One of the most important skills for students to learn when they are reading informational texts is how to identify important information. They need to recognize features, like captions and headings, and ways authors organize their writing to help them understand the content. Let’s look at some tips for teaching text features and text structures.
Breaking Down the Standard
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The first thing we need to do is to break down the standard at the different grade levels. It is really helpful to know what your students are expected to do in the grade level before yours and the grade level after yours. This allows you to differentiate your lessons and meet the needs of all your students.
First Grade
Important Skills to Teach:
- What a text feature is
- How to identify text features in books – headings, tables of contents, and glossaries
- How to identify online text features – electronic menus and icons
- How text features can help us find important information
I Can Statements:
- I can identify headings, tables of contents, and glossaries in informational books.
- I can identify electronic menus and icons online.
- I can use text features to find important information.
Download a week of 1st grade lesson plans to teach this standard.
Download a digital slideshow to assign for distance learning or as a center activity.
Second Grade
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.5 – Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.
Important Skills to Teach:
- How to identify text features in books – captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, and indexes
- How to identify text features online – electronic menus and icons
- How text features can help us find important information
I Can Statements:
- I can identify captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries and indexes in informational books.
- I can identify electronic menus and icons online.
- I can explain how to use text features to find important information.
Download a week of 2nd grade lesson plans to teach this standard.
Download a digital slideshow to assign for distance learning or as a center activity.
Third Grade
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.5 – Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.
Important Skills to Teach:
- How to identify text features in books – captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, and indexes
- How to identify search tools online – key words, sidebars, and hyperlinks
- How to use text features and search tools to find important information
I Can Statements:
- I can identify captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, and indexes in books.
- I can identify key words, sidebars, and hyperlinks online.
- I can use text features and search tools to find important information in books and online.
Download a week of 3rd grade lesson plans to teach this standard.
Download a digital slideshow to assign for distance learning or as a center activity.
Fourth Grade
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.5 – Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.
Important Skills to Teach:
- How to identify the order of events in a chronological text structure
- How to identify similarities and differences in a comparison text structure
- How to identify events that lead to other events in a cause/effect text structure
- How to identify problems and how they are solved in a problem/solution text structure
I Can Statements:
- I can identify the chronology, comparison, cause/effect, and problem/solution text structures.
- I can use a text’s structure to identify the important events, ideas, concepts, and information.
Download a week of 4th grade lesson plans to teach this standard.
Download a digital slideshow to assign for distance learning or as a center activity.
Fifth Grade
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.5 – Compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts.
Important Skills to Teach
- How to identify the chronology, comparison, cause/effect, and problem/solution text structures
- How to compare and contrast the text structures of two or more texts
I Can Statements:
- I can identify the text structure of an informational text.
- I can compare and contrast the text structures of two or more informational texts.
Download a week of lesson plans to teach this standard.
Download a digital slideshow to assign for distance learning or as a center activity.
Suggested Books
Finding informational books with text features is usually pretty easy. Most nonfiction authors include headings, bold words, tables of contents, and glossaries in their books. Look for books with a wide range of text features.
Finding texts to use for text structures is more challenging. Not all books are written using one specific text structure. I like to start with shorter passages that clearly fit one text structure to introduce this concept to students. Then, we start using short sections from books that are organized using one of the text structures. History books are often good for chronology. The Who Would Win? series is perfect for comparison.
Smart Words Beginning Reader: Octopuses and Squids
Smart Words Reader: Reptiles and Amphibians
Smart Words Reader: Insects and Spiders
Who Would Win? Wolverine vs. Tasmanian Devil
Tips for Teaching Text Features and Text Structures in Informational Texts
- Do a scavenger hunt. This works for both text features and text structures. For text features, make a list of all the text features your students have learned. Give each student an informational text and have them go on a scavenger hunt through the book to find as many text features as they can. For text structures, put passages around the classroom that are written using the different structures. Have the students read the passages and search for one written in each text structure.
- Use graphic organizers for the text structures. Identifying the four text structures can be challenging for students. Associating each one with a graphic organizer can help. Use a sequence chart for chronology, a Venn diagram for comparison, a cause and effect chart for cause/effect, and a problem and solution chart for problem /solution. When your students read an informational text, they will be able to think about which organizer they could use to record the information.
- Give your students a passage without any text features. Help your students understand the importance of text features by removing all of them from a passage. Give the students only the text from a challenging informational passage. I like to print one and cut off all the text features before copying it. Have the students read it and try to explain what it’s saying. Then, give them the passage with the text features. Have them explain how the text features help them understand the passage better.
Other Helpful Resources
If you have students who are struggling with this standard, strategy groups and one-on-one conferences are a great way to differentiate and help all your students master it. These assessments will show you which students have mastered the standards and which students need extra practice.
1st Grade Common Core Literature Standard Assessments
1st Grade Common Core Informational Texts Standard Assessments
2nd Grade Common Core Literature Standard Assessments
2nd Grade Common Core Informational Texts Standard Assessments
3rd Grade Common Core Literature Standard Assessments
3rd Grade Common Core Informational Texts Standard Assessments
4th Grade Common Core Literature Standard Assessments
4th Grade Common Core Informational Texts Standard Assessments
5th Grade Common Core Literature Standard Assessments
5th Grade Common Core Informational Texts Standard Assessments
Get all the lesson plans you need to teach every Common Core Reading Standard for your grade level.
1st Grade Common Core Standards Bundle
2nd Grade Common Core Standards Bundle
3rd Grade Common Core Standards Bundle
4th Grade Common Core Standards Bundle
5th Grade Common Core Standards Bundle
For more tips on teaching the reading standards, join the Rock the Reading Workshop Facebook Group.
What Do You Think?
What are your best tips for teaching text features and text structures in informational texts?
Let us know in the comments.
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