Textbook Structures
- 1. Making Predictions Keys to Unlocking Your Textbooks
- 2. Textbook Structures Most textbooks have common features. Strategic readers automatically consider how a particular text is structured in order to improve comprehension. Becoming familiar with text features will help you be a better reader.
- 3. Let’s Be Information THIEVES Title - What can we predict? Headings - What questions do you think they will answer? Introduction & first paragraph - Can you predict the main idea? Everything you know - What background knowledge do you already have about his topic? Visuals - What do the visual clues tell us? End of Chapter questions - Can you predict what they will be by looking at summaries, bold-faced or italicized words, or sub-headings? So What? - Why did the author write this? Why is the information important to know?
- 4. NB # - Textbook Features Try to create a mental image of your history textbook. With your partner, brainstorm a list of textbook features that the publisher uses to help you understand new information. As we review the features, circle the ones you predicted correctly. Add the ones you didn’t get to your list.
- 5. Text Feature 1 - Chapter Titles What will this chapter be about? What do you already know about this topic? Text Feature 2 - Standards What are you expected to know?
- 6. Text Feature 3 - Visuals What kinds of visuals do you expect to see? maps charts photos captions diagrams timelines What pictures are on the page? What do they tell you about what you will be learning?
- 7. Text Feature 4 - Introduction What will you learn? What is the Big Idea? If YOU were there . . . taps into what cognitive strategy? What is the purpose of Building Background? Text Feature 5 - Key Terms What new vocabulary will you learn? Where can you find the definitions for those terms?
- 8. Text Feature 6 - Typography How does the publisher indicate important words, terms, or ideas in the text? Highlighting Italics Bold-face Color Font size Font style
- 9. Text Feature 3 - Visuals Looking at Maps How do you know what’s most important? What is a legend? What information is it giving you? What is an inset map? What is its purpose? What is a compass rose? How does it help you answer the Interpreting Maps questions? How does the map and its captions relate to what you’re learning?
- 10. Text Feature 7 - Reading Checks Where do the Reading Check questions occur? Why should you try to answer them? Text Feature 8 - Subheadings What questions will the subheadings answer?
- 11. What Text Features are on this page? Subheadings Key terms Visuals Captions Typography
- 12. Text Feature 9 - Skill Builders Besides learning information about history, what skills do they want you to develop? Why are those skills important? How could they help you in other classes? In your life?
- 13. Text Feature 10 - Summary and Preview What main ideas were you supposed to have learned? What’s coming up next? Text Feature 11 - End-of-Chapter Questions What does the red text indicate? Where can you go to search for the answers? How would pre-reading the assessment questions first help you as you read the chapter?
- 14. Text Feature 12 - Informational Tools If you need to find information, where can you look? Table of Contents Glossary Index
- 16. Remember . . . I can show you the tools . . . but you have to choose to use them!