Same Study skills › Reading to learn › Text feature walks
What is a text feature walk?
Before reading a nonfiction text, kids “walk” through its features: the title, headings, bold words, photos, diagrams, captions and sidebars. Each one is a clue about what the text will teach. A quick walk tells a reader what to expect and where to find things.
- Title and headings: the topic and its sections.
- Bold words: key terms, often in the glossary.
- Captions and diagrams: facts that may not be in the text.
Why schools teach it
Nonfiction gives clues before the first sentence
Students learn to use text features to find information (RI.3.5) and to use pictures and diagrams to understand a text (RI.4.7, RI.5.7). Kids who skip them miss an easy head start.
Captions and diagrams often hold facts that aren't in the paragraphs, and those facts show up on tests.
At the kitchen table
What to say, and what to skip
Say this
What do the headings tell you this is about?
Which words are bold? Why might they matter?
What does the caption add to the picture?
What do you think you'll learn?
Predict
Skip this
- Skipping the pictures as “just for fun.”Diagrams and captions are part of the text.
- Reading every word during the walk.The walk is a quick preview, not the full read.
- Guessing what bold words mean without checking.Look in the text or glossary.
See it in action
Walking through an article on bats
Title and headings
How Bats Find Food: Night Hunters · Seeing with Sound · Helpers for PeopleBold words
mammal · echolocation · echoPredict
I'll learn how bats use sound to hunt and why they're helpful.
Common features: title, headings, bold words, photos, captions, diagrams, maps, sidebars, glossary, index.
Free practice sheet
Make a text feature walk sheet
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Parents also ask
What counts as a text feature?
Anything besides the main paragraphs: titles, headings, bold or italic words, pictures, captions, diagrams, maps, charts, sidebars, a table of contents, a glossary and an index.
Is this only for younger kids?
It's taught in grades 2–5, but older students use it to preview textbook chapters.
What is a sidebar?
A box beside the main text with an extra fact or story.
How is this different from SQ3R?
A feature walk is like the Survey step of SQ3R.