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Copyright © 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner DigitalTM and Lerner eSourceTM are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com. From Exploring Seeds. © by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. 1

Features that help students understand how an informational text is organized:

FEATURE PURPOSETitle page Confirms title, author’s name, and publisher

Chapter name, heading, or subheading Helps students identify main topics on a quick pass through the text

Page number Helps students with sequence of ideas and aids in using the index

Glossary Defines new and important words

Index Lists the main ideas in the text, with page numbers to help students find them

Visual aids that help students understand informational texts:

VISUAL AID PURPOSEPhoto, drawing, or illustration Shows how something in the text looked or might have looked

Diagram Gives a more detailed view of a complex topic

Features that point out important or additional information:

FEATURE PURPOSEBold print Tells students a word is new and important; sometimes a glossary term

Label Identifies important points of interest in a diagram or photograph that students might otherwise miss

Teaching First-Grade TEXT FEATURES Using EXPLORING SEEDS

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2Copyright © 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner DigitalTM and Lerner eSourceTM are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com. From Exploring Seeds. © by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

by Kristin Sterling

aLerner Publications Company · Minneapolis

TITLE

TITLE PAGE: This is the first page of the book. It tells you what the name, or title, of the book is. It also tells you who wrote the book. This person is called the author.

AUTHOR

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3Copyright © 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner DigitalTM and Lerner eSourceTM are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com. From Exploring Seeds. © by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Image: © Rachel Weill/FoodPix/Getty Images.

I see seeds.

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PAGE NUMBERS: Page numbers are on the lower part of most pages in a book. They tell you how far along you are in the book. They also help you find information from the index.

BOLD PRINT: Words in bold print have thick, black letters. You might not know what these words mean. They are usually in a glossary, or list with meanings, at the end of the book.

PHOTOS: The photos or pictures in a book show what the words, or text, describe. Looking at photos can help you understand the meaning of the text.

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4Copyright © 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner DigitalTM and Lerner eSourceTM are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com. From Exploring Seeds. © by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Image: © Laura Westlund/Independent Picture Service.

Seeds are parts of plants.

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TEXT OR MAIN TEXT: These are the words on a page that describe the main ideas of the book. Main text is usually smaller than chapter titles or headings.

DIAGRAM: A diagram is a type of drawing. Its title tells you what the drawing shows.

LABELS: These words are part of a diagram or a photo. They point out important parts of the diagram or photo.

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5Copyright © 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner DigitalTM and Lerner eSourceTM are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com. From Exploring Seeds. © by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Images: © Nigel Cattlin/Visuals Unlimited, Inc. (top); © Rachel Weill/FoodPix/Getty Images (second from top); © Will Heap/Getty Images (third from top); © Bogdan Wankowicz/Dreamstime.com (bottom).

GLOSSARY: This is a list of important new words that you have learned by reading the book. Each glossary word is in bold letters. After the bold word is the meaning, or definition, of the word. You can find the glossary near the end of the book.

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Glossary

roots – the parts of a plant that bring in water and keep a plant in the groundseeds – the plant parts that can make new plants

soil – the dirt in which plants grow

stem – the part of a plant that holds up the plant

HEADINGS: These words separate your book into parts. Headings are usually in bigger type and are at the top of a page. A heading tells you what’s to come in that part of the book.

GLOSSARY WORD

DEFINITION

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Copyright © 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner DigitalTM and Lerner eSourceTM are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com. From Exploring Seeds. © by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. 6

INDEX: This list at the end of a book follows the order of the alphabet. The index helps you find main ideas. The words in the index are followed by page numbers. These numbers tell you where to go in the book to find the main ideas.

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Index

flower – 3, 8–9

leaves – 3, 8–9

pits – 13

roots – 3, 6

soil – 3, 5–6

stem – 3, 7

water – 5, 11