Home›Lesson Plans›English Language Arts›Reading: Nonfiction · Grade 3

Text Features: The Tools Nonfiction Gives You

Students explore the special parts of nonfiction — headings, captions, diagrams, glossaries — and learn how each one helps a reader find and understand information faster.

Grade 3Nonfiction45 minutes1 class periodReading WorkshopExplicit teaching4 StandardsCommon Core
Start the Lesson
Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Identify common text features in nonfiction.
  • ✓Explain the purpose of each feature.
  • ✓Use features to locate information quickly.
  • ✓Use a diagram or caption to understand a topic.
Essential Question

Nonfiction books have parts that stories don’t — bold words, headings, captions, diagrams. Why are they there, and how do they help you?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Feature Finder · Interactive

The Feature Finder

Project this and tap each text feature. Have students record what each one is for and where they’d find it in a nonfiction book.

🔍 Explore nonfiction text features — tap each oneTry it

The Lesson · Reading Workshop (Mini-Lesson · Practice · Share)

45 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Connect — Not Like a Story

5 min

Flip through a nonfiction book — what’s different?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show a nonfiction book’s pages.
  • Ask what parts a storybook doesn’t have.
  • Set the goal: text features.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Spot bold words, headings, pictures.
  • Guess what they’re for.
  • Predict how they help.
2

Teach — Model a Feature

10 min

Teacher uses a feature to find info.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Point out a heading and use it to find a fact.
  • Read a caption; use a diagram.
  • Name each feature’s purpose.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Watch the feature in action.
  • See how a heading finds info.
  • Name the purpose.
3

Active Engagement — Explore Together

12 min

Class uses the Feature Finder.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Tap through each text feature.
  • Match features to their jobs.
  • Find each in a real book.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Tap each feature.
  • Record its purpose.
  • Find it in a nonfiction book.
4

Independent Practice — Your Turn

13 min

Students hunt features in a text.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Give a nonfiction page or book.
  • Ask students to find + name features.
  • Use a diagram/caption to answer a question.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Find and label text features.
  • Explain each one’s purpose.
  • Use a feature to answer a question.
5

Share — Share the Find

5 min

Students share a useful feature.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Invite a helpful-feature share.
  • Compare how features helped.
  • Hand out the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Share a feature they used.
  • Explain how it helped.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

CCSS
RI.3.5

Use text features and search tools to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.

CCSS
RI.3.7

Use information gained from illustrations and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding.

CCSS
RI.4.7

Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively and explain how it contributes.

CCSS
RI.3.1

Ask and answer questions, referring explicitly to the text.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • A labeled feature-poster to reference.
  • Sentence frame: “A ___ helps me ___.”
  • Match feature names to pictures.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Focus on heading, caption, bold word first.
  • Provide a feature checklist to find.
  • Use a highly-visual nonfiction book.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Use an index to locate a specific fact.
  • Compare features across two books.
  • Add a caption and heading to a plain text.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 📓Reading notebooks
  • 💻The Feature Finder
  • 📚Nonfiction books
  • 🖍️Sticky notes
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

text featurea special part of nonfictionheadinga title for a sectioncaptionwords explaining a picturebold worda darker, important worddiagrama labeled pictureglossarya mini-dictionary at the backtable of contentsa list of sections and pagesindexan alphabetical list of topics and pages
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
What does a heading help a reader do?
Find the information they need — it tells what a section is about.
QUESTION 2
Where would you look to find out what a bold vocabulary word means?
In the glossary at the back of the book.
QUESTION 3
Name one text feature and explain its purpose.
Sample: A caption — it explains what a photo or picture shows.

Going deeper? Make a nonfiction mini-book.

Have students write a one-page nonfiction book about a topic they know, adding a heading, a caption, a bold word, and a glossary. A printable mini-book template is in the ELA library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Nonfiction Text FeaturesFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Nonfiction Text FeaturesQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Nonfiction Text FeaturesPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: bold word, caption, diagram, glossary, heading, index, table of contents, text feature
  1. a title for a section
  2. an alphabetical list of topics and pages
  3. a labeled picture
  4. a special part of nonfiction
  5. a darker, important word
  6. a list of sections and pages
  7. a mini-dictionary at the back
  8. words explaining a picture

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. What does a heading help a reader do?
  2. Where would you look to find out what a bold vocabulary word means?
  3. Name one text feature and explain its purpose.
Answer key — Part A: 1) heading · 2) index · 3) diagram · 4) text feature · 5) bold word · 6) table of contents · 7) glossary · 8) caption
Part B: 1) Find the information they need — it tells what a section is about. 2) In the glossary at the back of the book. 3) Sample: A caption — it explains what a photo or picture shows.