Literature

Study Central Visit http://www.glencoe

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review using text features.

READING WORKSHOP 2 • Using Text Features

Why Is It Important? When you use text features, you help yourself

understand what you’re reading. Photographs and drawings show you

what people, places, and things look like. Maps show you where things are.

Footnotes and side notes explain difficult words or ideas. Headings help

you go immediately to the section you want to read. Graphic organizers

such as charts give you difficult or complex information in one place.

How Do I Do It? When you read, look for text features to help you under-

stand what you are reading. In the article “What Exercise Can Do for You” in

Unit Four, there is a chart titled Going for the “Caloric Burn.” It shows how

many calories people of different weights burn doing a variety of activities.

Using the chart is a clear and simple way to get that information. Here’s how

one student responded to the chart.

I don’t play racquetball and I’ve never skied, but I do

ride my bike to and from school every day. That takes

about a half hour. I’m on the swim team, too. We prac-

tice an hour every night. According to this chart, I’m

burning more than 700 calories a day! That’s good! When

I go hiking with my buddies this weekend, I’ll use this

chart to figure out how many calories I burn. And I’ll be

sure to eat a great breakfast before we go.

Practice It!

Below are different text features.

map heading footnote photograph

In your Learner’s Notebook, write which feature is most useful for

• finding out the meaning of a word you don’t know


• finding out which parts of the country get the most rain


• finding out what a particular car looks like


• finding out where to look to get information on training your dog to sit

Use It!

As you read “Conserving Resources” and “There Will Come Soft Rains,”

look for text features. List them in your Learner’s Notebook.

Reading Workshop 2 Using Text Features 557
Laura Sifferlin