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Teaching Reading Comprehension Strategies: Asking Questions & QAR Strategy

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Asking questions before, during, and after reading comes very naturally to skilled readers, but for struggling readers, this skill can be just the opposite.  Asking questions of varying depths is arguably the most important reading comprehension strategy we should teach and practice often with our students.  

 

WHY IS ASKING QUESTIONS AN IMPORTANT READING STRATEGY?

Asking questions helps students to:

  • Set a purpose before reading and have a clear focus for diving into a text.
  • Activate background knowledge before reading.
  • Monitor their own comprehension and clarify any misunderstandings while reading.
  • Make predictions before, during and after reading.
  • Analyze and question the author through an internal dialogue with the author.
  • Pave the road to use even more reading strategies that improve comprehension.  For example, asking questions during reading can help students draw conclusions, make inferences, or continually make predictions.
  • See that one source might not have all the answers.  This helps them to realize that learning about a topic in depth can be a more complex process than just reading piece of text.  

Below are 5 ways teachers can practice the asking questions strategy with their growing readers.

1. TEACHER THINK ALOUD:
When reading aloud any piece of text, teachers can use a think aloud technique to model how good readers continually ask themselves questions before, during, and after reading.  This technique can be thoughtfully planned ahead before implementing, but is also effective to demonstrate often with any piece of text read aloud in class.

2. PICTURE WALK & RECORD:
Either use pictures from the text, or find relevant photographs on the topic, to use for students to generate questions.  This helps students set a purpose for reading with authentic questions.  It allows them to hear and learn from their peers as well, creating a collaborative and free space for learning to take place.  

3. STICKY NOTES/MARGINS:
Before, during, and after reading, encourage students to generate their own questions.  They can record their questions in the margins on a printed text, or on sticky notes.

Teachers can also have students place these questions onto a collaborative anchor chart.  They can be left as is, or sorted through a class discussion into specific categories, such as:

  • “Thin”, factual questions vs. “Thick”, inferential questions.
  • The 4 QAR categories (see more on this strategy below): In the Text (Right There, Think & Search) vs. In My Head (Author & Me, On My Own)

One way students can record their own thinking on sticky notes is using these reading strategy bookmarks. The front side is a reference for the reading strategy and the backside is where students record their thinking.

4. INDEPENDENT READING RESPONSE:
Offering multiple ways that students use reading strategies independently can keep students engaged and help reach the many types of learners in a classroom.  Besides the sticky-notes strategy above, graphic organizers can be a very powerful tool for students to use while reading fiction or nonfiction.  

Below is also an example of an asking questions reading comprehension strategy craft.  It is similar to a traditional graphic organizer, but the format reaches hands-on learners.  

5. QAR STRATEGY:
Question-Answer Relationships (QAR) is a research-based strategy developed by literacy and reading expert, Taffy Rafael.  Its purpose is to help students become active and strategic readers.  Students learn the different types of questions that they can either ask themselves as they read, or be asked by a teacher/on an assessment.  This helps students become more comfortable with locating necessary information to answer any question that they have or that has been posed to them.

QAR breaks down questions into 4 categories:
In the Text:
1. Right There
2. Think & Search

In My Head:
1. Author & Me
2. On My Own

Understanding question-answer relationships teaches students what types of thinking is required to answer different levels and types of questions. With QAR, students practice generating and answering questions that can be found directly in the text, interacting with the text, or independent of the text.  While reading independently or in small groups, students can record their questions for each category on sticky notes.  These could be used for a class anchor chart, or for their own record (such as using the interactive reading strategies bookmarks seen below).

They can also independently record their QAR questions directly into reader’s notebooks, or into a graphic organizer like the ones seen below (traditional or lift the flap).

 

Teaching Students to Use Background Knowledge in the Elementary Reading Classroom

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Using prior knowledge is an essential strategy for reading comprehension.  The more knowledge students have on a topic, the easier it will be for them to understand, and make connections to, new texts.  Prior knowledge is also part of the building blocks for more difficult reading strategies, such as making inferences.

Below are 8 ways you can teach and practice the using background knowledge reading strategy in your classroom

1. COLLABORATIVE CLASS VISUAL:
Having group/class discussions along with some kind of recording visual is a great way to access background knowledge before reading.  You can switch up your visuals, as a basic KWL chart can only be engaging so many times.  One great way to build background knowledge is to first draw a shape that represents what you are learning about on an anchor chart or on the white board.  For example, when reading a book about ants, I would draw an ant with 3 large body parts.  Each student gets a post it to record what they already know about ants in the first segment, questions they have in the second segment, and what they learn in third segment.  I would then have some students share their post-its and then quickly go through any non-repeats we might have as part of a class discussion.  

Another, even simpler, way to do this is to just have students fill in their background knowledge on the entire picture.  After reading, we could go back to this visual with new information.  I might place a post it on each of the legs of the ant with questions we have or new pieces of information that we learn.  

2.  BUILD ON SMALLER TOPICS WITHIN ONE BROAD TOPIC:
To continue building background knowledge in students, I find it effective to stick to texts on one broad topic.  For example, after reading a text on ants I would focus on another insect.  Bees would be the next insect I would read about as they have similarities to ants in how they work in a colony, etc.  This helps students continue to build more knowledge and vocabulary, as well as make deeper connections.  

3. CLASS GALLERY WALK:
This works especially well for a larger unit.  The teacher chooses different sub-topics to write on chart paper along the wall.  For example, if you were preparing for an insects unit you could write body parts, types of insects, fireflies, bees, etc.  Each student gets to walk around with a marker (or pencil) and fill in information they already know about these sub-topics.  A more organized way to do this is to have students rotate to each chart in groups of 3-4 students.  They can choose one group member to write on the chart while discussing. You can also build off of this gallery walk throughout the unit or at the end, placing the charts back up on the walls for students to add information.

4. PICTURE WALK:
This simple activity works for texts that include visuals, such as photos or illustrations.  As you reveal each page of a picture book, discuss background knowledge, student connections, and predictions they have as to what is happening or what the book is about.

5. DISPLAY STRATEGY VISUALS:
Reading strategy posters are such an important reference to have on the walls of a classroom filled with growing readers.  One example of how to display these can be seen in the reading strategies word wall below.  One strategy can be highlighted at a time in a larger anchor chart.

All of the information found in the anchor chart is also on a background knowledge bookmark that readers use independently.  The back of the bookmark has a place for students to record how they use the strategy on sticky notes.  

6. PROVIDE REALIA OR VISUALS & DISCUSS:
I especially like to do this with text heavy articles or books.  I will find images about a topic and place them on a PowerPoint Presentation, but you could also print out visuals to discuss.  This is especially helpful for ELLs.   

Providing visuals and realia also lends itself to having students ask questions, so you could record questions that come up during the discussion.  This helps set authentic purpose for reading, and you can refer back to the questions during and after reading. 

7. FRONTLOAD WITH LOWER LEVELED TEXTS:
Along the same lines providing visuals, reading a picture book or text with a lower readability on a topic we are going to read a more difficult book on can be extremely beneficial in building background knowledge.  Frontloading, or pre-teaching, information in guided reading groups can prepare students for reading a more challenging text in a whole class setting. This is also a very helpful strategy for reading with ELLs.  

8. INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:
Beyond supporting students in accessing their prior knowledge on a topic, students then need to practice engaging in this strategy completely on their own.  Graphic organizers are helpful for students to take ownership of their individual thinking and learning.   

Another idea for a way that students can practice showing their thinking and visually see the importance of building background knowledge are through these background knowledge crafts.

Low Prep End of Year Activities for Elementary Students

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As the end of the school year quickly approaches, it is important to have fun, meaningful, and reflective crafts and writing activities ready to go for your students.  Between testing, report cards, field trips/field days, and more, the end of the year can sneak up on you quicker than you imagined.  My first year of teaching I waited until the last week or so of school to do end of year activities.  I quickly realized how meaningful end of year activities could be for student reflection (personal, social, and academic).  They encourage students to really focus on areas they have grown and on goal setting in areas they still need to work on.  After that first year, I always left at least 3-4 weeks to work on a memory book during writing, and then the last week could be for other fun end of year crafts and activities.  

Below are a bunch of end of the year activities, crafts, and writing that work great to foster student reflection in a meaningful, fun way.  
Full disclosure: They are resources that can be found for $4-5 in my store, but I have also included a great freebie! 

1. END OF YEAR GLYPHS:
Students love glyphs! They are a no prep, fun way for students to get creative while learning about each other. They also always make a great end of year bulletin board or wall display.  The end of year glyphs pack contains 5 glyphs that include a graduation kid, beach bucket, sun, fish, and beach scene.  

Also included are bar graphs for each glyph that allow students to analyze the data that comes from all of their classmates’ glyphs!

2. END OF YEAR MEMORY BOOK (free or paid versions):
After years of completing an end of year memory book with my students, I really can’t imagine not doing one! This memory book includes all of the templates I ever wanted to use with my students in a full page or half page format for mini books.
The prompts included are:  
-My Shining Moments (free)
-My Friends (free)
-My Classroom (free)
-My Favorites
-My Family
-My Successes
-Trip to_____(field trip or vacation)
-Grade ___ Snapshots
-Summer Plans
-Goals for Next Year
-When I Grow Up
-Autographs

Along with the templates, I also provide blank writing pages for students to free write about an event/memory, place, or person.  They can also use the included “remarkable writer” checklist while they are writing.

3. END OF YEAR BACKPACK BOOK:
This backpack memory book is different from the book above in that although it does include memory writing and how they have grown as people, there is more of a focus on their growth and goals in each academic area. There are pages for students to write about memories and describe themselves as learners in each of content areas (Science, Math, Reading, Writing, and Social Studies).  You can see the End of Year Backpack Book in more detail in this blog post.

4. SUMMER BUCKET LIST:
This summer bucket list is a fun, visual way for students to get excited in thinking up their summer plans.  Included are a blank bucket for students to draw pictures of things they would like to do this summer, or an option with numbers 1-10 along the side for students write 10 things they would like to do.

5. “HOW I HAVE GROWN” LIFT THE FLAP: 
This simple “How I have Grown” lift the flap is a quick reflective writing activity that has students think about how they have grown at home, at school, with their family, and with their friends.

6. END OF YEAR “FIND SOMEONE WHO…” BINGO:
This activity is a great way to get your kids up and moving around.  Students find classmates that fit the criteria for each square on their Bingo boards.

7. END OF YEAR WRITING PROMPTS/JOURNAL:
With the end of the school year and summer approaching comes lots of excitement in your growing writers.  This is a great way to motivate them with prompts that are applicable to what is currently happening around them.  These writing prompts come in different formats, but my favorite is the cut and paste journal option.  Student choice is another way to encourage them to write, so with this activity students get to pick which prompt they want to use to guide their writing that day.  

These resources can all be found by clicking on the covers below:

   

Backpack Books: An End of Year Memory Book and Reflection Writing Activity

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Between testing, finishing up grades, field days, assemblies, and more, life can get quite hectic during the bustle of the end of the school year!  Having low-prep, meaningful end of year activities that students can work on at their own pace, completely independently is SO key during this time.  This unique, fun End of Year Backpack Book works perfectly for that.  It is a fresh twist on the End of Year Memory book that fosters student reflection on themselves academically as well as socially.

Included are pages for describing their favorite memories, topics, ways they improved and goal setting for next year in each of the major content areas (Science, Social Studies, Math, Reading, and Writing).  

These can work well for a teacher that has students for all subjects, or to split up amongst teachers that are departmentalized by content areas. 

Also included are pages that have students reflect on themselves as people, friends, and family members throughout the school year.  Students describe “snapshots” of the year, memories with friends and family, times they showed good character, and personal goal setting. 

It is super easy and low prep to assemble. Students simply cut out each page of their backpack, fill them in, and staple the pages along the left side.

WHAT’S INCLUDED:

  • Memories I Take (Snapshots & Captions, open-ended)
  • What I Take as a Mathematician
  • What I Take as a Reader
  • What I Take as a Scientist
  • What I Take as a Writer
  • What I Take from Social Studies
  • Experiences I Take (With Friends and Family)
  • What I Take as a Person (back page of backpack)
  • A blank back page of backpack option

When putting the books together, I like to print the front and back covers on colored card stock to make the book a bit sturdier and to make the colors pop.  The inside pages I just print on regular white paper.  

This resource is also flexible in that you can feel free to use some or all of the pages with your students. 

These “What I Take from this Classroom” Backpack Books can also be purchased in a discounted bundle with the “What I Bring to this Classroom” books for a back to school all about me activity.

Low Prep, Non-Religious Easter Activities for Elementary Students

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I want to share a few fun activities I love to use to celebrate Easter with my students.  With so many religions in one classroom, I keep all the activities that we do non-religious.  Instead, they focus on spreading kindness and reflecting on ourselves.  We also do some fun Easter-themed crafts! 

I love having different formats and options of crafts and activities for students to choose from.  Setting up centers or stations gives students choice and ownership over their work, which always ends up pushing them to put in their best effort!  Below are a few activities taken from my Easter pack (which is a total steal at $5 from my TpT shop)!

“WE THINK YOU’RE EGG-CELLENT” CLASS CRAFT
This is a fun whole class activity for students to create and decorate their own Easter baskets to carry home.  Students write what makes each student “EGG-cellent” on eggs and places them into each of their classmates’ baskets.  It is such a great activity to build classroom community while making each student feel special and loved.   

EASTER GLYPHS
I constantly hear from teachers about how much their students love glyphs!  They are also great way to learn a little bit about your students while having them create an adorable craft to hang on a classroom bulletin board or take home to showcase on Easter bunny and Easter basket glyphs.
They also lend themselves perfectly to creating individual bar graphs (or one large classroom bar graph) and analyzing authentic classroom data.

EASTER “FIND SOMEONE WHO…” BINGO
This activity is a great way to get your kids up and moving around.  Students find classmates that fit the criteria for each square on their Bingo boards.

“WHAT MAKES ME EGG-CELLENT” LIFT THE FLAP
With this simple lift the flap activity, students fill in what makes them “egg-cellent” as a student, as a family member, or as a person on an egg shaped organizer.  

ALL ABOUT MY EASTER/ OTHER CELEBRATION
Students fill in what they eat, their feelings, a tradition, and their favorite part of Easter.  Another option is included for students that do not celebrate Easter to write about any of their own celebrations.

All of the activities described above can be found in my $5 Easter Pack.  Click the cover below to view the pack in my TpT shop!

Looking for more spring and seasonal resources?
Click on the covers below!

Low Prep Spring Activities for Elementary Students

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I don’t know about you, but I am SO ready for spring!  With any change in seasons, I love giving students opportunities to describe and write about the new season they are experiencing. 

Below are a bunch of spring activities, crafts, and writing that work great to bring spring into your classroom.  Most are included in my Spring Activities Pack (which is a total steal at only $5), but I have also included some great freebies!  Because of the huge number of activities included, it can work great for centers. Centers are always fun and motivating for students since they get to choose what activity they complete.  

SPRING SENSES FLOWER:
This is a fun, visual craft for students to show how they use their five senses in spring.  You can differentiate by having students draw a picture or write about how they use their senses on each petal.  These flower crafts make a great spring bulletin board, door, or wall display as well!

SPRING GLYPHS:
I constantly hear from teachers about how much their students love glyphs!  They are also a great way to learn a little bit about your students while having them create an adorable craft to hang on a classroom bulletin board or take home to showcase on the fridge.  Below are adorable butterfly and flower glyphs.
These spring glyphs also lend themselves perfectly to creating individual bar graphs (or one large classroom bar graph) and analyzing authentic classroom data.

SPRING BINGO:
Bingo is always a fun activity for students of all levels in any classroom, but particularly helpful for a classroom with English language learners (ELL).  It is a great way to practice basic spring vocabulary words with visuals. 

SPRING WRITING JOURNAL:
With spring’s arrival comes lots of excitement in your growing writers.  This is a great way to motivate them with prompts that are applicable to what is currently happening around them.  These writing prompts come in different formats, but my favorite is the cut and paste journal option.  Student choice is another way to encourage them to write, so with this activity students get to pick which prompt they want to use to guide their writing that day.      


SPRING POETRY:

This free spring poem from LMB Literacy is perfect to use as a read aloud to students, in a fluency center, or to hang up on the wall.  Included with the poem freebie are a word search and a page for students to create an illustration based on the poem.

MORE SPRING FREEBIES:
Spring Freebies include:
-Spring vocabulary cards (used as calling cards for the Bingo game above) are great to use for a word ring in a spring writing center, to print 2 copies to make a matching game, or to hang on the wall in a writing center display.
–Spring word search using spring vocabulary words (1 of 2 levels in the full pack).
-A “Rainy Day” graphic organizer for students to fill in, illustrate, and write about their feelings about rainy spring days.

Click the covers below for a closer look at the Spring Activities Pack, discounted Spring Bundle, hugely discounted Seasonal Resources Bundle, and free  Spring Activities.

  

Low Prep St. Patrick’s Day Activities for Elementary Students

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St. Patrick’s Day is such a fun and exciting day for students in an elementary classroom!  I love using holidays for students to get creative while continuing to learn and grow.  St. Patrick’s Day is perfect for doing this while having students reflect on and appreciate all of the “treasures” in their lives.  

I love having different formats and options for students to choose from.  Setting up centers or stations gives students choice and ownership over their work, which always ends up pushing them to put in their best effort! Below are a few activities taken from my St. Patrick’s Day Activity Pack, as well as a St. Patrick’s Day Bulletin Board display.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY GLYPHS:
I constantly hear from teachers about how much their students love glyphs!  They are also great way to learn a little bit about your students while having them create an adorable craft to hang on a classroom bulletin board or take home to showcase on the fridge.  

They also lend themselves perfectly to creating individual bar graphs (or one large classroom bar graph) and analyzing authentic classroom data.  This activity pack includes a pattern shamrock glyph as well as a leprechaun glyph.
 
ST. PATRICK’S DAY “WHAT WE TREASURE ABOUT…” CRAFT
This is a fun whole class activity for students to create and decorate their own pots of gold to carry home. Students write what they treasure about each student on gold coins and place them into their classmates’ pots of gold.  It is the perfect activity to build classroom community among your students.

INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC ORGANIZER
This lift the flap organizer has students fill in how they are lucky with their family, at home, at school, and with their friends.  I like to use colored paper for the back page to make it a little bit more colorful and fun!

WHAT I “TREASURE” POT:
This is similar to the activity above, just a different format.  Students fill in what they treasure at home and school on a pot of gold.

St. PATRICK’S DAY CLASSROOM BULLETIN BOARD:
This “What We Treasure about our Class” St. Patrick’s Day Bulletin Board is an adorable St. Patrick’s Day display that encourages student reflection and builds classroom community.

It comes with different sized coin options depending on how you want to use it in your classroom.  The small coins are perfect for having students continually add to the bulletin board what they treasure about their class. The large coins work well to have students really think and reflect on a writing piece about what they appreciate in their classroom.

This bulletin board can be found in the link below!  All other activities can be found in the St. Patrick’s Day Activity Pack.

  

Below are the discounted Spring Bundle, hugely discounted Seasonal Activities Bundle, and a Spring Freebie!

  

Low Prep Valentine’s Day Activities for Elementary Students

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What could be better than having students leave their school day feeling loved and appreciated by their teacher and classmates, and feeling the love for their own great people and things in their life?  Not much can top that!  This is why Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays to celebrate in the classroom.  I love to use it as a day to build community in my classroom while giving students an opportunity to let their crafty, creative sides show.

Full disclosure: Below are a bunch of activities that I include in my Valentine’s Day pack (which is a total steal at only $5), and a freebie!  Because of the huge number of activities included, it can work great for centers.  Centers are always fun and motivating for students since they get to choose what activity they complete!    

1. VALENTINE’S DAY GLYPHS
I constantly hear from teachers about how much their students love glyphs!  They are also great way to learn a little bit about your students while having them create an adorable craft to hang on a classroom bulletin board or take home to showcase on the fridge.  Below is an adorable Love Bug glyph, and the Valentine’s Day pack also includes a Box of Chocolates glyph!

They also lend themselves perfectly to creating individual bar graphs (or one large classroom bar graph) and analyzing authentic classroom data.  

2. “WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT____” CLASS CRAFT
I love this simple craft for building community. Rather than the typical Valentine’s Day cards, these mini hearts are little notes telling their classmates “What We Love About_____”!  They are a great, super low prep way to make your students feel loved and special.  

3. VALENTINE’S DAY BINGO
This (free!) activity is a great way to get your kids up and moving around.  In “Find Someone who…” Bingo, students find classmates that fit the criteria for each square on their Bingo boards.  You could use some fun Valentine’s Day themed mini erasers as Bingo markers too!

4. LIFT-THE-FLAP ORGANIZER
This lift the flap organizer has students think and write about what they love about different areas in their life (school, home, family, friends).  I like to use colored paper for the back page to make it a little bit more colorful and fun! 


5. PIECES OF MY HEART
“What Makes up the Pieces of My Heart” has students really think about ALL of the things that they love and are grateful for in their life.  Some students get SO into this activity.  It is a great way for students to express themselves, while teaching their classmates and teacher about everything they love.  You can also have students cut out the heart when they are finished to make a classroom bulletin board or to glue onto a separate colored piece of paper.

All of these activities can be found in the Valentine’s Day Pack below, which is also included at a discount in the Spring Bundle and the Seasonal Resources Bundle below:

Below are a link to a fun Valentine’s Day freebie and a Spring freebie!

 

 

5 Ways to Teach Nonfiction Text Structure

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Before studying to become a reading specialist, I had never explicitly been taught nonfiction text structures as a student and I also hadn’t been taught the importance of teaching them to our students as an undergrad.  They can often be the missing puzzle piece for our growing nonfiction readers.  Nonfiction text structures, which are the way the text is organized by the author, are split up into five types. They are cause and effect, descriptive, chronological order, problem and solution, and compare and contrast.  

Teaching and interacting with nonfiction text structures can improve reading comprehension by helping students to…

  • navigate nonfiction texts,
  • make predictions based on other nonfiction texts of the same structure,
  • set a purpose for reading a nonfiction text, 
  • visualize the text structure based on the text structure’s graphic (see above image), 
  • identify “clue words”, or signal words, that align with each type of text structure while reading, and
  • use a text structure’s signal words when summarizing the text.

Below are 5 ways to teach and practice nonfiction text feature with your students.

1. DISPLAY NONFICTION TEXT STRUCTURES VISUALS 

Having nonfiction text structures displayed somewhere on your classroom wall is a great way to provide students with tons of exposure to them all year long.  I like to display a nonfiction word wall that has vocabulary cards that show a text structure, a definition, and a visual example displayed as a reference.  When directly instructing text structure, I have posters that hone in on just one structure at a time.  You can also create an anchor chart with cut-out article examples of each text structure from magazines or printed informational passages.

2. TEXT STRUCTURE SORT
When working specifically on text structures, I set up 5 labeled bins with the type of text structure on each.  Students sort a bunch of nonfiction books from our classroom library into which categories they belong.  You could also use do this with printed informational passages with the labels laid out on a table for students to sort the passages below.  For long texts with multiple text structures, you can have students just put a post-it in the section that shows the particular text structure that they chose to place the book. 

3. TEXT STRUCTURE STICK-IT
Display clue words for each text structure.  I have a poster I use that show each text structure, clue words for each, and a visual.  You can definitely keep it simple and just write the clue words for each on the board though!  Students can also flag sentences in the text that show a specific text structure without these clue words.  Students use color-coded flags for clue words or sentences in a text that indicate a specific text structure.  This is a great activity to get students interacting with text structures in an authentic way.

4. NONFICTION TEXT STRUCTURE PUZZLES
I really like using puzzles for any vocabulary, because they are a hands-on activity and once you print and cut them out they can be used over and over.  They can be used as part of a reading center, in guided reading groups, as an early finisher activity, or as independent practice.

5. GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS
I like to have students use graphic organizers while reading nonfiction.  This is not only to support them in organizing their ideas, but also for me to check their thought process and understanding.  After identifying which nonfiction text structure their text is, students create a visual of the nonfiction text structure.  The use information from the text to fill it in on their own.

The resources pictured can be found in my TpT shop! Click on the covers below to check them out!
  

5 Ways to Practice Nonfiction Text Features

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As adult readers, we know the importance of using text features in order to help us understand the main body of text.  Headings help us to make predictions while reading, and then easily find information after reading.  Captions explicitly tell us what we are looking at in a photograph or picture that aligns to the text.  An index helps us to find the exact page that contains information on a topic we are researching.  The list goes on.  It may seem like common sense to us, but it isn’t for our growing readers.  Without explicitly teaching and having students interact with text features, they could be missing out on a huge piece of their own nonfiction reading comprehension puzzle.  

Below are 5 ways to teach and practice nonfiction text features with your students. 

1. DISPLAY NONFICTION TEXT FEATURES VISUALS
Having nonfiction text features displayed somewhere on your classroom wall is a great way to provide students with tons of exposure to them all year long.  I like to display a nonfiction word wall that includes vocabulary cards showing a text feature, a definition, and a visual example displayed as a reference.  When directly instructing text features, I have posters that hone in on just one or two text features at a time.  You can also create an anchor chart with cut-outs, or have students help you to create an anchor chart display with cut-out article examples from magazines or printed informational passages.  

2. TEXT FEATURE FLAG
While reading a nonfiction text or article, students first flag text features so they pay attention to them.  This helps them to learn their importance in nonfiction comprehension, and ultimately become more and more aware of seeking them out and internalizing them independently. 
There are other spins you could take on this too.  You can have students just flag one specific text feature you are working on throughout a text.  You can also have students use larger post-its to flag features and write on the post-it what they learned from it and why it is helpful.   
3. NONFICTION TEXT FEATURE GALLERY WALK
A text features gallery walk is a great way to expose students to nonfiction text features in many different layouts of nonfiction texts at one time. Students love that this text features activity gets them up and moving while learning, so that is just an added bonus!

Basically, you spread out at least the number of students to books, but if you have students work in partners you can do just half the number of students in your class.  Each book gets a number card placed right by it.  Then, students walk around with a nonfiction text features checklist to check off the text features they see in each book.

4. NONFICTION TEXT FEATURES PUZZLES
I really like using puzzles for any vocabulary, because they are a hands-on activity and once you print and cut them out they can be used over and over.  They can be used as part of a reading center, in guided reading groups, as an early finisher activity, or as independent practice.  

5. GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS
I like to have students use graphic organizers while reading nonfiction.  This is not only to support them in organizing their ideas, but also for me to check their thought process and understanding.  Some organizers include…

  • recording pages that a text feature was on and how it helped them,
  • making predictions based on a text from skimming text features (cover, timelines, photos, etc.),
  • using images and captions to understand the text, and
  • creating images and captions to help visualize the text

For texts that do not use many photos/captions or headings/subheadings, it can be very helpful for students’ comprehension to have them create their own.  If interested, I do have a bunch of differentiated nonfiction reading passages in my TpT shop that already come with these types of activities as well.  Caption It & Headings Match-Up has students match captions to the images and headings to the text. Another activity has students sort the nonfiction text features from the text and explain how they helped them.  

The resources pictured can be found in my TpT shop! Click on the covers below to check them out!