Do Now
A
role model is a person you look
up to. Before you begin writing,
think about someone you look up
to. Why do you admire this person?
 Write at least a paragraph in which
you explain to your classmates
whom you admire and why you
admire this person.
Please write your DO NOW below:
One person I look up to is _______________________.
They are a role model to me because ________________
___________________________________________.
One thing I want my classmates to know about this person
is _______________________________________.
Another great thing about this person is ______________
____________________________________________
___________________________________________.
Having ______________________ for my role model is
very ____________ for me.
Today’s Agenda!!
 Introduce
Unit Seven:
Expository Text and Research
 Text Features
 Group Practice
 Partner Activity
 Exit
Slip!!
Unit Seven: Expository Text and Research
This unit is focusing on expository texts.
 Expository text is nonfiction.
 Nonfiction is written works intended to
give facts, or true accounts of real things
Expository texts are
and events.
supposed to give
 It is a type of writing,
information to a
in which the purpose
reader.
Some examples
is to inform, explain,
include: cooking
describe, or define
instructions, driving
directions, and
the author's subject
instructions on
to the reader.
performing a task.

Expository Texts
facts. Highlight
these points!!
 …Explains.
 …Gives steps in a process.
 …Presents ideas in
logical order or correct
sequence.
 …Gives
Structural Features…What?!?!
Structural features of text simply refers to
the different various ways of placing text to
draw attention to certain ideas.
 These usually help the reader understand
more about the text.
 All writing has some kind of organization.



For example, many long documents have a table of
contents, and directions often have numbered steps.
As a reader, you need to find how the writing is
organized—and fast.
Structural Features Continued…
 Wouldn’t
it be confusing if I gave you a
worksheet that had all the words and
sentences in one big paragraph, rather
than splitting it up into different points??

These features help the overall
structure for a text, and most
importantly, it helps you all be active
readers.
Examples of structural features


Some examples of structural features are:
 Title, illustration, diagrams, captions, photos, author,
table of content, footnotes, indexes, and citations.
Some places that will have these structural features
are:
 Magazines, newspapers, television, textbooks, and
internet/websites.
Why do we need to know about
structural features in popular media??



The reason why it is important to
know about the structural features
in popular media is because we can
really gain a lot of information.
Let’s
a
Text
aidstake
and features
organize
closerinlook…
details
a text and highlight
important information, including
the writer’s main ideas.
Identifying these structural
features can help you locate and
understand the information in a
text.
What are some structural features??



Title
Author
Headings



 Subheadings 
 Bibliography 
 Key terms

 Maps
Graphs
Charts
Photos
Indexes
Table of
contents
Captions
Boldfaced
type and
Italics
 URL
 Links
 Menus

Let’s look at some of
these in more detail…
Title/Heading




A heading or title is extremely useful for identifying the
main topic for a section of text. 
Headings offer you a glimpse about what they are going to
read about.
There are also subheadings. The sub-heading is a second
heading in a chapter or article. It contains information
related to the heading, but is a mini-topic related to
the main title.
 An example would be:
The Chemistry Elements (heading)
Iron
(subheading)
Let’s look at a newspaper and magazine to find the
titles or the headings…
Graphs, Charts, and Diagrams
Who can give me an example of when you have
seen a graph, chart, or diagram in a text??
 These are used to help us understand the
content of the article or passage.
 They are often sectioned off in the text to
bring attention, thus containing
important information.
 Graphs, charts, and diagrams often show
significant data, which could otherwise be
overlooked if it was simply in the middle of the
text.

Bold and Italicized Font



What do you think the purpose of bold or italicized font is??
Bold and italicized font is mainly used to signal words or
lists that we, as readers, should pay attention to. They
are important!!
Italicized font is also used for titles of the following: journals,
magazines, plays, movies, television shows, famous speeches,
and long poems.


Examples: Animal Farm,The Pearl, Roll of Thunder, Hear my
Cry,Teen People, New Moon, etc.
It is important to know what bold and italicized font looks like
because you may be asked to identify what information in a
text is written in these types of font!!
Bibliography and Citations Page



A bibliography and citations page has all of the
information, such as title, author, and publisher,
Website you of
can go
to if you want more
all the works that were used in an article,
information about
magazine, research paper, etc.
this topic!!
These are important because you can use them if you
want to find more information on a certain topic
that was mentioned in the text.
For example, if you are reading a magazine article that
cites outside sources, and you want to do more research
yourself, you can look at the citations page to go search!!
Captions




What are captions??
Captions are phrases, sentences, or short
paragraphs describing photos or charts. Photo
captions are usually placed directly above, below,
or to the side of the pictures they describe.
After headlines and graphics, photo captions are the third
most looked at portion of most printed pages.
Captions are used to pull in the reader.
Captions
Captions to
explain
the
pictures
Structural Features Review


Now that you have learned what certain structural features are, can
you remind me what each one is??
What is the importance of the title??


What is the importance of graphs, charts, and diagrams??


Bold and italicized font is mainly used to signal words or lists that we, as
readers, should pay attention to.
Why are bibliographies and citation pages important??


They are often sectioned off in the text to bring attention, thus containing
important information.
What about bold and italicized font??


A heading or title is extremely useful for identifying the main topic for a
section of text.
You can use them if you want to find more information on a certain topic
that was mentioned in the text.
What are captions??

Captions are phrases, sentences, or short paragraphs describing the contents
of an illustration such as photos or charts.
Let’s put all of this information
together…



Now that we know what some of the structural features
of text are, let’s apply this knowledge to some examples.
I will give everyone a handout, which has an image from a
website article.
We will look through it together and identify the following:


Title, bold type, photos/images, and the URL.
After, we will answer some questions together which will
be similar to what you will find on the Benchmark and
CST!!
Questions for Bicycle Article

1.) According to Bike Clinic
101, why is it important to
learn the names of the parts
of a bicycle?




A. This will help people identify
the bicycle's noises.
B. This will help people use the
website and fix bicycles.
C. This is something that helps
people ride most bicycles.
D. This is a requirement for
buying a bicycle on the website.

2.)How does the photograph
in the top left corner help
readers understand the
information on this website?




A. It instantly presents the
main topic.
B. It highlights the best kind of
bike to buy.
C. It advertises the many kinds
of bikes sold.
D. It demonstrates clearly how
bikes are repaired.
Questions for Bicycle Article

3.) Why does "Start Bicycle Repairs Now!" appear in
large bold print?





A. It is the title of this website.
B. It explains the purpose of the website.
C. It describes what is happening in the photograph.
D. It calls attention to a product for sale on the website.
4.) Which of these MOST LIKELY links to another
webpage?




A. Types of Biking
B. Start Bicycle Repairs Now!
C. WELCOME TO BIKE CLINIC 101!
D. Learn how to make complex repairs here.
Questions for Bicycle Article

5.) How do the labels in the bicycle diagram help readers
understand the information on the website?





A. They demonstrate how to assemble a bicycle.
B. They provide the name for each part of a bicycle.
C. They display the parts needed for an advanced repair.
D. They identify parts of the bicycle that are likely to break.
6.) Which graphic would MOST LIKELY help a reader
understand the information in the Types of Biking link?




A. a picture showing one type of bike and its parts
B. a chart showing the types of biking and the needed equipment
C. a bar graph showing the number of people who like each type of
biking
D. a pie graph showing the percentage of people who have tried each
type of biking
Scavenger Hunt
Title of article:
• Subtitles
• Bold face type
• Italics
• Author
• Caption
• Table of contents
Title/Heading
• Article name
• Bibliography
• Graph/’charts
• Caption
• Italics
URL
• Title of article
• Menu
• Charts
• Graphs
• Photos
• Captions
Name: ___________________
Partner Activity!!



You and a partner are going to do a structural features
scavenger hunt!!
You will have to complete a handout, by looking through a
magazine, newspaper, and internet website, in order to fill out
the questions.
Let me explain this to you…
Scavenger Hunt!!




You and a partner will both receive a graphic organizer.
There are three boxes: one for a magazine, one for a
newspaper, and one for a website.
I will then pass out a magazine (with a post-it on a page), a
screen shot for a website, and a copy of a newspaper.
You and your partner must find all of the information needed
to complete your graphic organizer.


For example: title of the article, what the photos show, what the
caption says, what the URL is, etc.
Please work together to find all of the text features. When
you are finished, raise your hand and I will come check it!!
Quiz!!



Take out half a sheet of paper!! Number it #1-8.
You will receive a handout, but please do not write on it!!
You will have 15 minutes to complete the exit slip!!