Cynthia doesn’t understand what’s going on in a picture in her book. What can she do?

In the book she's reading, Jenny sees a picture of a plant with different parts labeled. This is a ________.

True or False: Nonfiction books never contain text features.

A graph or chart ________.

Texts that give us true information about a topic are called nonfiction texts. They are different from fiction texts. An example of a fiction text is a novel, which is about imagined people, places and events. Poems and plays are also fiction text. Examples of nonfiction include encyclopedias, textbooks, biographies and newspaper articles.

Which of the following is most likely a nonfiction text?

You might want to use a nonfiction book to answer a specific question. That’s one reason why nonfiction books have text features. A text feature is a special part of the page that gets your attention. Some text features will help you locate information and some will help you understand information. And some text features make reading more fun and interesting!

According to this passage, some books have text features to

Tables of contents can be found in both fiction and nonfiction, usually at the start of the book. The table of contents lists all the big topics or chapters that are in the book in the order that they appear. It also lists the page numbers they start on. You can use the table of contents to find information.

According to the passage, a reader can use the table of contents to

Headings are like titles. They are big, bold words that appear at the top of a page, and they tell you what that section of text will be about. A heading might be a few words but will usually not be a complete sentence. Subheadings are used to tell you what smaller sections of text within the main section will include.

Imagine that you are reading a text with the heading “Languages.” Which of the following would most likely be a subheading?

A caption is the writing near photographs, illustrations or drawings. It explains what is happening in the image or gives more information about it. Captions help you understand how the image is connected to the text.

Which of the following would most likely be the caption near a photograph of a sleeping sloth?

The index is an alphabetical list of key ideas, terms, events and names that come up in the text. It tells you all the page numbers where these items can be found in the book. The index usually appears near the back of the book.

According to this passage, a reader might check the index of a book when

Because nonfiction books contain information about a specific topic, they often use vocabulary words that you might not know. That’s where the glossary comes in. The glossary is like a dictionary. It lists and defines important words related to the topic that are used in the book in alphabetical order. But don’t confuse the glossary and the index. The index tells you which pages the keywords appear on while the glossary provides definitions of words you might not know.

According to this passage, which of the following would you find in the glossary of a biology textbook?

A diagram is a special picture with lots of labels. It shows the different parts of something or explains how it works. A diagram can give you a clearer, detailed view of a complicated thing or idea. A diagram that shows the steps of a process is called a flowchart. Some nonfiction texts contain a lot of facts and numbers. That’s a lot of information to keep in your head. Thankfully, you won’t have to if the text has a chart, table or graph. These features organize information visually so that it’s easier to understand and compare numbers.

Which of the following would most likely be shown in a diagram in a nonfiction text?