MID-WORKSHOP TEACHING Read Different Text Features Differently “Readers, I’ve got a tip. Different text features want to be read differently. Let me explain: If you spot a bolded key word, that’s a sign that you need to recall or find a definition. You can pause to retrieve the word’s definition, if you know it. You can also use the text around that word to help you figure out the definition. You might use a text box or a glossary to help.
“Meanwhile, you do different reading work if you spot an illustration with a caption. That’s a sign that you need to study the illustration and caption, and then ask yourself, ‘How does this fit with what I’m reading on the rest of the page?’ “If a diagram has labels, that’s a sign that you need to picture the parts of something, but if that diagram has arrows or numbers, it’s a sign that you need to do different work, like follow the steps of a process in order. “Right now, will you and your partner find a text feature in your text, and talk about how it wants to be read? Study that text feature with your partner, and try to do the thinking work it wants you to do.” Display a visual to support students with this work. “Readers, return to whatever you were reading—whether you were
reading alone or with a partner. As you read, continue to do everything you know research- ers do! Preview any new texts or parts of texts, and pay close attention to text features.” SHARE Revisit Terms Related to Text Features Help students recall the text features they studied today, and then channel them to share examples of those features, describing how each feature helps the reader comprehend. “Today we focused on all the ways nonfiction writers teach us about topics, and we learned that skilled researchers pay attention to everything on the page. For a moment, will you each, quietly, do the work that learners do and retrieve the names of as many nonfiction text features as you can remember? As you whisper a text feature to yourself, list it across your fingers.” After a moment, continue. “I see some of you are recalling four, even five text features that authors sometimes use. Great, now, take turns sharing examples from your texts of each text feature with your table group. Make sure you describe how each particular text feature helps readers understand more about plants.”
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Session 5 • Learn From the Text and the Text Features
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