TEXT FEATURES

Text features are parts of informational (nonfiction) text other than the body that help the reader understand the content more clearly.

Headings• Headings give the reader clues about what he or she will find in the text below it.• If the reader is trying to locate a specific fact, he or she can look at the headings to

figure out where to find the information. That way, he or she does not have to read the entire article to find the information he or she needs!

• allows a reader to be efficient in our reading -- skim the headings to focus on the purpose of our reading

• Think of headings as "titles" and subheadings as "mini-titles."

Footnotes• Located at the bottom of the page• Provide additional information about something in the body of the

text• Usually linked to that text with a raised number notation

“Isabella worked hard for her new owner. She plowed, planted, and harvested his fields. Mr. Dumont said, “She could do as much work as half a dozen…people.” But Isabella did not benefit1 from her hard labor. She was still a slave.” (Roop, P. & Roop, C. Tales of Famous Heroes)

1 benefit: to be helped by

Captions

Lions are the laziest of the big cats. They usually spend 16 to 20 hours a day sleeping and resting. (Fact from Out to Africa website)

• Captions give explanatory text about specific published photos, charts, graphs, etc.

• Captions tell the reader the reason for putting the picture or illustration in the text

• Captions say in a few lines what the author takes paragraphs to explain

http://www.mce.k12tn.net/english/powerpoints.htm

Table of Contents

• All kinds of books, especially textbooks and nonfiction books, will have a table of contents at the beginning. This is a list of the main sections of the book and the page numbers they begin on. Think about books that you have seen with a table of contents and how it might have helped you.

Table of ContentsIntroduction to Baking I

Chapter 1: Cookies 1

Sugar 3 Oatmeal 5 Chocolate Chip 8Chapter 2: Cakes 10 Butter Cakes 13 Sponge Cakes 16

Chapter 3: Brownies 20

Cakey 23 Fudgy 25 Chewy 28Glossary 30Index 35

Look at the following example of a table of contents page.

On what page would you look for oatmeal raisin cookies?

Where would you find the word sift?

Table of ContentsIntroduction to Frogs I

Chapter 1: Types 1

Chapter 2: Living Environments 10

Chapter 3: Anatomy 20

Chapter 4: In the Media 30

Chapter 5: Amusing Facts 40

Glossary 50

Index 55

Test your knowledge about table of contents on the following example question.

According to the table of contents, where would information about Kermit the Frog most likely be found?

A. page 1B. page 10C. page 20D. page 30

Index

• Alphabetical list of key people, places and terms and their page numbers

• Generally found in the back of the book

On what pages would you look to find

information about the Boston Celtics?

Where would you most likely find information about Michael Jordan?

Basketball

Basketball quiz 211-223

College Teams 172-182

Equipment 98-112

Famous Players of the NBA 309-345

History 1-26

Rules of the Game 27-39

Teams in Europe 114-171

Teams in the US 184-208

Women Players 224-266

Glossary

• alphabetical list of key terms . • a tool to help you understand the

language of the subject

Chemistry Glossaryacid a compound that yields H+ ions in solution or a solution in which the concentration of H+ exceeding OH-.

acid ionization constant the equilibrium constant describing the degree of ionization of an acid. actinides the row of elements below the periodic table, from thorium to lawrencium.

alkali synonym for base.

alkali metals the column of elements from lithium to francium.

Additional text features

• All of these are getting you to SLOW DOWN and PAY ATTENTION

• Each is saying “This is important!”

Boldface Italics Color Underline