What text features are included in this informational text?

Most primary students have used the picture walk technique to preview text (Stahl, 2004). By looking at and talking about the illustrations in a text, students activate prior knowledge, make predictions, and set a purpose for reading (Clay, 1991; Fountas & Pinnell, 1996). Effective primary teachers use this instructional strategy when teaching students how to read (Taylor, 2002), yet this supportive practice is not as common when students read expository text and is often discarded as students move from reading picture books to chapter books.

When students enter the intermediate grades, they are required to read more textbooks and informational texts to learn, but reading textbooks and informational texts can be difficult for students due to the higher level vocabulary and concept-dense content. In addition to these complexities, expository nonfiction also contains numerous text features that supplement and present important content that the student must read in order to fully comprehend. Interestingly though, students often ignore these essential text features (Kelley & Clausen-Grace, 2008; Spencer, 2003), even though they have been taught their importance.

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