Use Text Features and Context Clues

Use Text Features and Context Clues

What students learn

Students learn that text features like headings, captions, and keywords help readers locate information in nonfiction. Start with Informational Text Features: Use Headings and Captions to notice how nonfiction pages are organized.

Why it matters

Readers move faster and understand more when they know where to look for clues. Context Clues: Use Nearby Words and Examples shows how nearby words can help explain an unfamiliar word.

Learn the idea

A title can point to the topic, headings can split the text into parts, and keywords can tell readers what matters most. Informational Text Features: Use Titles and Keywords helps students connect those clues to the big idea of the text.

Try it

Read a short article or textbook page with your child. Ask them to point to one heading, one caption, and one word clue that helped them understand the page. Then ask them to say what the page is mostly about.

Parent guide

Keep the reading short and concrete. If the child gets stuck on a word, point them back to the sentence around it. If they miss a text feature, ask, "What part of the page helped you find the answer?"