The 8 Most Common Text Features

Text features are the elements which organize written text to help convey meaning. They include page numbers, table of contents illustrations, photographs, chapter titles, headings and sub-headings, as well as labels, captions and diagrams.

It is crucial to teach children the features of text to help them improve their comprehension of reading. It is particularly beneficial when students are learning how to read nonfiction material.

What`s a text feature?

Text features are the parts of an article or book that don`t appear in the main body. These include the table contents and captions, indexes, headings below diagrams or pictures and glossary terms.

They are similar to the story elements found in fiction, but they provide extra support for comprehension and clear directions for readers. They aid students in finding information they might not have discovered in the text or connect to prior knowledge.

Children often ask, “How would I read this if there wasn`t a text feature?”

It is crucial for teachers to help students identify and comprehend text features in order to improve their comprehension of nonfictional content. This is especially important for science and social studies content.

Text Features Bingo is a excellent way to instruct students. You can play it in small groups or in a whole class. It`s an excellent way to get your students involved in meaningful learning!  You`ll find more at -.

Beginning Techniques For Using Text Features

Text features provide additional clues to assist students in understanding the information contained in textual information. Students are by themselves when they try to find relevant information in a text without them.

It is important to teach youngsters the importance of text features and how they can help them comprehend. This can be done by focusing on specific text features or by showing students the method of using them.

One way to introduce and practice text features is to use a scavenger hunt. This is a fantastic activity for children who are young because they will have fun exploring and recording the text features they discover.

Another way to teach text features is through a think-aloud in a small group. This is best done by clustering the groups so that there is diversity in strengths and background knowledge.

Once students have a basic understanding of text features they can then use them in their research and reading skills. For the book, an article, or a website Text features can help students organize their thoughts and locate important information efficiently.

More Advanced Techniques For Teaching Text Features

If students have a greater understanding of the text`s features and how they work they can make use of them to improve their comprehension of text. They can also access prior knowledge, connect and deepen their comprehension of the content of a text.

A text feature walk is a method to achieve this. This enthralling activity for small groups is highly effective and has been demonstrated to increase the number of accurate predictions.

Students can accomplish this by having them walk through a page from an introductory science or social studies text book. Explain that everything on the page , except for the main body of the text is considered to be a text feature.

Headings, captions, pictures captions, labeled maps, maps, glossaries, and diagrams with labels are all text-based features. The aim is to have students read the entire page and discuss what each feature does and the reason it`s there, and how they think it relates to their predicted principal idea.

Visual Text Features

Visual text features are graphic elements, such as symbols, icons and other elements that communicate information. They can include cartoons or comic strips maps, timelines or maps, signs or pictures or photographs of people.

These can help students make connections between concepts and provide a brief overview of the text. These can be used to gauge understanding of more abstract concepts or vocabulary.

In the classroom, text that is visual can be presented in many different ways. It can be found in the form of billboards, photos posters, graphs, charts as well as timelines, maps, or digital stories. The teaching of children to make use of these non-linguistic text features will allow them to comprehend more complex texts and appreciate reading a variety of books.