English · Year 5

Active learning ideas

Text Features and Navigation: Non-Fiction

Active learning works for text features because these skills demand practice beyond reading alone. Students need to physically interact with headings, indexes, and diagrams to see how they organize and clarify complex information. Hands-on activities build the muscle memory required to navigate non-fiction texts efficiently.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9E5LY03
• AC9E5LY04

• 25–35 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Simulation Game
• 30 min · Pairs

Simulation Game: The Information Scavenger Hunt

Give students a complex non-fiction book or website and a list of five specific questions. They must use only the index, contents page, and sub-headings to find the answers as quickly as possible, recording which feature helped them most.

How do subheadings help a reader predict the content of a technical passage?

Facilitation Tip

During the Information Scavenger Hunt, set a visible timer to create urgency and model how to skim subheadings like search engine keywords.

What to look for

Provide students with a short, unfamiliar non-fiction article. Ask them to identify three subheadings and write one sentence for each predicting the content of the section. Then, have them locate one specific piece of information using only the index.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 02

• Gallery Walk
• 35 min · Small Groups

Gallery Walk: Diagram Detectives

Display several complex diagrams (e.g., a water cycle or a cross-section of a traditional First Nations dwelling). Students move in groups to write one piece of information that the diagram provides which is not found in the accompanying text.

In what ways do diagrams provide information that text alone cannot convey?

Facilitation Tip

In Diagram Detectives, provide magnifying glasses or digital zoom tools to focus attention on specific parts of diagrams.

What to look for

Present students with a diagram from a science text and its accompanying text. Ask: 'What information does this diagram provide that the text does not? How does the diagram help you understand the text more clearly?'

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 03

• Think-Pair-Share
• 25 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Feature Flip

Give students a plain piece of text without any features. Pairs must decide where to add two sub-headings, a bolded keyword, and a caption for a hypothetical image. They share their choices and explain how these features would help a reader.

How does the organization of an index reflect the hierarchy of information in a book?

Facilitation Tip

For Feature Flip, assign pairs to swap their flipped text features and explain their choices to each other.

What to look for

Give students a glossary from a sample text. Ask them to choose two words and write a sentence using each word correctly in the context of the text's topic. They should also explain how the glossary helped them.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Approach this topic by treating text features as tools, not decorations. Teach students to treat subheadings as signposts and diagrams as data sources. Avoid assuming students will transfer skills from one text type to another by explicitly comparing how features function in digital and print formats. Research shows that guided practice with immediate feedback helps students internalize these strategies faster than passive exposure.

Successful learning looks like students using text features independently to locate information quickly. They should explain why they chose a particular feature and how it helped them. Students should also recognize when a diagram or chart conveys information that the text does not.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Information Scavenger Hunt, watch for students who read every word on the page before answering.

  Pause the activity and model skimming the subheadings first, then scanning the highlighted sections. Ask students to time themselves reading only the relevant parts to see how much faster they find answers.

• During Diagram Detectives, watch for students who ignore the diagram and only read the caption.

  Have students cover the diagram with a blank sheet and try to explain the process using only the text. Then reveal the diagram and discuss what details were missing without the visual.

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Methods used in this brief

• Simulation Game
• Gallery Walk
• Think-Pair-Share