Tips from Mr. Murphy

Text Features

While you are reading at home, look for text features. Many of these are found in non-fiction books (Science, Social Studies). Ask your child, to point out text features as they read.

Look for:

·      Heading

·      Subheading

·      Map

·      Bold print, underlines words

·      Caption

·      Picture or illustration

·      Diagram

·      Labels

Many of these can also be found in newspapers, and magazines.

Some Common Text Features within Non-Fiction

•   Captions: Help you better understand a picture or photograph

•   Comparisons: These sentences help you to picture something {Example: A whale shark is a little bit bigger than a school bus.}

•   Glossary: Helps you define words that are in the book

•   Graphics: Charts, graphs, or cutaways are used to help you understand what the author is trying to tell you

•   Illustrations/Photographs: Help you to know exactly what something looks like

•   Index: This is an alphabetical list of ideas that are in the book. It tells you what page the idea is on.

•   Labels: These help you identify a picture or a photograph and its parts

•   Maps: help you to understand where places are in the world

•   Special Print: When a word is bold, in italics, or underlined, it is an important word for you to know

•   Subtitles: These headings help you to know what the next section will be about

Table of Contents: Helps you identify key topics in the book in the order they are presented