Text Features

Text Features Help Students Understand Nonfiction Text

Examples of Text FeaturesWith Definitions and Examples

Explanations for How Text Features Help Readers

UnderstandingNonfiction

Text

What are text features?• Authors include text features to help

the reader better understand what they have read.

• Text features provide information that may not be written in the text itself.

• Text features can be found in textbooks, magazine articles, newspapers, reports, web pages, and other forms of nonfiction text.

Title• Topic of the text

• 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.

What does this title tell you?

Table of Contents• Lists the major parts

of a book along with their page numbers.

• Outlines the main topics or main points.

• Helps locate information in the book and see how everything is organized.

What page would you learn about the food chain?

Heading• Tells you what that

section is about.

• Gives you the main idea of the paragraph or page.

• Helps the reader to quickly identify what the paragraph is about.

What does this whole page talk about?

Subheading• Divide the text into

sections.

• Tell the main idea of each section of text.

• They are printed in large or bold type to make them stand out.

• Help the reader to locate information in the text by telling them where to look.

What is the heading of the page?

What is the subheading of the page.

Index• An alphabetical

listing of the key names, terms, events, and topics with page numbers.

• Helps readers find pages that contain information they are looking for.

Where would a reader find information in the text about Nigeria?

Bibliography• An alphabetical listing of

books and their authors used to gather information for a report.

• Located at the back of a book.

• Can be used to find other books on that topic but can also show the reader how much research the author did in writing the book.

How many books did the author use?How many websites?

Glossary• A list of key terms in

alphabetical order.

• Sometimes a glossary also tells you how to pronounce a word.

• Readers use the glossary to look up key terms to find out their meaning. This helps the reader better learn and understand the subject.

How would the glossary help the reader understand text?

Text (Bold, Color, & Italics)

• Key words to notice are in bold or in color.

• Text in italics is used in picture captions, book titles, and any other element that needs to stand out.

• Text in bold, color, or italics draw the readers attention to important information.

How do the words in italics help the reader understand the text?.

Photographs/Illustrations• Photos and

illustrations give information in a visual way.

• They help tell the story.

• Photographs are real images.

• Illustrations are hand-drawn pictures to represent something.

How might these photos help the reader understand the text?.

Captions• A caption

explains what is shown in a picture or illustration.

• Captions help the reader understand information that may or may not be in the text.

How does this caption help the reader understand the picture?

Diagrams• A diagram is a drawing

that shows or explains something.

• Diagrams help the reader understand steps, how objects are made, or information in the text.

How could this diagram help the reader understand plants?

Labels• Word or two that tells

about a picture.

• Similar to captions in that they are located near photos or illustrations.

How do the labels help the reader to understand dinosaurs?

Fact Box• Give additional

information.

• Short and to the point.

• Interesting key points.

How do Fact Boxes help us?

Tables• Tables organize large

amounts of information in a small space.

• Tables present all kinds of data, from numbers and amounts, to calendars and menus.

• Tables help the reader compare information in the text.

How would a table about volcano eruptions help the reader understand volcanoes?

Graphs• Shows information in

a visual way similar to tables.

• Makes the information easier to understand.

• Can be bar graphs, circle graphs, pictographs, or line graphs.

How do graphs help the reader?

Timelines• Show important

events in chronological order or time order.

• Help the reader better understand the order of events and how one event may have lead to another.

How would this timeline help a reader learn more about George Washington?

Side Bar• Gives addition

information about a topic.

• Similar to fact boxes but will generally give more information.

What do these side bars help the reader to understand?

Parentheses• Curved marks.

• Gives additional information in the sentence.

• Helps to further explain what the sentence is talking about.

What additional information is given here?

Pronunciation Guide• Tell the reader how to

pronounce an unfamiliar word.

• Used for irregular pronunciations.

• Used for names of people, places, or things.

• Helps the reader read more fluently.

When do you need a pronunciation guide?

Size Comparison• A diagram that

compares the size of one thing to another.

• Helps the reader make connections between different objects.

How does this size comparison diagram help the reader?

Maps• Drawings that show the

basic shape of the land and other geographical, political, or historical features.

• They help the reader understand where an event happens.

• They help the reader understand how far away an event took place.

How would this map help the reader better understand the text?

Bullets • Organizes

information in lists.

• Quick points. They are not always in full sentences.

• Just uses the important words.

What are bullets useful for?