles."
Footnotes Located at the bottom of the page Provide additional information about something in the body of the text Usually linked to that text with a raised number notation “Isabella worked hard for her new owner. She plowed, planted, and harvested his fields. Mr. Dumont said, “She could do as much work as half a dozen…people.” But Isabella did not benefit1 from her hard labor. She was still a slave.” (Roop, P. & Roop, C. Tales of Famous Heroes) 1 benefit: to be helped by
Captions Captions give explanatory text about specific published photos, charts, graphs, etc. Captions tell the reader the reason for putting the picture or illustration in the text Captions say in a few lines what the author takes paragraphs to explain Lions are the laziest of the big cats. They usually spend 16 to 20 hours a day sleeping and resting. (Fact from Out to Africa website)
http://www.mce.k12tn.net/english/powerpoints.htm
Table of Contents All kinds of books, especially textbooks and nonfiction books, will have a table of contents at the beginning. This is a list of the main sections of the book and the page numbers they begin on. Think about books that you have seen with a table of contents and how it might have helped you.
On what page would you look for oatmeal raisin cookies? Look at the following example of a table of contents page. Table of Contents Introduction to Baking I Chapter 1: Cookies 1 Sugar 3 Oatmeal 5 Chocolate Chip 8 Chapter 2: Cakes 10 Butter Cakes 13 Sponge Cakes 16 Chapter 3: Brownies 20 Cakey 23 Fudgy 25 Chewy 28 Glossary 30 Index 35 On what page would you look for oatmeal raisin cookies? Where would you find the word sift?
Test your knowledge about table of contents on the following example question. Introduction to Frogs I Chapter 1: Types 1 Chapter 2: Living Environments 10 Chapter 3: Anatomy 20 Chapter 4: In the Media 30 Chapter 5: Amusing Facts 40 Glossary 50 Index 55 According to the table of contents, where would information about Kermit the Frog most likely be found? A. page 1 B. page 10 C. page 20 D. page 30
Index Alphabetical list of key people, places and terms and their page numbers Generally found in the back of the book
Basketball Basketball quiz 211-223 College Teams 172-182 Equipment 98-112 Famous Players of the NBA 309-345 History 1-26 Rules of the Game 27-39 Teams in Europe 114-171 Teams in the US 184-208 Women Players 224-266 On what pages would you look to find information about the Boston Celtics? Where would you most likely find information about Michael Jordan?
Glossary alphabetical list of key terms . a tool to help you understand the language of the subject
Chemistry Glossary acid a compound that yields H+ ions in solution or a solution in which the concentration of H+ exceeding OH-. acid ionization constant the equilibrium constant describing the degree of ionization of an acid. actinides the row of elements below the periodic table, from thorium to lawrencium. alkali synonym for base. alkali metals the column of elements from lithium to francium.
Additional text features Boldface Italics Color Underline All of these are getting you to SLOW DOWN and PAY ATTENTION Each is saying “This is important!”