Students study the components of informational nonfiction in this lesson. At the end of the lesson, students are able to:  
- Enumerate the textual elements present in nonfiction and describe their applications. 
- Elucidate how these textual elements support meaning and benefit the reader. 
- Exhibit your ability to scan and skim nonfiction text using text features.

- How do literary and informational texts make sense to strategically-minded readers?

- Text Features: Any visual cues, such as headings, graphics, and charts, on a page of text that offer additional information to guide the reader’s comprehension. 
- Informational Text: It is nonfiction, written primarily to convey factual information. Informational texts comprise the majority of printed material adults read (e.g., textbooks, newspapers, reports, directions, brochures, technical manuals, etc.). 
- Expository Text: Text written to explain and convey information about a specific topic. Contrasts with narrative text.

A collection of nonfiction materials, including books, newspapers, magazines, atlases, encyclopedias, recipes, science experiments, and textbooks. Any nonfiction text that uses text features and is at an appropriate reading level for your students will work. Examples include the following:
- OWL Magazine
- National Geographic Kids
- Your Big Backyard
- Time for Kids Magazine. (2007). Time for Kids World Atlas. Time for Kids, 2007.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2009). Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- R.F. Symes and R.R. Harding. (2007). Crystal and Gem (Eyewitness Books). Dorling Kindersley Ltd., 2007.
- Lesley Sims and Jane Chisholm. (2002). The Usborne Book of Castles. Usborne Books, 2002.
Teachers may substitute other books or materials to provide a range of reading and level of text complexity.
- sticky notes
- markers
- copies of Skim and Scan Graphic Organizer (L-6-4-2_Skim and Scan Graphic Organizer)
- copies of Text Feature Scavenger Hunt (L-6-4-2_Text Feature Scavenger Hunt)
- copies of Sorting Facts Worksheet (L-6-4-2_Sorting Facts Worksheet)
- copies of Text Feature Graphic Organizer (L-6-4-2_Text Feature Graphic Organizer)
- poster paper

- This lesson aims to enhance students' comprehension of nonfiction text features and how to apply them to enhance their comprehension of the text. 
- Examine students' comprehension of the material by having them read a brief passage with multiple text features from their science or social studies textbook. Ask them to quickly scan the passage, identify the main idea, and write it on a sticky note. Then, ask them to turn in their sticky notes. Assess the extent to which students have succeeded in utilizing the text features to quickly scan and skim the text to identify the major idea. If necessary, give further instructions. 
- Keep an eye on the students as they converse with their partners. Assess the following skills that students can perform:
+ Determine the characteristics of nonfiction texts.
+ Describe how the text's features aid in the reader's comprehension of nonfiction material.
+ Skim and scan a passage successfully using the text features.
+ Complete a graphic organizer accurately, demonstrating how text features support a main idea.

Explicit instruction, modeling, scaffolding, and active engagement 
W: Go over what nonfiction means and assign students to collaborate in finding textual elements within a nonfiction book. 
H: Talk about how textual elements enhance meaning and assist the reader. 
E: Examine different nonfiction genres and instruct students to scan and skim text using the text features. 
R: Give students the chance to share their findings with the class as a whole and then talk about them with a partner. Students should be encouraged to describe how textual elements benefit the reader. 
E: Offer opportunities for students to demonstrate their proficiency with text features when reading, skimming, or scanning nonfiction texts. 
T: While students are reading, skimming, or scanning nonfiction text, observe them to gauge their comprehension of text features. As needed, give more guidance. 
O: This lesson's learning exercises include large-group instruction and discussion, small-group inquiry, partner work, and individual application of the material. 

Focus Questions: How can a reader navigate and comprehend nonfiction text more effectively with the aid of text features? How do textual features support the meaning of nonfiction text?

Interrogate students: "What is nonfiction?" (writing that dictates, clarifies, or illustrates rather than entertains)

Copy the Sorting Facts Worksheet (L-6-4-2_Sorting Facts Worksheet) and distribute it to others. Assign students to work in small groups to dissect and categorize the facts. Next, ask the students to create a heading for every category.

Discuss how these headings and facts might be used to assist a reader in learning about the topic at hand. Pose a question: "What is the topic for these facts?" Ask students to explain how the headings support the main topic (Jaguar). Help them to understand how the facts they have categorized are expressed in the heading.

Say, "While searching for information, you occasionally employ a reading technique known as skimming and scanning.'"

Describe that the purpose of scanning a passage is to find keywords or to attempt to quickly identify the ideas to determine whether the reader would like to read the passage in more detail. Clarify what this strategy entails.

scanning the page with your eyes to find particular words and phrases.
searching for terms that have different fonts, italics, or bold

Inform the students that the purpose of skimming is to rapidly determine the text's major ideas. Make a point of mentioning that this method requires consuming more information than scanning and is completed much faster. Explain how readers who don't have a lot of time to read can employ the strategy of skimming. When skimming, readers employ the following techniques:

the first sentence of the paragraphs
subtitles
pictures
graphs
headings
table of contents
captions
charts
titles
Ask students to quickly skim and scan a section of a science or social studies textbook that contains bold and italic print and some text structures. Distribute the document (L-6-4-2_Skim and Scan Graphic Organizer) to each student. As students are scanning and skimming, have them complete the organizer.

Discuss what they discovered with their partners. Give them a chance to revise their responses. Assist them in realizing how the text's features reinforce its central idea. Take informal notes regarding the extent to which students can skim and scan text using its features.

Extension:

Provide students with the Text Feature Graphic Organizer (L-6-4-2_Text Feature Graphic Organizer) to help them arrange, or "chunk," information related to an issue. Ask them to write the topic in the center and then write text features they would use on the lines surrounding it. Talk about how each text feature would contribute to the topic's support.
Use a textbook or another nonfiction book to complete the Text Feature Scavenger Hunt (L-6-4-2_Text Feature Scavenger Hunt). Ask them to describe how each textual element contributes to the text's main idea.