What Are Text Features?

Mrs. Yollis' class is learning about informational text. 

Informational text, or nonfiction writing, is based on facts, real events, and real people. There are many helpful text features found in nonfiction writing. Some common text features are:  headings, subheadings, captions, diagrams, timelines, maps, charts, table of contents, index, and the glossary.

Below is a humdinger of a video made by Sheriff Yollis and Sheriff Salsich. They hope their video helps you greenhorns learn about these important reading features!

Yee-haw!

Here it is on Vimeo if YouTube is blocked.

The Nonfiction Trail from Jonah Salsich on Vimeo.

In class, we used published informational texts as mentor texts.


Here are some headings, photos, and captions.

Photo by Mrs. Yollis

Look closely. Here is a heading, a subheading, a map, a photo, and a caption! 

Photo by Mrs. Yollis 

Here is a map with a key. I wonder what the red means? Check the key and it will unlock the meaning. 

Photo by Mrs. Yollis 

Wow! Text features are everywhere and you can sure learn a lot if you pay attention to them.

Photo by Mrs. Yollis 

What are your favorite text features and why?

(Headings, subheadings, captions, diagrams, timelines, maps, charts, table of contents, index, and the glossary.)

What are TWO facts that you learned from a mentor text explored in class? Be sure to tell us the text feature you used to learn the factual information! 

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Organizing Our Library!

The first day of school was last Wednesday. We are getting into a learning routine and together, we are slowly setting up our classroom. 

Photo by Mrs. Yollis 

As we kick off the  Daily 5/ CAFE, we have been working on our reading stamina. When Reading-to-Self, it is important that each student: 

1. Read the whole time.
2. Stay in one spot.
3. Read quietly.
4. Get started right away.
5. Work on stamina. 






Each day, we have a few rounds of Read-to-Self, and we chart our growth in minutes. We are up to 15 minutes of Read-to-Self time!

Today, we organized our class library!

We took all of the books out of all of the boxes and sorted them by genre. Genre is a fancy word that means we sorted them by kind or category. Some categories were: 

FICTION

realistic fiction, mystery, fantasy, poetry, adventure, sports, and picture books

 

NONFICTION

informational text/science, informational text/animals, informational text/social studies, biographies, how-to books, math, and field guides 

Some books were sorted by series because we had at least FIVE in a series. 

Finally, it was time to shop for books! Students were allowed to take a reasonable amount. 

What makes for a reasonable amount of books for one week? 

Students enjoyed working on their reading stamina. In our room, the Learning Lounge, you can read in a variety of places!



Read at a table.

Read on the rug. Read on a bean bag.

Read in our class library.

How did you contribute to the great library sort?

HOMEWORK Due by September 4, 2015

Leave a comment about the book you are reading that provides:

1. Your book's title (Remember to capitalize book titles!)

2. The book's author  (Remember to capitalize names!)

3. The genre of your book. (realistic fiction, historical fiction, mystery, fantasy, nonfiction, biography, history, or another genre) 

4. Any additional information you would like to share about your book. (How many have you read from this series? What reading comprehension skill are you working on? Any predictions you'd like to share?)

We look forward to learning about you as a reader! 

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