Text Features and Note Taking Gr 4 and Up

Our focus week 2 has been on text features and note taking. September 17-21st

How can text features help us?

• They help us zoom in on the information we are looking for (Titles, subtitles)
• They help us efficiently find what we need (Contents, Index)
• They help explain the story (Pictures)
• They help us better understand the text (Glossary)
• They give us extra information (text box)
• They help us navigate a non-fiction text with ease (all)

Note taking - Why do we need to learn that?????

So we can write in our own words, avoid plagiarism and make your work more interesting by bringing out your writing and personality within your work. 

Students were asked to choose a non-fiction book on a topic they were interested in but didn't know a whole lot about.  They then had 3 min. to use text features and hone in on one main idea, story, fact that was new to them.  They then had to close the book and share this information with their A-B partner.  Students found the facts that were most interesting were those told in the students' own words. Gr.5 and 6's also took key point notes to help them bring out the facts. 

Gr. 4-7 students can you name some text features and how they help us enjoy a non-fiction book?