Using Text Features (Headings, Pictures)Activities & Teaching Strategies
Active learning helps students see how headings, pictures, and captions work together to build meaning. Moving around, talking, and handling real texts makes abstract features concrete and memorable for young learners.
Learning Objectives
- 1Identify the purpose of headings in non-fiction texts.
- 2Explain how pictures and captions add specific information to a text.
- 3Analyze the relationship between a heading and the content presented beneath it.
- 4Predict the content of a text section based on its heading and accompanying image.
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Text Feature Scavenger Hunt
Provide non-fiction books or big books on animals. In pairs, students hunt for headings, pictures, and captions, noting one example of each on a recording sheet. Discuss findings as a class, sharing how each feature helps understanding.
Prepare & details
Explain how a heading helps you know what a section is about.
Facilitation Tip: During the Text Feature Scavenger Hunt, circulate with a checklist and ask each pair to justify one feature they found before moving on.
Setup: Tables/desks arranged in 4-6 distinct stations around room
Materials: Station instruction cards, Different materials per station, Rotation timer
Heading Prediction Game
Display headings from texts without the content. Students predict in small groups what information might follow, using sticky notes. Reveal sections with pictures and captions, then compare predictions.
Prepare & details
Analyze how pictures and captions add to the information in a text.
Facilitation Tip: In the Heading Prediction Game, pause after each guess to confirm or revise predictions using the actual text to build accuracy.
Setup: Tables/desks arranged in 4-6 distinct stations around room
Materials: Station instruction cards, Different materials per station, Rotation timer
Caption Creation Station
Students select pictures from magazines or draw their own. They write captions to add information, then share with the group, explaining how the caption supports the picture.
Prepare & details
Predict what information you might find under a specific heading.
Facilitation Tip: At the Caption Creation Station, model one caption aloud before releasing students so they hear how to add specific, new information.
Setup: Tables/desks arranged in 4-6 distinct stations around room
Materials: Station instruction cards, Different materials per station, Rotation timer
Feature Labelling Walk
Walk around the classroom or school with printed texts. Individually label headings, pictures, and captions on worksheets, then pair up to verify.
Prepare & details
Explain how a heading helps you know what a section is about.
Facilitation Tip: On the Feature Labelling Walk, use a think-aloud to label two features with precise language before asking students to label independently.
Setup: Tables/desks arranged in 4-6 distinct stations around room
Materials: Station instruction cards, Different materials per station, Rotation timer
Teaching This Topic
Teach by doing together first, not by telling. Model how you use a heading to predict, then check your thinking against the text. Avoid worksheets that separate features from meaning. Research shows young learners grasp multimodal texts best when they physically manipulate pages and talk about what they see.
What to Expect
By the end of these activities, students will confidently point to headings and explain their purpose, match pictures to key details, and write captions that add new information. You will see them using the terms correctly during discussions and tasks.
These activities are a starting point. A full mission is the experience.
- Complete facilitation script with teacher dialogue
- Printable student materials, ready for class
- Differentiation strategies for every learner
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Common MisconceptionDuring Heading Prediction Game, watch for students who guess headings based only on size or color rather than meaning.
What to Teach Instead
Pause the game and ask, 'What words in the heading give us clues about what we’ll read next?' Have students underline those words before confirming with the text.
Common MisconceptionDuring Text Feature Scavenger Hunt, watch for students who treat pictures as decorations instead of information sources.
What to Teach Instead
At each station, ask, 'What does this picture tell us that the words don’t?' Require students to name one detail before checking it off.
Common MisconceptionDuring Caption Creation Station, watch for students who copy sentences from the text for their captions.
What to Teach Instead
Give each student a sticky note and say, 'Write one new piece of information the picture shows that isn’t already in the words.' Model an example first.
Assessment Ideas
After Text Feature Scavenger Hunt, give each student a page from a non-fiction book they haven’t used. Ask them to circle the heading, underline one word that helps predict the topic, and point to a picture that shows something new.
During Heading Prediction Game, listen as students share predictions. Note who uses the heading’s words to explain their guess and who guesses without evidence.
After Feature Labelling Walk, bring the class back together and ask each pair to share one heading and one picture they labelled, explaining how it helped them understand the text. Listen for the use of the terms 'heading', 'picture', and 'caption'.
Extensions & Scaffolding
- Challenge early finishers to create a new heading and caption for an unlabelled picture, then swap with a partner to verify clarity.
- For students who struggle, provide a sentence stem for captions, such as 'This picture shows _____ doing _____.'
- Deeper exploration: Ask pairs to find a book with no captions, write their own for every picture, and compare their versions with the published captions.
Key Vocabulary
| Heading | A title or heading at the beginning of a section of a book or article that tells the reader what the section is about. |
| Picture | A visual representation, such as a photograph or illustration, used in a book to show what something looks like. |
| Caption | A short explanation or description that appears with a picture or diagram, providing extra details. |
| Non-fiction text | A type of writing that is based on facts and real events, such as informational books about animals or science. |
Suggested Methodologies
Planning templates for English
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