Draw a Venn Diagram and assign the
details to “Fiction” or “Nonfiction
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Literary elements
Main idea and details
Read for entertainment
Read for information, learning, or persuasion
Mostly organized in sequence of plot events
Can be organized in many different ways
Preview using Title, cover
Preview using text features
Dialogue from characters
Quotations from real people
Paragraphs signal change in speaker, event, or location
Paragraphs signal change in idea/topic
Draw a Venn Diagram and assign the
details to “Fiction” or “Nonfiction
Apples vs. Oranges
How are eating an apple and an orange different?
How can this be used as an analogy for reading fiction and
nonfiction differently?
Peeling the Orange…
Reading nonfiction
Before reading an magazine article,
newspaper article, textbook, web article,
etc…
You must preview the text features
As a reader…
• Your job as a reader is to take notice of
these text features before you read so that
they help you predict what you will be
reading.
• During reading, so that they help you
understand the main ideas of the text.
• After reading, to understand why they
were valuable to you, the reader.
TEXT FEATURES…
We are going to focus on informational text,
which is a type of literature whose purpose is to
give information .
To help readers understand the ideas in the text,
authors of informational reading usually format
their text with something called TEXT FEATURES,
which you are probably familiar with.
Text Features are…
--techniques that make text look different
and stand out
--used to make information easier to read
and understand
Common Text Features
•Bulleted List
--easily displays a
list of items where
the order of the
items is not
important
Notice how the
bullets on this
recipe make the
ingredients list
easier to read.
Common Text Features
• Numbered List
--easily displays a list of
items where the
order of the items is
important
Notice how the
numbers on this recipe
help make the list of
cooking steps easier to
read. It also helps you
follow the steps in the
correct ORDER!
Common Text Features
•Headings
--a “title” to show the main
idea of an entire passage
•Subheadings
--a “title” under the
heading to further break
that text into sections
•White Space
--extra spaces between
text to separate it into
sections so the reader can
find information easily
heading
subheading
white space
Common Text Features
map
•graphics
--visuals that help the reader
chart
understand concepts
presented in the text (not
just for show)
table
-- include maps, charts,
pictures, diagrams, tables,
timelines
diagram
•captions
--text under a graphic that
gives an explanation of the
timeline
graphic
Common Text Features
• Columns
--vertical (up and
down) sections of
text that are easier
to read than text
that stretches
across the entire
page
--separated by white
space
Common Text Features
•Font changes Notice the font effects used in this
paragraph about instant messaging
--different ways to etiquette.
IMs are meant to be casual, but
make words look
it's a real turn-off when
different and add
messages are FULL of typos. It's
emphasis to certain not a test, but you want people
to understand you. It may help to
words
slow down and think a little
typing. Don't be
--includes bold print, before
haughty, either. It's not your
job to criticize someone else's
different colored
typing, unless it's really horrible.
fonts, italics,
Remember, you're using an IM to
communicate. If you're not
underlining, ALL
communicating, what's the point?
CAPS
Common Text Features
•Sidebar
--a box of text that gives
you side information
related to the topic of
the text you are reading;
sometimes this is
additional information;
sometimes it is
interesting facts or trivia Notice this web page of a
software company features a
about your topic
sidebar to the left to show the
reader key features of the
software.
TEXT FEATURES SCAVENGER HUNT…
Your assignment is to cut, glue (just a dot), and
label examples of text features from a
newspaper and/or magazine onto a piece of
construction paper. You must have 10 separate
cut-outs; you cannot find more than one text
feature per cut-out. You will be scored on
participation and cooperation. Use your notes
to help you find examples of the 10 text
features.