INFORMATIONAL TEXTS

WHAT IS AN INFORMATIONAL TEXT?

When you read nonfiction, you learn information. These look very different from fiction pieces and there are special features (see next slide) such as photographs, diagrams, or maps.

Different from fiction• May be chapter titles and section headers that

preview information• Each page has words in a variety of fonts and sizes• Bold or italic fonts may be used to signal important

words/phrrases

TEXT FEATURES

See handout for various text features

Here are some examples….

DIAGRAMS

PHOTO S/ HEADL IN ES AN D SU B HEADS

U.S NEWS EXAMPLE

http://www.usnews.com/education/high-schools/articles/2012/09/17/high-school-students-need-to-think-not-memorize

SCAVENGER HUNT

Using magazines, books, and the internet, locate as many text features as you can using the chart to record the features as well as purpose for the features.

You have 20 minutes….go!

INFORMATIONAL TEXT ACTIVITY

ARTICLE

In small groups, please read the Atlanta Magazine article

One piece of paper per group but everyone has their own article…

PRE-READING QUESTIONS

What type of genre is this text? How do you know?

Look at the cover of the article. What Text Features do you see?

Why do authors use pictures when writing informational articles?

Why do you think the author chose to use this picture for the article?

What predictions can you make about the information in this article (generate a list)

DURING READING QUESTIONS

Skim the article for text features

Flip the article and make a list of what you know about this reading selection

Make a group list; make a point of how much information you gained in just a one minute skim of the article

Read the article together and summarize each section out to the side

AFTER READING QUESTIONS

Identify examples of text features in the article and explain why you think the author used that feature and/or how it helped them to better understand the reading selection

Working in your groups, make a list/chart of each text feature and tell me the effect on you and your group (for example, pictures help me to see the perspective of the author)