1. Text Features Help Students Understand Nonfiction Text
Understanding
Fiction & Nonfiction
Text
Text Features
Identify text features.
Support text info. Using text features.
Text Features Help Students Understand Nonfiction Text

2. What are text features? help reader better understand what was read.
provide info that may not be in the text itself.
can be found in textbooks, articles, literature, newspapers, reports, web pages, and other forms of fiction and nonfiction.

3. 1.Table of Contents lists major parts of book along with page #s
The information about where animals live would be found on page 3 in Animal Habitats.
1.Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: All About Animals
Animal Adaptations ……..Page 1
Animal Food……….……..Page 2
Animal Habitats . ………..Page 3
Animal Homes ..……….…Page 4
Chapter 2: All About Plants
Photosynthesis ………….Page 5
Types of Plants ………….Page 6
lists major parts of book along with page #s
Where would a reader find information about where an animal lives?

4. The reader could find information about acid rain on pages 396 – 397.
2. Index
alphabetical listing of key terms and page #s at the end of a text A
Abu Simbel, temple of, p73
Acadia, Canada,
Acid rain, 396, c396-c397,
Animal Adaptations p1
Animal Food p2
Animal Habitats p3
Animal Homes p5
Where would a reader find information in the text about acid rain?

5. The reader would understand animal adaptations better because the glossary tells them what it means to adapt.
3. Glossary
list of key terms and definitions in alphabetical order at the end
bolded 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 glossary help the reader understand text about animal adaptations?

6. 4. Headings show the main idea of the text top of page
The titles all talk about space so the articles are all about space.
4. Headings
show the main idea of the text
top of page
What do the headings of the articles in these newspapers tell you?

7. 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?
5.Subheadings
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.
divide the text into sections
tell the main idea of each section of text
use large or bold words

8. 6. Bullet Points / Numbers
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?
6. Bullet Points / Numbers
point readers to important info.

9. 7. Sidebar interesting facts or important info not already in the text
The textbox contains the mystery to help create interest for the reader.
7. Sidebar
interesting facts or important info not already in the text
One of the textboxes above asks the reader to solve a mystery about a Tasmanian Devil. Why would he include this mystery?

10. The table would help the reader understand where and how often volcanoes erupt.
8. Graphics / 9. Captions
photos, designs, illustrations, diagrams, charts, graphs, etc. that support the text
make data easier to read and understand
captions underneath explain the graphic
How would a table about volcano eruptions help the reader understand volcanoes?

11. 10. Foreword book intro. written by someone other than the author
This forward may lend more authority to the text
10. Foreword
book intro. written by someone other than the author
before the main text 11

12. Prologues and prefaces add interest to the text
11.Prologue / 12.Preface
both written by author
prologue tells of events occurring before the main story begins
fiction
preface gives interesting facts or background info. before the main text
nonfiction 12

13. 13. Footnotes / 14. Endnotes provide further explanation
footnotes – bottom of page
end notes – end of document 13

14. 15. Bibliography
alphabetical list at the end of books, articles, etc. used as references 14

15. 16.Afterword / 17.Epilogue come at the end of main text to close
additional info.
nonfiction
epilogue
tells what happened to characters after story
fiction
details:
Images may be subject to copyright. 15

16. 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.

17. Bellwork (2/7/13) Take out your 17 text feature terms.
QUIZ TOMORROW!
Bellwork (2/7/13)
Take out your 17 text feature terms.
Text feature scavenger hunt activity must be completed and turned in by the end of the period today.