Text features are the elements of organization of text that give meaning. They include page numbers, tables of contents illustrations and photographs chapter titles, headings, sub-headings, labels, captions, diagrams, and more.
Teaching children about the text aspects is crucial for improving their comprehension of reading. It is particularly beneficial when students are learning to read nonfiction books.
What`s a text feature?
Text features are the parts of a nonfiction article or book that aren`t included in the main body. They include the table of contents and captions, indexes, headings under diagrams or pictures, and glossary terms.
They`re akin to story elements in fiction, but they offer extra assistance for comprehension and provide clear directions for the reader. They can help students find details they`re not aware of, or make connections with previous knowledge.
Children often ask, “How would I read this if there were no text feature?”
It is important to teach students how to recognize and understand text features to increase their understanding of nonfiction material. This is especially important for social studies and science content.
Text Features Bingo is a great way to teach students. It can be played in small groups or with the entire class. This is a great way to engage students in meaningful learning. You`ll find more at -.
Beginning Techniques For Using Text Features
Text features are additional clues that help students understand information from informational texts. Without them students are left on their own tools when trying to locate relevant information in a text.
It is essential to teach students the importance of text features and how they can assist them understand. You can do this by focusing on particular text features or showing students how to use them.
One way to introduce and practice text features is through a scavenger hunt. This activity is particularly great for children who are young because they can have fun exploring and recording the text features that they discover.
A think-aloud that is small-group based is another way to teach the features of text. This is most effective when you cluster the groups in a way that there is a diversity of strengths and background knowledge.
Once students have a solid understanding of text features they can use them in their research and reading skills. If it`s an article, a book or even a website Text features can help students determine organization and locate important information efficiently.
Advanced Techniques For Teaching Text Features
Students can improve their comprehension of text features and the way they function by having greater understanding. They can also tap into prior knowledge, connect and increase their understanding of the text`s content.
One way to do this is to use a text feature walk. This activity that is engaging for small groups is highly efficient and has been shown to increase the number of valid predictions.
Students can practice this by having them walk through a section of a science or social studies text book. Explain that everything on the page , except for the main body of the text is considered a text feature.
For instance, headings, pictures and captions, diagrams that are labeled, maps, and glossaries are all text features. The goal is to have students explore the page and discuss what each text feature does and the reason it`s there, and how they think it is related to their principal idea.
Visual Text Features
Visual text features are graphic elements, such as icons, symbols, and other elements that convey information. These could include cartoons or comic strips and timelines, maps or signs or pictures or photographs of people.
They can help students connect ideas and provide a concise overview of the text. They can also be used to assess comprehension of more abstract concepts or the vocabulary.
Visual text can be represented in a variety of ways in a classroom. It could be in the form of photographs, posters, posters or charts. The teaching of children to use these non-linguistic text features will help them comprehend more complicated texts and will help them enjoy reading a variety of books.