Text Features
Where you look to find the page numbers that different topics start on
Table of Contents
What is the main idea of an informational text?
What the text is mostly about or the big idea
Identify what text structure the following passage has:
Cats sometimes scratch the furniture. One solution is to cover the furniture.
Problem and Solution
What do you need to make an inference?
Background knowledge and text clues
A strategy you use before, during, and after reading a text to help you understand the text.
Asking questions
This is where you would find the definition of bolded words in an informational text. It is typically located at the end of an informational text.
Glossary
Identify the main idea of the following passage:
The key to making perfect cookies is merely a matter of preparation and precision. To begin with, read your cookie recipe thoroughly before baking and make sure that you have all of the necessary ingredients. Next, use good tools and utensils. By using good tools you can minimize mistakes and improve the quality of your product. Lastly, you should use top quality ingredients. If you use poor quality materials, you’ll create an inferior product. So, to make perfect cookies you should use the highest quality ingredients.
The main idea is how to make the perfect cookies.
Identify the text structure of the following passage:
Different types of clouds have their own appearance. For example, some are wispy and thin and others are fluffy and shapely. Some people think cumulus clouds look like puffs of cotton.
Description
Infer the meaning of bolded word using context clues.
The sun is located at the center of our Solar System. All of the planets orbit around the sun. Some planets, such as the Earth, take an entire year to complete a full orbit around the sun. The moon also orbits around the Earth.
To move around an object.
What is a summary?
A summary is a short, but complete version of the text, and is written in your own words.
This text feature divides the article into smaller sections, and is often in a different font.
Subheading
Identify the main idea of the following passage:
Mark Twain is one of America's most famous writers. His real name was Samuel Clemens. He was born in Missouri in 1835. When he was eighteen, Mark Twain left Missouri and worked as a printer in different cities. He wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
The main idea is one of America's most famous writers is Mark Twain.
Identify the text structure of the following passage:
If you don't get enough sleep, then it could affect your memory, ability to pay attention, and performance in school.
Cause and Effect
Infer the meaning of the bolded word.
After the tornado came through the city, it left a trail of debris for the emergency teams to clean up, and sort through. This debris included parts of homes, broken car tires, and shattered trees.
what remains after something is broken or destroyed.
How do you paraphrase an informational text?
1. Read the text
2. Think about the ideas you read
3. Repeat the ideas you read
4. Write the ideas you read in your own words
5. Check for accuracy
This can often be located below, next to, or above a picture, or illustration. It describes what the image is.
Caption
What is the main idea of the following passage?
It is estimated that over twenty million pounds of candy corn are sold in the US each year. Brach’s, the top manufacturer, sells enough candy corn to circle the earth 4.25 times if each piece were laid end to end. That’s a lot of candy corn, but that’s nothing compared to Tootsie Roll production. Over 64 million Tootsie Rolls are produced every day! But even Tootsie Rolls have got nothing on the candy industry’s staple product, chocolate. Confectioners manufacture over twenty billion pounds of chocolate in the United States each year. Now that’s a mouthful!
There is a lot of candy made in the United States every year.
Identify the text structure in the following passage:
Cats are similar to lions. They are both felines. They both have sharp teeth. However, a cat is much smaller than a lion.
Compare and Contrast
Use context clues to infer the meaning of the bolded word in the following passage:
At a factory, a robot manufactures parts for all Apple products such as screens, computer chips, and keyboards.
What is a synonym for an informational text?
Non-fiction or expository text
Define what a title is, and explain what the purpose of a title is?
Important words or phrases you see on the cover of a book or article. Titles tell the reader what the text is about.
What do need to identify in order to find the main idea of an informational text?
Key details or supporting details
Identify the text structure in the following passage:
Clouds are formed in the following way. First, water on the ground evaporates and turns into vapor. Next, the vapor condenses into tiny droplets and forms clouds. Finally, the clouds lose the water in the form of precipitation.
Order and Sequence
Infer the meaning of the bolded word:
During the cold winter months in Colonial America, food was often limited, and hard to find. Many people died of starvation because food was so scarce.
in short supply, rare
What is the purpose of an informational text?
To inform the reader about a topic by providing true facts.