Teach the Features of Nonfiction Texts

Can you imagine reading a nonfiction book with no text features? Lines and lines of text, no headings or subheadings to indicate the main idea, no visuals to portray information in new and interesting ways… it would be a very boring reading experience, indeed!

Nonfiction text features are all the extra elements (excluding the words) that are added to a nonfiction text. Each text feature serves its own purpose. Some make it easier for the reader to understand the text, while others make it easier for the reader to find certain information.

This 22-slide teaching presentation has been created by our experienced teacher team to help you teach the features of nonfiction texts to students. It uses age-appropriate language and examples of each text feature to teach your students what they need to know about how these features enhance the reader’s experience.

The slide deck addresses the following nonfiction text features:

• Table of contents
• Headings and subheadings
• Paragraphs
• Formatted text
• Index
• Glossary
• Photographs and captions
• Diagrams
• Maps
• Timelines
• Tables

The slideshow also includes two review activities to make sure your students understand the purpose of each of the text features. Answers to these review questions are also included.

Through engaging with this resource, your students will be able to identify the most common text features and how these make it easier to engage with a nonfiction text.

Explore Nonfiction Text Features with Your Students

This slide deck makes an excellent starting point when it comes to teaching your students about the most common text features that can be found in nonfiction texts. As you work through the slide deck as a class, we encourage you to stop and discuss each text feature in further detail. Provide your students with opportunities to share examples of each text feature from nonfiction books they have read, or from books in your class or school library. The more students explore real examples of these features, the better!

Download This Text Features Slideshow

Use the dropdown menu next to the Download button to access the Google Slides version of this text features slideshow. (Note: You will be prompted to make a copy of the Google Slides presentation before accessing it.)

Project the resource onto your screen and work through the slides as a class for a paperless ELA lesson!

This resource was created by Samantha Rose, a teacher in Florida and a Teach Starter collaborator.

More Resources Targeting the Features of Nonfiction Texts

Looking for more resources to support your teaching of nonfiction text features? Good news… we have many more teacher-created, curriculum-aligned resources available!

[resource:5032124] [resource:5032107] [resource:5032923]