AN INTRODUCTION TO NONFICTION TEXT FEATURES

TEXT FEATURES ARE THE PARTS OF A NONFICTION BOOK THAT HELP YOU FIND INFORMATION EASILY OR TELL YOU MORE ABOUT THE TOPIC. SOME EXAMPLES ARE: Titles Table of Contents Headings/Subheadings Photographs Illustrations Captions Tables/Graphs/Charts Diagrams/Labels Bold words / Italics Glossary Index

TITLE: THE NAME OF THE BOOK Found on cover of book or top of page. Titles tell the reader the topic of the text. Titles show the 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.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: GIVES THE HEADING AND BEGINNING PAGE NUMBER FOR EACH SECTION OF THE BOOK Found at the beginning of the book. The table of contents shows how the book is organized so you can find information more easily. The heading titles give the reader an outline of what the book is about. Table of Contents Flowers………………..…………..3 Vegetables………………..……....9 Fruit……………………… Trees…………………………….15 Glossary………………………...20 Index……………………………24

HEADINGS/SUBHEADINGS: DIVIDE THE TEXT INTO SECTIONS Headings tell the main idea of each section of text. Subheadings chunk text into smaller pieces under a heading. Headings and subheadings are printed in large or bold type to make them stand out. Headings and subheadings help the reader to locate information in the text by telling them where to look. heading subheading

PHOTOGRAPHS ILLUSTRATIONS: A real life picture Hand drawn picture

CAPTIONS: THE WORDS NEXT TO OR BELOW A PICTURE THAT TELL WHAT IT IS OR WHAT IT IS ABOUT Captions tell us more information about the picture.

DIAGRAMS AND LABELS A DRAWING THAT SHOWS THE PART OF SOMETHING Diagrams show the reader the parts of something to help them better understand what is in the text. Diagrams include labels for each part. Labels tell us name of the parts in a picture.

Maps

BOLD WORDS/ITALICS IMPORTANT WORDS THAT ARE DARKER THAN THE TEXT AROUND THEM Bold words tell the reader these words are important! Sometimes the important words will be a different color or in italics. Italic words are also important! Sometimes the meaning of the important words can be found in the glossary.

GLOSSARY: TELLS WHAT IMPORTANT WORDS MEAN A glossary tells you on what page to find important information. The words in a glossary are in ABC order. A glossary is found at the end of the book or near the back. 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

INDEX: A LIST OF THE TOPICS AND PEOPLE IN THE TEXT An index is listed in alphabetical order. An index is found at or near the end of a text. An index 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

WHY ARE TEXT FEATURES IMPORTANT? Text features help the reader to quickly find important information. Text features teach the reader about the topic. Text features can help the reader answer questions about a topic and the text they are reading.