In 4th & 5th grade, students must have a comprehensive understanding of text features. In order to get to that level, they must first be able to identify what the features are and how they are used. Teaching nonfiction text features can seem intimidating since there are so many, but chunking them up can make it manageable.
So, how can we help review or introduce text features to our students?
1. Teach What Text Features Are & Their Purpose
First, students need to know what text features are and why they are used.
Opening up a magazine article and showing it to your students is a great way to start the lesson. Ask them:
What things do you notice immediately without reading any of the words on the page? What do you see?”
Students should notice photographs, illustrations, a heading, bold text, and more. At this point in the lesson, it does not matter if they misname the feature. Perhaps they call it a title instead of a heading. That is okay. Just reply with a “Yes, (name). I see a large set of letters at the top of the article.”
Explain to students that these are all features the author uses within the text to help support the reader as well as provide more information. Do a quick overview of what some of them are.
Anchor Charts help create a visual for students.
I created the text feature anchor chart above to help my students remember the types of text features. (You can download it by clicking on the image.)
Once you have given students an overview of what the text features are, you can now break them down further into bite size pieces.
2. Break it Down
Once you’ve given students an overview, breaking it down into mini lessons can be beneficial. Chunking them up into small groups can help students remember them.
For example, you can discuss and provide examples for front cover, back cover, title page, heading and subheading on Monday. Explain that these text features give the reader an idea on the topic they are about to read about.
Then, move on to another set on Tuesday. For example, illustration, photograph, diagram, label are visual representations that help the reader “see” what the author is referring to in the text.
Continue throughout the week teaching the complete list of text features.
This will allow you to explicitly teach each text feature with fidelity. It will also help students better understand and master the different types of nonfiction text features.
You can break down each of the text features by:
- Displaying the name of the text feature and its definition.
- Showing an example of the text feature.
- Provide an opportunity to practice identifying the specific features you are teaching at that moment.
3. Provide Students with Activities to Practice Independently
Providing students with text feature activities that they can work on independently is important. This will help solidify their learning.
You can provide independent opportunities through:
- Cut and Sort Activities
- Scavenger Hunt Activities
- Task Cards
Once students have mastered defining and identifying the types of nonfiction text features, encourage them to identify them during their own independent reading regularly.
The beauty of teaching nonfiction text features is that students love them and there are a variety of activities you can incorporate. Hopefully, you now have a variety of ideas on some effective and engaging ways of teaching text structure to your upper elementary students. If you’d like some already-made posters and activities, you can check out this unit.
