Text features are the elements of organization of written text that provide meaning. These include page numbers , table of contents, illustrations, photographs, chapter titles, headings, and sub-headings. They also include labels, captions and diagrams.
Teaching children about text features is important for improving their reading comprehension. It is particularly helpful for students who are learning to read nonfiction material.
What is a text feature?Text Features: What Are They?
Text features are the sections of a nonfiction article or book that aren`t included in the main body. They include the table of contents, the index, headings, captions under pictures or diagrams as well as glossary terms, labels or elements of graphs or charts and bolded terms.
They are similar to story elements in fiction but provide additional support for comprehension and an easy path for readers. They can help students locate information they`re not aware of or make connections to previous knowledge.
Children often ask, “How would I read this if there were no text feature?”
It is important to teach students to recognize and understand text features in order to increase their understanding of nonfiction content. This is particularly true for science and social studies content.
One method of teaching students is through a process called “Text Features Bingo.” You can play this game in an individual group or as a in a whole class. It`s an excellent way to engage your students in meaningful learning! You`ll find more at What Are Text Features By Fractus Learning.
Novice Techniques For Using Text Features
Text features offer additional clues for students in absorbing information from texts that are informative. Students are left by themselves in their quest to find relevant information in a text that is not provided by them.
It is important to teach youngsters the importance of text features and how they can assist them comprehend. It is possible to do this by focusing on specific text features or showing students how to use them.
One method to introduce and practice text features is to use the scavenger hunting. This is a great activity for kids who are younger because they can have a lot of excitement looking for and recording the text features they spot.
A think-aloud that is small-group based is another method of teaching the features of text. This works best when clustering groups so that there is diversity in strengths and background knowledge.
Students can utilize text features when researching and reading after they have a good understanding. Text features can be utilized for any type of text, including books, articles as well as websites. They help students organize information and locate it quickly.
Advanced Techniques For Using Text Features
When students have a better understanding of what text features are and how they work, they can use them to improve their comprehension of texts. They can also tap into prior knowledge, make connections and increase their understanding of the text`s content.
A text feature walk is one way to achieve this. This is a successful and fun small-group activity that has proven to increase the number of accurate predictions made by students.
Students can accomplish this by walking through a page of a science or social studies text book. Explain that all pages except the main body are text features.
For example headings, pictures, captions, diagrams labeled with captions maps, and glossaries are all text-based features. The goal is to make students walk through the page and discuss what each text feature does, why it is there and how it relates to their predicted principal idea.
Whats A Visual Text Feature
Visual text features are images, symbols such as icons, symbols, or other graphic elements that are used to convey information. These could include cartoons or comic strips, maps or timelines, photographs or images of people.
These can help students make connections between concepts and provide an overview of the text. They can also be an excellent way to test and gauge comprehension of more abstract concepts and vocabulary.
In the classroom, visual text can be presented in many different ways. It can be seen in the form of billboards, photographs posters, graphs, charts or maps, timelines or digital stories. These non-linguistic text features can be taught to children to ensure that they can comprehend more complex texts and appreciate a wider selection of books.