RSTAQ: Tips

Remedial and Support Teachers' Association
of Queensland

›› Tips

Scanning text features

Purpose
To practise scanning for text features; and

To practise recalling and using the names of features.

Materials
Lined A4 activity sheet, divided lengthwise. In the left column, list text features such as chapter heading, sub-heading, caption, photo, map, etc. All the wordy features might be at the top, picture illustration middle; graphs, tables etc. bottom. (Not all need be relevant to current book.) In the right column, students tick or write page numbers as they find each feature.

Procedure
Present the scan sheet and go through the items, pointing out any layout features that will help them pin point a feature they are looking for quickly.

Students go through book (or a selections of pages) with the sheet beside them. As they recognise text features, they tick them on their scan sheet (or they can write page numbers)

On completion (time limit or first finished), they compare sheets and help each other find features missed.

Then there is a teacher-led follow up activity such as refinding and reading all the captions; predicting from a chapter heading and its sub-headings what they’ll find in this section of the book.; looking at the range (or lack of range) of features - conclusions about this.