Text FeaturesInformation for this presentation is taken from the following source:
** Reader’s Handbook, A Student Guide to Reading and Learning by
Great SourceSherwood Brooks
Driftwood Middle School2010/2011
Human beings have important elements in their bodies such as a
heart, lungs, blood vessels and brain. These elements stand out from
other features of our body.
Textbooks and informational text also
have important elements that stand out from the other parts of the text.
While reading informational text, you have probably seen some or
all of the following:• ** Boldface terms ** Photos and Illustrations
• ** Charts ** Preview
• ** Glossary ** Table of contents
• ** Headings and Titles ** Caption
• ** Index ** Timeline
• ** Maps
These are called Text Features and their purpose is
help us understand the information
presented.
Boldface•boldface type is a signal to: Slow Down and Pay Attention
•signals that a word, term, or event is important
Charts•give information, show
processes or make comparisons•pack lots of information in a
small space•a great resource to help you
understand information in the text
Glossary•alphabetical list of key people, places, events, and terms.
•a tool to help you understand the language of the subject
Graphs•use pictures and symbols to show information
•a graph is shown to make a point
•always read the graph’s title, labels on the vertical and horizontal axes, and any other text included with the graph
Headings and Titles•announce the topics that will be covered
•allow us to be efficient in our reading -- skim the headings to focus on the purpose of our reading
• increase your comprehension by turning headings and titles into a question -- as you continue to read, can you answer your “question”?
Index•found at the very back of a
textbook•gives the location of every
important idea, term, definition, person, and place.
•a search tool to help you find what you need
MapsWhen reading a map, pay attention to the following:
• ** Lines ** Scale
• ** Symbols ** Colors
• ** Labels ** Legend or Key
• ** Compass Rose
• ** Lines of Longitude and Latitude
Photos and Illustrations
• photos and illustrations are used to emphasize or make important points
• read the captions
• captions tell you the reason for putting the picture or illustration in the text
• captions say in a few lines, what the author takes paragraphs to explain
PreviewMany textbooks include a
preview at the beginning of chapters.
• acts like a summary
• packs into one small space, all of the important things to know about a chapter
• key terms and important vocabulary will often be listed in the preview
There are additional text
features such as color, italics, underlining,
examples, insets and many, many
more!!!!
Authors use text features to bring
attention to important details.
And now you are saying, “So
What?”.
Here’s the, “So What!”.
Putting text features into use will help you
understand more of your reading, and probably
allow you to do it in less time!!!!
You can use text features to become
more successful and efficient in your reading of
informational text.
So next time you have a reading assignment to
complete, pay attention to the text features as
you read. See if you can put them to use to
increase your comprehension and maybe you will even
finish your assignment in less time.
