Children's Literature: Determining Importance
Using Nonfiction
Nonfiction
What is important and what is not? By learning the characteristics and features of nonfiction, readers can construct more meaning from the text.
Nonfiction Text Features
|
Feature |
Purpose |
|
Labels |
to identify a picture or photograph, and/or its parts. |
|
Photographs |
understand exactly what something looks like |
|
Captions |
understand a picture or photograph |
|
Comparisons |
understand the size of something by comparing it to the size of something familiar |
|
Cut Aways |
understand something by looking at it from the inside |
|
Maps |
understand where things are in the world |
|
Types of Print |
understand the varying degree of importance |
|
Close-ups |
see details in something small |
|
Table of Contents |
identify key topics in the order they are presented |
|
Glossaries |
define words found in the text |
|
Indexes |
an alphabetical list of most everything covered in the text, with page numbers |
*Taken from http://www.readinglady.com/mosaic/tools/Determinging%20Importance%20handout%20by%20Deb%20Smith.pdf.
