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Learn about the most common text features, the purpose of each, and how explicit instruction in identifying and using text features can support comprehension and strengthen student writing.
Authors use structural elements to organize information and ideas, and to highlight important parts of the text. As students advance to middle and high school grades, the text that they must read and write become increasingly varied in style, vocabulary , text structure , purpose, and intended audience. Readers and writers learn to identify and use a variety of text features, or the elements that can make their writing clearer, add visual appeal, and make their writing more accessible.
Here we’ll review some of the most used text features.
Authors use a variety of text features to organize their writing and make it more accessible to the reader. Text features, such as title and headings, help identify the topic and overall organization of ideas. Headings represent topical sections of text, making it easier for readers to work their way through a longer piece of text in manageable “chunks.” Graphics and captions highlight important details and present an alternative representation of information to support the textual representation.
Asking students to examine recently read nonfiction informational texts in the classroom to find examples of text features can be a useful exercise.
| Text Feature | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Title | Quickly tells the reader what information they will learn about |
| Table of contents | Shows students the different chapter or section titles and where they are located |
| Index | Directs students where to go in the text to find specific information on a topic, word, or person |
| Glossary | Identifies important vocabulary words for students and gives their definitions |
| Headings or subtitles | Help the reader identify the main idea for that section of text |
| Sidebars | Elaborate on a detail mentioned in the text. Sidebars are set apart from the main text (usually located on the side or bottom of the page) |
| Pictures and captions | Show an important object or idea from the text |
| Labeled diagrams | Allow readers to see detailed depictions of an object from the text with labels that teach the important components |
| Charts and graphs | Represent and show data related to, or elaborate on, something in the main body of text |
| Maps | Help a reader locate a place in the world that is related to text |
| Cutaways and cross-sections | Allow readers to see inside something by dissolving part of a wall or to see all the layers of an object by bisecting it for viewing |
| Inset photos | Show either a faraway view of something or a close-up shot of minute detail |
