Third Grade · Writing · week 24

Text Features in Your Own Piece

Add at least one text feature (heading, caption, labeled diagram, or bold key word) that supports the written report.

Nonfiction books use TEXT FEATURES -- headings, captions, diagrams, and bold words -- to help readers find and understand information quickly. This week you add at least one to your own report.

A heading is a short title above a section, telling the reader what that part is about. A caption explains a picture or diagram. A bold word draws attention to an important term, often one you just defined.

Text features are not decorations -- each one should genuinely help a reader understand your report better or faster.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Flip through a nonfiction book together and point out real examples of headings, captions, and labeled diagrams before your child adds their own.
  • Help your child pick just one or two text features rather than trying to add every kind at once.
  • Check that any heading or caption genuinely matches and supports the paragraph or diagram it is attached to.
  • Praise the choice to add a text feature, since it shows your child thinking like a real nonfiction author.
Talk about it:
  • Which text feature did you add to your report?
  • How does that text feature help a reader understand your topic better?
  • What is your favorite text feature you have seen in a nonfiction book?

Mastery looks like: They add at least one genuine, well-matched text feature (heading, caption, or labeled diagram) that supports the written report.

Common stumbles: Adding a text feature that does not truly match or support the nearby content; skipping labels on a diagram so it does not teach anything on its own.

See it visually

Interactive, spoken-aloud tools that show this idea in motion.

Text StructureSpot how a text is built: sequence, cause/effect, compare, problem/solution.try →
Homework for this lessonType it, write it with a stylus, or print it for pencil & paper.open →
Records attendance + 15 min of Writing for this learner.
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