GET TEACHING TIPS AND FREE RESOURCES

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Brown Bag Teacher

Teach the Children. Love the Children. Change the World.

March 9, 2014

Finding Nonfiction Articles for Middle Grades

Today I am sharing with you one of my great frustrations about 5th grade…the lack of resources. We are a curriculum-free school for reading and writing, so in August I walked into a resource-empty classroom. It has taken me months to find my ‘go-to’ websites, apps, and databases that are rigorous enough (i.e. long enough, with a 800-1000 Lexile Level) and interesting for my students. Without further ado, here are my 3 favorite websites for finding nonfiction articles that are (1) appropriate (2) rigorous and (3) interesting.

  • Every article is available in 4-5 different Lexile Levels that you choose using the blue menu to the right on each article!!!!  Regardless of the level, the students are reading the same article just at their just-right reading level! Talk about differentiating!
  • Articles marked with an anchor have Common Core aligned quizzes . Each quiz is aligned to a certain ‘anchor standard’. As students take the quizzes, your Teacher Binder automatically updates with the level of quiz students took and their score on the Common Core standard assessed.
  • On a computer, students have the option to highlight portions of the text! On their second read of an article, I ask students to highlight the main ideas in one color and the supporting details in a second color. As a teacher, I can see what they highlight on my dashboard. Since main idea is something we always need more practice with, this is a great informal assessment!
  • An audio feature that reads each article aloud to students. This is such a luxury and a perfect feature for students who receive a reader. Plus, it allows students access to an article they might not be comfortable reading independently during literacy centers (when there is no reader available)!
  • Teachers also have the option to input their own “ Extended Response/Short Answer” questions . These constructed response questions appear on students’ screens (iPad, moblie device, or computer), and students are given a space to respond. Student responses then appear on your Teacher Dashboard.
  • Additionally,  ThinkCERCA  has an embedded dictionary within each article. This dictionary allows students to click on a highlighted word, hear it read aloud, and see a definition for the word. Nonfiction articles are more likely to contain content-specific vocabulary that many students struggle with, and this feature helps students gain independence and confidence while reading!
  • ReadWorks trusts the teacher and allows the searcher to hone their survey to a specific reading skills . Point of view, cause and effect, inference, plot, main idea, vocabulary in context – these are just a few of the dozens of skills they have articles to target!
  • Each article is between 3/4’s of a page and 2ish pages in length making the articles readable, analyzable-able, and discuss-able (sure, it’s a word ;)) within my 55 minute reading block!
  • ReadWorks does not stop by providing single reading passages, they have also created Common Core aligned skills units that include novels to reference, teaching sequences, lesson plans, and assessments….all for FREE {no strings attached}. My favorite units are the paired text units for 5th and 6th grade. Pairing texts helps me meet with “comparing” verbage of the Common Core and teaches students they have to analyze and integrate the information their reading! Love. It.

Related Posts

Digitizing and Organizing Paper Handouts with DocScan HD

Reader Interactions

' src=

March 9, 2014 at 3:11 pm

Hi! Great post. Some really good resources here! Thank you! Do you think there are sites like that for the lower grades (first??) I will need to do some research on that. Thanks so much for the information 🙂 Em Curious Firsties

' src=

March 9, 2014 at 11:35 pm

Hey Em! Off hand I cannot not think of any, but if I come across some I'll definitely pass them along to you. ThinkCERCA and NewsELA would definitel not work for you, but ReadWorks should. They are awesome resources for ALL grades and skills. 🙂

March 9, 2014 at 3:27 pm

Oh my goodness Catherine!!! We are still so into Newsela in our class, thanks to you, and now you share two other incredible sites! I can't thank you enough–I'm signing up for both right now!!

March 9, 2014 at 11:34 pm

That's awesome, Kristen! My kids love NewsELA, too. Plus, we've be testing out some new features, and they are AWESOME. I personally like the articles on NewsELA better (they are more current events based and a little more appeal to my kids), but ThinkCERA has some awesome bells and whistles (audio, dictionary, extended response). 🙂

March 9, 2014 at 4:12 pm

I LOVE NewsELA.com and ReadWorks.org, but I have never heard of ThinkCera. Thank you for a new resource! I am on the curriculum team for my district, and we are starting to rework curriculum maps for next year, so this was perfect timing!

March 9, 2014 at 11:32 pm

Yay! I am so glad to hear that Karen. I am ALWAYS look for new ELA websites. 🙂 I hope the planning goes well!

March 9, 2014 at 4:46 pm

ThinkCERCA was a new one to me and is now bookmarked. Thanks for sharing!!

March 9, 2014 at 7:38 pm

This is awesome – thanks so much! ReadWorks was the only one that I had heard of. I can't wait to look at the other websites more closely. 🙂 ~Heather Loose Shoelaces

March 9, 2014 at 8:45 pm

I am always looking for really good non-fiction articles. Thank you for finding and compiling these for us. Kristy @

March 9, 2014 at 9:04 pm

I love using NewsELA in my classroom! I also use ReadWorks quite a bit, but I've never heard of Thinkcerca before. I'll have to check it out! It can be difficult to find non-fiction articles that meet all of the requirements.

Sara 🙂 The Colorful Apple

March 9, 2014 at 10:01 pm

I always learn something new every time I visit your blog! Thanks for sharing the sites… I have been using NewsELA, but the other two are new to me. Thanks for your Bright Ideas, and for being such a helpful stop on the Hop! 🙂

Kim Finding JOY in 6th Grade

March 9, 2014 at 11:31 pm

You've made my day, Kim! It makes my heart happy that you found a new resource. I hope they making planning just a little bit easier! 🙂

March 9, 2014 at 11:00 pm

These are GREAT resources! I've been using ReadWorks, but I've never used the other two. I'm so excited to share them with my teachers!

Buzzing with Ms. B

March 9, 2014 at 11:09 pm

This is a great resource. Thanks!

March 10, 2014 at 12:38 am

I have use ReadWorks weekly but have never used the others. I am so excited to find some great resources! Thanks so much for sharing!!! Wendy One Happy Teacher

March 10, 2014 at 3:17 am

Heard about your blog from Kristen at Ladybug's Teacher Files. AMAZING resource 🙂 I love readworks. Definitely following you now!

Your new follower, Leanna

A Little of LiLi lilismilee.blogspot.com

April 5, 2014 at 10:06 pm

Hi Leanna! That's awesome. Thank you so much for stopping by. 🙂 -Catherine

April 6, 2014 at 9:00 pm

This post is awesome! I was just struggling with exactly this issue on Friday. Thanks so much for posting 🙂

April 7, 2014 at 12:07 am

Love your blog. I want to pass along some great info for teachers. Please shop at http://www.ShopForStudents.com especially for ink and toner. We discount it up to 75%, we pay for the shipping, so its FREE! No coupon needed and the best part, we donate 15% of EVERY sale to the teacher or school, etc. of your choice, even you. Just tell us at checkout. We LOVE teachers!!! Laura Shifrin, Founder 954-394-0679

April 8, 2014 at 1:45 am

Thanks for sharing! As a teacher librarian I am always looking for reliable sites to use with my students and share with my teachers. Another site I really enjoy is http://wonderopolis.org/ User vote on all types of things that people are wondering about and then they answer the questions through articles, videos and images. All sorts of topics with tons of high interest for students. The Educator Sandbox also has resources for teachers as well! Check it out!

June 13, 2014 at 7:46 pm

I love dogonews.com for current events nonfiction news! My students beg me to read them! They can use the ipad to read the article and I sometimes have them do context clues work with them, also. They can read the article and then there are blue words they can determine the meaning and then click on the word to check. I also have a bulletin board of these articles and I update them so my students can grab them for our nonfiction silent reading time!!

June 13, 2014 at 7:48 pm

June 21, 2014 at 4:52 am

Thanks for the information. I use k12reader.com sometimes, too. You might find some things you like there as well.

November 25, 2014 at 1:41 am

Read, Write, Think is an awesome resource.

December 31, 2014 at 4:53 pm

Thank you for the amazing FREE resources. Here's another really great one I've used over the years: https://student.societyforscience.org/sciencenews-students

Happy New Year!!

November 9, 2015 at 5:01 am

Here's a great addition to your list! http://www.readtennessee.org/read.aspx

' src=

June 26, 2022 at 8:20 pm

rwnljkhqbjnrqqdzrfwewoypwuglha

' src=

June 26, 2022 at 8:47 pm

azhgkohuxzcqqfevkbogaicmglqycb

' src=

June 27, 2022 at 5:44 pm

svdyymsrgshsccjiqzcmfwjlqtwuje

' src=

June 27, 2022 at 8:28 pm

qxjxbuwodibqywarvqabrwmnqmvlij

' src=

June 28, 2022 at 6:58 am

ocphxjtvpmtaqyfzgemmrsrxlomeen

' src=

June 28, 2022 at 12:02 pm

czndcaozhaofnyozmibboclpouychh

' src=

June 28, 2022 at 1:52 pm

qsmektgjfonfkuhtopwplxozkafeqo

' src=

July 22, 2022 at 10:38 pm

iongyilnulztxwsahdmqqhzrtgoidb

' src=

March 16, 2023 at 10:49 am

This is an amazing piece of writing. There are things I have come to know for the first time, and I want to give them. Thankk you for sharing the information.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to create a feed.

Nonfiction/Informational

Standards require that students have experiences with a variety of nonfiction texts—informational, historical, biographical—and their text features. Most texts are paired with worksheets, response pages, or projects that will help build knowledge and comprehension of nonfiction texts.

TRY US RISK-FREE FOR 30 DAYS!

ADD TO YOUR FILE CABINET

THIS RESOURCE IS IN PDF FORMAT

Printable Details

  • Number of pages:
  • Guided Reading Level:
  • Common Core:

 alt=

Trending Post : Books Made Into Movies

Imagination Soup

Teach Nonfiction Text Features (+ Free Scavenger Hunt)

This post may contain affiliate links.

Not all nonfiction books have text features, but for the books that do, it’s important for readers to understand text features because that knowledge will impact a reader’s comprehension dramatically. After you realize their importance, how do you teach children about the text features in nonfiction to improve their comprehension? Let’s dive into just that!

text features

What are text features?

Text features are found in many nonfiction books.

Teach students the definition of nonfiction text features by explaining that text features apply to NONFICTION texts. (Conversely, story elements apply to fiction texts.)

Text features are the organizational elements that are (generally) useful tools to help readers understand what they are reading. They help organize the information so that children can comprehend the information.

The nonfiction books that include text features include these formats: traditional nonfiction, browseable nonfiction, and active nonfiction. These format classifications can be found in 5 Kinds of Nonfiction by Melissa Stewart and Marlene Correia.

Traditional nonfiction is fact-based nonfiction books about a specific topic, such as a shark book.

Browseable nonfiction is a book that you don’t have to read in any particular order.

Active nonfiction is a book that shares procedures, like a craft book about origami.

Teach children that these types of nonfiction books require using the features to aid in the comprehension of information.

Nonfiction Comprehension Strategies

Children use a combination of comprehension strategies when reading nonfiction texts. Readers must access their background knowledge, determine what’s important, ask questions, infer, and synthesize — to help them comprehend the text they’re reading. Text features support comprehension strategies and the students’ specific purpose in comprehending the information in the informational text.

Bolded or italicized words indicate to readers both the importance of the vocabulary word and a word that will be defined in a sidebar or glossary.

But, since the text is different than a fictional story, teach the features of nonfiction before students read the text so that readers can use the specific text features to support their comprehension.

Nonfiction Text Features

Notice the following common text features and teach children what is important about each. You can do a “text walk” through the book. Teaching text features will stick better with readers if you introduce one at a time. After introducing each one (for example, a table of contents,) search for examples in books.

Use excellent nonfiction books that are simple and well-written about any topic because you’re not teaching the content, simply the features. Here’s what’s essential to introduce to students.

  • table of contents
  • illustration
  • titles and subtitle
  • infographic

Search for Text Features Scavenger Hunt

Give readers practice noticing these text features with a Text Feature Scavenger Hunt !

Download a free scavenger hunt pdf. You have my permission to print it out and use it in your classroom, library, or home.

(Other scavenger hunts ask for examples from the text — which I think are hard to fit in a small column space, so I didn’t do that, but you could have readers write the example text down in their reading notebooks.)

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Get the Scavenger Hunt

This form collects information we will use to send you book lists and news. We will not share or sell your personal information. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Nonfiction Text Features

Find Text Features with Sticky Notes

Alternatively, search for text features using sticky notes with a list or poster of the possible features you’ll find in the text.

TEXT FEATURES

Teachers, you can ask students to search, notice, and note text features on the different pages of the book. And since not all books include common text features, the sticky note method is my favorite way to notice what’s included in the book you’re actually reading.

Ask students to find the text features, individually or in small groups, to become proficient at labeling which is which. After you search, have students reflect on how the text features impacted (help or hurt) their comprehension.

text features

Ask questions like: How do the text features impact your understanding of the information? Do they help you visualize? Or do the bold words help you understand a new word? How do they help you determine what the most important concept is and what an interesting detail is?

It can also be helpful to discuss when the book doesn’t have what you need–either not enough to help you through the content or not the right ones. It’s okay to find books that aren’t well-organized or well-written that you compare to books that are.

If you’re ready to get started, find book recommendations by going to my Nonfiction Book Lists for All Ages.

nonfiction text features

KEEP READING

nonfiction books for kids of all ages (

Nonfiction Book Lists for All Ages

Short Nonfiction Books for Reluctant Readers

Short, Nonfiction Books for Reluctant, Struggling, and Wiggly Readers

Teaching Fiction and Nonfiction To Young Children

Teaching Fiction and Nonfiction to Young Readers

Avatar photo

Melissa Taylor, MA, is the creator of Imagination Soup. She's a mother, former teacher & literacy trainer, and freelance education writer. She writes Imagination Soup and freelances for publications online and in print, including Penguin Random House's Brightly website, USA Today Health, Adobe Education, Colorado Parent, and Parenting. She is passionate about matching kids with books that they'll love.

Similar Posts

New Middle Grade and Chapter Books, June 2023

New Middle Grade and Chapter Books, June 2023

Setting Intentions for the New Year

Setting Intentions for the New Year

Rhyme Time: 5 Games to Teach Poetry

Rhyme Time: 5 Games to Teach Poetry

Spiral Investigations in Nature, Books, Art, and Math

Spiral Investigations in Nature, Books, Art, and Math

DIY Paper Dolls

DIY Paper Dolls

28 Picture Books with Simile Examples and Metaphor Examples

28 Picture Books with Simile Examples and Metaphor Examples

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

MUST-HAVE winter RESOURCES

In the Classroom with Kristine Nannini

English Language Arts

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Classroom Management

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Building Community

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Freebie Vault

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Free Vocabulary Activities!

How to get students to master nonfiction text features.

If you’re looking for ways to teach nonfiction text features, you’ve come to the right place. When students enter the upper grades, they are required to read more textbooks and informational texts. There is a shift from learning to read to reading to learn. These texts can be difficult for students due to the higher-level vocabulary and concept-dense content. In addition to being unfamiliar with the content, science and social studies textbooks often contain many nonfiction text features. These features supplement and present important information that students must read in order to fully comprehend the text.

What Are the Nonfiction Text Features?

Text features are all the components of a text that are not part of the main body text. There are many unique features that serve different purposes. Some help students pay attention to important words, find information, and connect important ideas in a text. Others help students visualize to make meaning of the written text or help the reader understand new or important information.

The features break down into four groups, and authors often use a variety of features to accomplish different goals.

1.) Print Features (bold print, font types/sizes, italics, and underlining) help readers stop and pay attention to important words. One of the most common and least obvious features students will encounter are print features.

2.) Graphic Aids (illustrations/pictures, photographs, maps, charts, tables, and graphs) help students visualize and make meaning of the text.

3.) Informational Aids (materials list, labels, captions, numbered steps, timelines, boxed text) helps the reader understand and organize new or important information.

4.) Organizational Aids (titles, headings, subheadings, numbered steps, glossary, and table of contents) help readers find information or connect the ideas presented in a text.

When Do I Teach Them?

There are different schools of thought on this, but I don’t recommend waiting to teach this skill. In fact, this is something that I like to teach close to the beginning of the year. Students will start reading nonfiction texts in the first or second week of school. It’s important that students understand how to identify these text features in their nonfiction texts. In addition, it’s also important that students expand their thinking to understand how the different text features help them understand the text.

How Do I Teach Nonfiction Text Features?

By upper-elementary, most students should be able to identify the different text features. However, I found that many students didn’t know how to use the features and couldn’t explain why they might be helpful. I always start with a refresher on identifying the features (see below for some different ways to teach nonfiction text features) .

1.) Re-introduce or Re-teach How to Identify Text Features

Start with a refresher on identifying text features. I make a text feature wall or bulletin board that has an example of each feature. I created this bulletin board below that you can use in your classroom.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

You can find this free bulletin board HERE . This helps students identify each feature. I walk students through the different text features posted on the bulletin board.

At this point, I also pass out this Text Features Printable to each student.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

This printable will help guide students when identifying the different text features. You can go through this printable with them by starting with the definitions of each text feature. This is a great lesson to re-introduce and familiarize students with the features.

2. All About Me Text Feature Booklet

To further reinforce identifying the text features, have students complete my All About Me Text Feature Booklet . This is a free resource you can find HERE .

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

This is a super creative project for students to show what they know about the different text features.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

It’s also a fun project to do to learn more about your students! It can be used as a formative or summative assessment to your lesson on identifying text features.

3.) Anchor Chart and Whole-Class Practice

Now that students can identify different text features, we meet to create an anchor chart together. This will most likely be the first time they are being exposed to a deeper level of understanding with the text features. You will now work with students to help them understand how the different text features help them understand the text.

For this anchor chart, I broke down the different text features into four categories (from above). The purpose of these categories is to show students the different features and how they are helpful to readers.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

We work together to identify each text feature and discuss the purpose of each feature. Next, we look at examples in reading passages. I typically pull examples from my Differentiated Reading Passages and Questions . I do this so that every student has the same passage in front of them to work with. I pass out a copy to each student. I typically start this unit with this passage below since it includes simple text features that students have been exposed to in the past.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

As the unit progresses, I increase the difficulty (add more text features, add features that may be new to students, etc.). It’s important that all students are working on the same passage with the same text features at the beginning of this unit.

While students have a copy of the text, we work together to identify the feature. We then discuss how it helps them as a reader. Once students are comfortable with all the text features and have an idea as to how it helps them, we break off to work in groups.

4.) Text Features Hunt

Next, I expose students to different informational texts and have them identify text features in the text. For this lesson, I break students into small groups and hand out a stack of informational texts. I then ask them to identify features that they see. For the purpose of this activity, I hand out colored sticky notes. Each color should represent a different text feature. If you don’t have access to multi-colored sticky notes, you can use one color and have students write the name of the text feature on the sticky note. You can also hand out the printable titled Text Feature Hunt . You can find this free printable HERE .

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Before reading, students go through and identify the text features by placing the correct sticky note next to the feature.

Once they’ve identified different text features, they now go through and read the text features carefully. They answer the first question from the printable together with their group. At this time, I walk the room and make sure discussions revolve around why might the author have used this specific text feature.

Next, students read the main body text and work to answer the second guided question. They reflect on how each type of text feature helped them as a reader better understand the text.

Feel free to stop at different groups and encourage the conversations by asking questions like: How do these labels help you learn about the parts of a plant? How do these maps help you understand how the tectonic plates have shifted? Is it easier to understand plate movement by reading about it or seeing it on the map? Etc.

5.) Text Features Table

Now that students have had the chance to identify different features and have a better understanding of how these features help readers, work with students to complete the text features table. Click HERE to grab it.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

You can do this whole group by referencing your bulletin board. Read aloud the card that says how the text feature helps the reader, and ask students to identify the text feature that matches.

6.) Cootie Catcher Partner Practice

Cootie catchers are a great way for students to reinforce their understanding with a fun game. These cootie catchers are set up for students to show their knowledge of how the different text features help a reader. Students can get out of their seats and pair up to test each others’ knowledge. Click HERE to grab this free cootie catcher.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

7.) Practice

One of the best things you can do is allow students the opportunity to practice these skills. I have created Differentiated Reading Passages and Questions for Nonfiction Text Features HERE .

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

The questions progress from identifying the text features to analyzing and explaining how they help readers understand the text. The best part is, the texts are differentiated so your students can each work at their reading level on the same skill.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

You can grab these passages by clicking HERE or the button below.

This resource now includes both a paper and digital option.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

This helps a lot. Thank you so much!

You’re welcome!

This is a great resource! Thank you for sharing it.

Thank you so very much for the Freebie….It is very high quality and I will be purchasing your TpT Nin-Fiction set. Thank you! You always have great items!!!

I purchased your materials, and they are great! Thank you so much. I did request the Freebies, however, they did not come. Can they be sent to me? Thank you so much!

Hi Emily- Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m sorry you are having trouble. Did you check your SPAM folder? If you are still having trouble, send me an email at [email protected] .

Hi Kristine, I’ve requested some text features freebies but I have not received them. I checked my junk mail but they’re not there either.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Review Cart

No products in the cart.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

  • Reading Comprehension Worksheets
  • Inferences Worksheets
  • Context Clues Worksheets
  • Theme Worksheets
  • Main Idea Worksheets
  • Reading Games
  • Summary Worksheets
  • Online Tests
  • Figurative Language Worksheets
  • Short Stories with Questions
  • Nonfiction Passages
  • Genre Worksheets

BECOME A MEMBER!

  • Nonfiction Passages and Functional Texts

Students need to gain lots of practice working with nonfiction passages. This prepares them for more advanced course work. Here are some nonfiction reading passages, worksheets, and online practice activities to give students practice. I recommend using the online versions of the activities if you have access to technology in your classroom. It will save you some grading and these activities include questions formatted as extended response in addition to multiple choice. Students can print, save, or email their results. I think it's pretty cool. Just make sure you tell students to save their scores and responses for their own records, if you are using email delivery. Then they will always have a backup for record keeping.

These activities are sorted by grade level. I welcome comments and suggestions.

This is a preview image of TV. Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.

Nonfiction Comprehension Common Core State Standards

62 comments, karen boehmer.

Thank you so much. With shortage of teachers I am now teaching reading and your site has been sooooooo helpful

Stephanie E Gaskin

In order to protect academic integrity, I wish your sight was password protected or a more difficult process to access answer keys.

Yeah, accessibility and security are a trade off! I recommend changing the titles of the worksheets before distributing them if this is a concern. That makes them harder to find. Still not perfect though. Best wishes!

Priscilla Araba Hagan

Love, love, love this site. A veritable collection of the best reading passages on the planet. Keep it up!

Interesting am helpful

basherbash27 omer

Thank you for all this much excellent work it will help me much with my academic work

Sara Simons

After much searching, I finally found you wonderful nonfiction stories. I am teaching a 7th grade student who would benefit greatly from this. I am so grateful to you.

Doumouh Dirani

Thank you soooooo much for your help! You’re a real blessing! Thank you so much no words can express my appreciation for you for publishing such treasure! Thank you

Your passages have enabled me to help students who read and comprehend below grade level! Thanks so much.

So happy to hear it. Best wishes to you both!

I saw this sheet in my tuition exam!!

Love this! Thank you!!!

I wish there were ones on space!

Ibrahim Hotait

It is a great website that helps me in teaching English as a foreign language to my students. Ibrahim

This page has been so helpful with my reading class. I wish new selections were added

Working on it…

I like this website so much, the comprehensions are helping me a lot more than I usually do, please give more comprehensions to practice

I’m glad that you like them and think they are helping. That’s great. I’m always working on updating and improving the site. Come back soon!

Thank you so much for providing and sharing this site, it helps me a lot to support my Reading class activities.

I really love this website , i just checked it today , i even preferred it on my teacher . This is really fantastic . I love that they give the passages free, they give you a copy to edit , they give answers with every passage . Thankyou !!

These passages are really good. Hope that you will post comprehension poems too.

Thanks. Have you seen these?

https://www.ereadingworksheets.com/figurative-language/figurative-language-poems-with-questions/

Thank you so much for your generosity. Interesting and motivating reading texts

Mohammad Mustafah

Wow it is a nice web and my teachers also gave us the comprehension hear! It is really a nice and it also have a answer key for checking the answer, thanks!

Thank you so much. This is grea

Thank you. I’m looking for samples for four types of reading and writing for post basic classes.

I greatly appreciate such useful worksheet materials hoping that you’ll keep on providing more likewise resources

Elma du Toit

Thank you very much for so generously providing these worksheets and lessons for free! I use some even for my teachers in training, as they are all Second Language speakers. The reading texts are also very informational, expanding their general knowledge. I love it!

yinka adegbenle

Thank you for these amazing worksheets. So very useful and of great quality too.

Ms.Viviet D'souza

Every piece of writing makes for interesting reading. Also, thought-provoking. Some definitely cater to an excellent classroom debate. This site is a great discovery. Thanks.

Homeschool Mom

Thank you so much for these. As a homeschool parent it can be difficult to locate interesting worksheets for my middle schoolar. These are great and she will enjoy them!

Marlee is awesome

Hi, I read alot and would like to say ur awesome im awesome and everyone who reads this is awesome! Have a nice day and a fun time learning! l♥

I love the positivity! Best wishes!

Mr. Morton, how can we have access to the authors’ names of articles posted here. They are so well organized work well with summary writing. But must have authors’ names

Hello. I wrote all of these.

https://www.ereadingworksheets.com/e-reading-worksheets/about-mr-morton/

Darrell Deshotel

Thanks for this page. Please don’t ever take it down. As a 7th grade ELA teacher it’s extremely helpful. Thank you again.

thankyou so much for this informative page …..its the perfect page for students i can have alot of info which is obviously gonna help me ….

I love this webpage! So interesting topic for reading activities. I teach English in Argentina, and these texts trigger my students speaking skills, vocabulary skills and of course Reading Skills

Nahomy Villalobos

hey, there i really need help in this question and i want to know if you could help me in this question it is very difficult ad i really need help and can you really help me please

A good lesson to learn here is that you should ask your question in your initial comment, as I cannot respond to these in real time.

ivan beltran

thank you very much, i´m an english teacher in Colombia, and i´m trying to teach to my students the importance of good reading, this material is excelent.

Thank you Mr. Morton for these great passages, I use them for my grandchild and she finds the topics interesting. What a wonderful website and great questions. Thank you for your efforts and for sharing.

It is a good web. It can help my teaching a lot. Would you mind me if I suggest answer key with file PDF?

Ms. Dela Cruz

Thank you for making such worksheets. As a tutor it really helped me. 🙂

Annie Smith

The “PAIN RELIEVER” article/worksheet question 8 – shouldn’t the answer be “C” both medicines, since the question asks “WHICH MEDICINE SHOULD ‘NOT’ BE TAKEN” if consume more than 3 alcoholic beverages per day??

misha jessani

nice website its very informative for me as a student.

very nice website its very informative for me as a student. thank you for making such website. 🙂

Allison Clark

These passages are awesome! I love your site. I can always be sure I will find something challenging and INTERESTING(!!!) for my students. Thank you SOOO much for this website!

I’m so happy to hear it. Best wishes!

You reading passages are very helpful for my 9 year old daughter. I hope you add more passages.

I am committed to improving and developing this site. Thank you for visiting.

I have been using your reading passages to teach my 9 year old kid. They are very helpful! I hope you add more passages to your collections.

Thank you and I am happy to hear it. I hope to add more reading passages this winter.

I am tutoring an adult in English and your reading passages have helped me tremendously. Will you be adding other passages to the site?

Yes, I should be improving the format and adding a bunch of new content this winter. Thank you for visiting!

Do you offer 5th or 6th grade reading level content and tests. Thank you….

I’ve got a bunch in the works. I should have them up sometime in December. Best wishes!

Theresa Fairchild

First of all, you are a life saver. I love your resources, and they have helped my students and me greatly. Another teacher and I would like to know why the answer for the the question listed below is A. With the movement to text dependent questions, C. is the only viable option. Logically, A. makes sense, but we were looking at the question from a text dependent viewpoint. 3. Which best explains why the original castles were first made from earth and timber?

a. It takes a lot more time and energy to build a stone castle.

b. It did not occur to people to build castles out of stone.

c. People did not realize how weak wooden castles would be against fire.

d. Wooden castles were prettier than dirty stone castles.

I think it is fair to require students to draw such an inference.

I believe most state tests will require them to draw similar inferences.

Perhaps the distractor C is unfair as you are suggesting.

When I revisit the content in the next year I will update this question. Thank you for your feedback.

Tina compton

I teach sixth grade. I don’t see where you have a grade or Lexie level for the passages you offer. They look close to what I need, a Lexie around 1,000 or greater. Can you give me an idea about where these passages are level wise? Thank you so very much! It looks like you’ve worked very hard! I appreciate it.

Tina Compton

Lexile is a proprietary term. As an educator you can use their system for free, but as an educational publisher I would need to license it.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Author's Purpose Worksheets
  • Characterization Worksheets
  • Conflict Worksheets
  • Fact and Opinion Worksheets
  • Figurative Language Activities
  • Figurative Language Poems with Questions
  • Genre Activities
  • Irony Worksheets
  • Making Predictions
  • Mood Worksheets
  • Parts of Speech Worksheets
  • Poetic Devices
  • Point of View Worksheets
  • School Project Ideas
  • Setting Worksheets
  • Simile and Metaphor Worksheets
  • Story Structure Worksheets
  • Text Structure Worksheets
  • Tone Worksheets
  • ALL PAGES AND WORKSHEETS

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Mrs. Nelson Teaches

Engaging ela education, informational text features for middle school.

Reading informational texts and other types of nonfiction becomes increasingly more important as our students progress through middle school. In high school and especially in college, students are expected to read large amounts of complex text and retain the information. The shift from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” generally begins in middle school.

As such, I try to include informational texts as often as possible in my class–even when we are studying fiction! For example, when we are studying The Witch of Blackbird Pond, we read a lot of texts that provide historical context for the novel. When we read Freak the Mighty , we read about learning disabilities. The more students are exposed to and work with informational texts, the less foreign it will feel to them. They will gain confidence in their ability to read these (seemingly) more difficult texts.

Strategies for Reading Informational Texts

Of course we don’t just *read* the informational text. All along the way, I am teaching my student strategies for navigating these texts! For example, on of my favorite strategies to use is teaching students about annotating a text . Annotating really helps students engage and interact with the text, which helps them retain the information so much better! This is an especially useful skill for students who plan to go to college!

Another strategy that I like to arm students with is SQ3R. SQ3R is a five-step approach to reading a text and serves as a great self-check for students to use to ensure they are comprehending what they are reading. The steps of SQ3R are 1) Survey; 2) Question; 3) Read; 4) Recite; and 5) Review.

Using Text Features as a Strategy

Generally, I like to begin the year teaching students how to identify and use Informational Text Features to aid their comprehension of nonfiction texts. Many students might be familiar with these text features , but I am often surprised at how many middle school students haven’t quite grasped how to use them to their advantage.

informational-text-features-middle-school

For about a week, I like to immerse my students in using informational text features.

We identify text features.

We explain how each text feature helps readers.

Sometimes, we even compose our own writing that includes text features!

informational-text-features-middle-school

By the end of this short unit , students are incredibly familiar with informational texts and know exactly how to use the features for their own benefit!

Text Features as Test Prep

While I usually complete these text feature activities with my students at the beginning of the school year, I also like to revisit them at the end of the year in preparation for any end-of-year exams we may have. Reading and Language Arts exams often include several nonfiction and informational texts and like to ensure my students are prepared!

informational-text-features-middle-school

What strategies do you like to use to help your students approach informational texts?

Until next time!

Brenna (Mrs. Nelson)

Share this:

One thought on “ informational text features for middle school ”.

Pingback: Unbroken - A Complete Unit Plan - Mrs. Nelson Teaches

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Discover more from mrs. nelson teaches.

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…

Continue reading

FREE EDITABLE PARAGRAPH RUBRIC? YES, PLEASE!

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Teaching Nonfiction Text Features

Teaching Nonfiction Text Features

I really think teaching nonfiction text features is a lot of fun!

It’s not as abstract of a concept as many reading skills may be and it gives my students the same kind of feeling that my own kids had when we took long road trips and played the license plate ABC game. The fun is in the search!

Like anything else, there are lots of ways to teach nonfiction text features, but I’ll share what I like to do in this post.

nonfiction-text-features-anchor-chart

1. To start this unit, we discuss the differences between fiction and nonfiction.

Before you can directly teach nonfiction text features, the kids need to be able to distinguish between fiction and nonfiction.

I like to start by having the kids help me brainstorm as we create an anchor chart listing the characteristics of each. Of course, I have the key characteristics I want them to mention and prod them along where needed.

A good second-day review is to give your students a Venn diagram and have them work in pairs to review this information. All of this prep work is to lead kids to the conclusion that nonfiction (real life, “not fake”) is very different from fiction (creative story, “fake” – starts with an F like fiction…) and has a number of different features which are used to help the reader understand and visualize the concepts more fully.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

2. Introduce One or Two Text Features Each Day

Now that students understand what nonfiction is, it’s time to examine each text feature together.

The day before the lesson, I search through my classroom library and add in books from the school library and tag good examples of text features with sticky notes, so I’m ready for the next day’s lesson.

On the lesson day, I teach one or two specific text features by using the real nonfiction books that I have tagged, as well as the posters (see below). As I describe each text feature, I like to project the examples from real books/magazines on my document projector, so everyone can see them well.

Once the kids understand the concepts, we do a mini-scavenger hunt as they take out their science books and browse through them in search of the specific example we are targeting. They are usually pretty excited to find so many examples of the nonfiction text features and the little competitive souls (you know who they are) really get into this!

To finish the lesson, the kids fill out the page or two in their flipbooks (either a simple copy paper folded and stapled booklet or the fancier flip booklet I use today) and kids draw examples of the text feature in these booklets. I allow them to make up their own examples for these pages or to use ones that they’ve found in their science book or from a real nonfiction book.

Besides the flipbook, I have a set of posters with pictures of each text feature that I like to have on display in the classroom. You could put them up one at a time as you teach each one but I usually just have them all on a bulletin board and then refer to them as we go along.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

3. Task Cards

Once we have introduced all of the text features, I take out my set of task cards for this unit. I think by now I have task cards for just about each standard that I teach because they give kids so much focused practice and students still see them as a “game”, so they really enjoy using them.

If you run reading centers, task cards are great for this of course, or you can place them around the room and give kids clipboards and a buddy to record their answers on the record sheet as they walk around finding the cards.

Since I usually have 4th/5th graders, we correct these together when they’re finished and they get instant feedback on how well they did.

A great way to make extra task cards is to use examples from science magazines or Weekly Readers, which are full of text features.

Another way I reinforce text features is to play a Nonfiction Text Features Bingo as a class. I pass out cardstock (laminated) Bingo cards, as well as buttons for markers (you could also use mini-erasers, beans, math cubes, plastic disks, or even small pieces of paper) and we play the game several times together.

I have a prize box of random treasures (aka junk) for the winners and I do include a few simple no-cost coupons in the prize box, that I printed with prizes like a homework pass, choose a class game, sit with a friend, wear socks in the classroom, 15 minutes of computer time during morning work, and so on.

Another way I like to use my Bingo cards is to set these aside for a parent volunteer (or a trusty student helper) to use one on one with any students who need extra help. They’re really a great way to provide a quick review.

5. Follow Up or for Fast Finishers

I love to have a few easy but effective ideas on hand for a whole class review and for the few fast finishers who need some enrichment.

One easy project is to take old science magazines like National Geographics (I would pre-screen these for iffy pictures), Ranger Ricks, Scholastic Magazines, or Weekly Readers and have kids cut out examples of each nonfiction text feature that they find. The kids then glue on their examples to large pieces of construction paper, anchor chart posters, or a sectioned off bulletin board, with nonfiction text feature headings.

Another idea I really love and the kids enjoy is to have a Scavenger Hunt with small teams of 3 – 4 kids. I give each group sticky notes and a basket of nonfiction books and let them place sticky notes with the text feature’s name on each text feature example they find, with a point for each one they find.

The game’s goal is to see who can find the most text features in a set number of minutes. Before we announce the winner, I have groups exchange baskets and “check” the other team’s answers for accuracy, which also gives them one more opportunity to practice this skill (sneaky, I know!)

Finally, if you’re looking for a ready to go, complete resource to teach nonfiction text features for 2nd – 5th grade, I did create a unit that I love using in my classroom. It comes with the flipbook, task cards, Bingo game, and all of the posters too!

Nonfiction Text Features

Nonfiction Text Feature Activities for 2nd - 5th Grades

Also, if you teach 4th/5th grade, you might enjoy this Reading with Charts and Graphs , which features lots of engaging passages, and comprehension questions, as well as a set of 32 task cards with charts and graphs (text features!).

Reading Informational Text With Charts and Graphs

Reading Informational Texts With Charts and Graphs for 4th and 5th Grades

If you have 2nd or 3rd grade students, you might be interested in the charts and graphs task cards by themselves.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Hope this unit goes smoothly for you! Happy teaching!

The Teacher Next Door - Creating upper elementary resources that target standards for busy teachers

  • Read more about: Reading

You might also like...

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

A Weekly Vocabulary Lesson Plan to BOOST Skilled Reading and Comprehension

A Weekly Vocabulary Lesson Plan to BOOST Skilled Reading and Comprehension Here’s what you can expect to learn from this article:  The current state of

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

How to Make the Most of Reading Assessments

Does your school or district require you to do reading assessments a certain number of times per year? I’ve heard of teachers who are required

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

What are Strategy Groups in Reading and How Best to Use Them

In the world of teaching reading, there are certain staples that have been around forever, that teachers pretty universally agree are valuable and worthwhile. Guided

Hi, I’m Jenn, CEO and owner of The Teacher Next Door!

I know that you strive to be an effective upper elementary teacher while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

In order to do that, you need resources that are impactful, yet simple .

The problem is that most resources and curriculums out there are far from simple. The pages upon pages of daily lesson plans are just plain overwhelming .

At TTND, we believe teachers should be living their lives outside of the classroom, and not spend hours lesson planning and searching for resources.

We understand that now, more than ever, teachers need space to be themselves which is why we create and support teachers with timesaving tips and standards-aligned resources.

Want access to TTND's Free Resource Library? Sign up for our newsletter and we'll email you the exclusive password!

Trending posts.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

SEARCH BY TOPIC

  • Classroom Ideas
  • Holidays and Seasonal
  • Mentor Texts
  • Reading Workshop
  • Uncategorized
  • Writing & Grammar

POPULAR RESOURCES

Complete Paragraph Bundle - Explicit Writing Instruction - The Teacher Next Door Product Cover

JOIN MY NEWSLETTER

Gain access to a library of FREE resources for upper elementary grades!

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Facebook Group

Teachers Pay Teachers

Free Resource Library

💌 Contact Us

Disclosures

Privacy Policy

Refund Policy

Purchase Orders

Your Downloads

Reward Points

©  The Teacher Next Door, LLC. All rights reserved.

FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY (3)

* Please note: If your school has strong email filters, you may wish to use your personal email to ensure access.

You have exceeded your limit for simultaneous device logins.

Your current subscription allows you to be actively logged in on up to three (3) devices simultaneously. click on continue below to log out of other sessions and log in on this device., 26 engaging, informative nonfiction books for middle graders | summer reading 2021.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

History, science, current events, and social sciences are explored in these highly engaging narrative and expository nonfiction texts for middle grade readers. 

Three Middle Grade nonfiction covers

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander. illus. by Kadir Nelson. HMH/Versify. ISBN 9781328780966.

A poignant and powerful ode to the resilience and strength of black life and history in America. Originally performed for ESPN's The Undefeated in 2016, the poem adopts a picture book format, accompanied by stunning oil paintings in Nelson's trademark photorealistic style.

Bots and Bods: How Robots and Humans Work, From the Inside Out by John Andrews. Andrews McMeel. ISBN 9781524862756.

This illustrated nonfiction title provides an orderly journey through various systems within humans and robots. The text discusses how the human body works in relation to movement, senses, and intelligence, then explains to what degree robotics can imitate those abilities. 

Race to the Bottom of the Earth: Surviving Antarctica by Rebecca E.F Barone. Holt. ISBN 9781250257802.

In 1911, teams led by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and English naval officer Robert Falcon Scott raced one another to be first to the South Pole. More than a century later, American endurance athlete Colin O’Brady and another Englishman, army officer Louis Rudd, scrambled for the honor of finishing the first solo traverse of the Antarctic continent. In alternating chapters, engineer and STEM advocate Barone traces each of the campaigns.

Moon Mission: The Epic 400-Year Journey to Apollo 11 by Sigmund Brouwer. Kids Can. ISBN 9781525300363.

An engaging second-person point of view narrative puts readers into the place of the astronauts in this detailed exploration of the triumphs and near-disasters of the Apollo 11 mission and the science and scientists who made it possible. 

Machines That Think! by Don Brown. illus. by author. Abrams/Amulet. ISBN 9781419740985.

A look at machines through the ages, from the abacus to 16th-century thinker Blaise Pascal’s Pascaline to Ada Lovelace’s analytical machine to the early computers used by NASA, and, finally, to smartphones.

It’s a Numbers Game!: Soccer: The Math Behind the Perfect Goal, the Game-Winning Save, and So Much More! by James Buckley Jr. National Geographic. ISBN 9781426339233.

Buckley’s book teaches readers about soccer with the help of basic geometry and statistics. The text is a combination of soccer strategies, facts, and instruction, which is told through the balanced perspective of male and female players at both the professional and beginner level.

Warrior Dog: The True Story of a Navy SEAL and His Fearless Canine Partner by Will Chesney with Joe Layden. Feiwel & Friends. Jun. 2020. ISBN 9781250244901.

Written in smooth first-person narration, this book tells the often sad story of Chesney and his best friend Cairo, a 70-pound Belgian Malinois. Chesney, who had been a SEAL for most of his six years in the Navy, became the handler of Cairo, a military working dog. They trained together, along with Chesney’s team, and became a cohesive duo. 

Draw a Comic! by JP Coovert. illus. by author. First Second. ISBN 9781250152114; ISBN 9781250152121.

A step-by-step guide to drawing comics—including how to create informative, nonfiction comics modeled on the publisher’s popular “Science Comics” series. Supplementary materials, including a glossary of comics terminology and a further reading list, round out this clarion call to expertly draw it yourself.

Give Us the Vote!: Over Two Hundred Years of Fighting for the Ballot by Susan Goldman Rubin. Holiday House. ISBN 9780823439577.

In this intriguing look at the struggles faced by voters in the United States through history and into modern times , Rubin studies the history behind winning the right to vote, both for women and people of color, and confronts issues still faced today.

The Outdoor Scientist: The Wonder of Observing the Natural World by Temple Grandin. Philomel. ISBN 9780593115558.

Grandin is a renowned American scientist and one of the most well-known public figures with autism. She connects with her audience in a personal and fascinating style while detailing her early scientific observations about the natural world. The book combines memoir, biography, informational text, and engaging projects.

Lafayette!: A Revolutionary War Tale by Nathan Hale. illus. by author. Abrams/Amulet. ISBN 9781419731488.

About-to-be-executed spy Nathan Hale entertains his captors and readers by telling stories about U.S. history in this popular graphic novel series. In this installment, Hale returns to the setting of the American Revolution to focus on the early life of French aristocrat and Revolutionary War hero Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. 

Birds: Explore Their Extraordinary World by Miranda Krestovnikoff. illus. by Angela Harding. Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781547605293.

Birds evolved from dinosaurs. As they spread across the world into almost every habitat, they showcased flight, plumage, and distinctive songs and calls. Harding’s vivid linocut illustrations complement short chapters that detail specific habitats. The text also explains how avian characteristics such as feathers and beaks ensure the bird’s success in these environments.

Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of “The Children’s Ship.” by Deborah Heiligman. Holt. ISBN 9781627795548.

Heiligman tells a story of bravery, courage, and despair through the eyes of the passengers on the  SS City of Benares , a ship commissioned to sail to Canada with 100 children on board during World War II. The ship was torpedoed by a German submarine.

Murder on the Baltimore Express: The Plot To Keep Abraham Lincoln from Becoming President by Suzanne Jurmain. Little Bee/Yellow Jacket. ISBN 9781499810448.

Through a series of spy missions to infiltrate the clandestine group meetings of Abraham Lincoln haters, his protectors outsmarted the antagonists and delivered Lincoln away from Baltimore where the assassination was to occur, to Washington, DC, for the swearing-in ceremony. 

Have I Ever Told You Black Lives Matter by Shani Mahiri King. illus. by Bobby C. Martin Jr. Tilbury House. ISBN 9780884488897.

This inspiring title chronicles African American accomplishments from the Revolutionary War to the present. On alternating pages, the question, “Have I ever told you that...?” is posed, then answered by focusing on important Black trailblazers in disciplines such as science, arts, and politics. 

Amazing Treasures: 100+ Objects and Places That Will Boggle Your Mind by David Long. illus. by MUTI. What On Earth Bks.  ISBN 9781912920501.

The text defines a treasure as “anything that’s important or valuable to someone.” That definition encompasses an array of items, places, and natural wonders. Pages teem with exciting discoveries, such as the Svalbard Seed Vault in Norway, the Moai of Easter Island, and the Benin Bronzes.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Thrill Seekers: 15 Remarkable Women in Extreme Sports by Ann McCallum Staats. Chicago Review. ISBN 9781641604802.

This collective biography profiles 15 extreme sports female athletes, who have reached the highest levels of competition in their chosen sport. The featured sports include wingsuit diving, iceberg diving, parkour, downhill mountain biking, and ultra running.

Spaceman: The True Story of a Young Boy’s Journey To Becoming an Astronaut by Mike Massimino. Delacorte. ISBN 9780593120866.

Massimino’s young readers’ adaptation of his best-selling adult autobiography is more than just an appealing and accessible chronicle of becoming an astronaut. The chronological narrative describes the author’s nontraditional path to joining NASA, and his personal, academic, and professional challenges. 

The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot To Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer & Josh Mensch. Roaring Brook. ISBN 9781250244833.

In this young reader’s edition of their best-selling book, Meltzer and Mensch trace a shadowy plot to kill Washington that may have originated with New York’s royal governor, William Tryon. This title is amply researched, well documented, and as engagingly written as a spy thriller.

Our World Out of Balance: Understanding Climate Change and What We Can Do by Andrea Minoglio. illus. by Laura Fanelli. Blue Dot Kids. ISBN 9781735000534.

This book is packed with information about the climate crisis, from the rise in sea levels to intensive farming to threats to biodiversity. Each section explains the problem, then includes a before-and-after section that describes what happened prior to the accelerating climate crisis and what is happening now.

The Friendship Book by Wendy L Moss. Magination Pr. ISBN 9781433832291.

Moss provides a guide to friendship for young readers. Topics include making friends, social media, and how friendships can change over time. The text features engaging quizzes and relatable scenarios or scenes that readers might have experienced directly or indirectly.

Bill Nye’s Great Big World of Science by Bill Nye & Gregory Mone. Abrams. ISBN 9781419746765.

Nye’s middle grade science text covers a wide range of topics, including the human body, zoology, botany, evolution, laws of motion and thermodynamics, plate tectonics, and the solar system.  Combine the effervescent and enduring appeal of Bill Nye with solid science and the result is a winner.

Born To Fly: The First Women’s Air Race Across America by Steve Sheinkin. illus. by Bijou Karman. Roaring Brook. ISBN 9781626721302.

Using a collected biographical approach, Sheinkin presents the history of early American aviation and the changing role of women in society, culminating in the Women’s Air Derby of 1929. Societal norms prevented women from competing in air races until the 1929 derby. 

Chance: Escape from the Holocaust by Uri Shulevitz. Farrar. ISBN 9780374313715.

Caldecott Medalist Shulevitz offers a profoundly honest memoir that chronicles his childhood during the time of the Holocaust. His relationship with art, as a means of genuine expression and as a constant companion, is apparent not only in the memories he shares but also in his drawings.

Enemy Child: The Story of Norman Mineta, a Boy Imprisoned in a Japanese American Internment Camp During World War II by Andrea Warren. Holiday House. ISBN 9780823441518.

In 1941, when Norman Mineta was nine years old, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, and his life changed forever. Using more than 100 photographs and many quotes from Mineta, the book chronicles his family's experiences living in an internment camp in Wyoming.

There’s No Ham in Hamburgers: Facts and Folklore About Our Favorite Foods by Kim Zachman. illus. by Peter Donnelly. Running Pr. ISBN 9780762498079.

Where do some of our favorite foods come from and how did they get their names? Zachman tackles this mystery and the history of favorite foods. with fascinating facts, cultural influences, a little kitchen science, and some lighthearted fun along the way. 

Get Print. Get Digital. Get Both!

Libraries are always evolving. Stay ahead. Log In.

Add Comment :-

Comment policy:.

  • Be respectful, and do not attack the author, people mentioned in the article, or other commenters. Take on the idea, not the messenger.
  • Don't use obscene, profane, or vulgar language.
  • Stay on point. Comments that stray from the topic at hand may be deleted.
  • Comments may be republished in print, online, or other forms of media.
  • If you see something objectionable, please let us know . Once a comment has been flagged, a staff member will investigate.

First Name should not be empty !!!

Last Name should not be empty !!!

email should not be empty !!!

Comment should not be empty !!!

You should check the checkbox.

Please check the reCaptcha

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Ethan Smith

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.

Posted 6 hours ago REPLY

Jane Fitgzgerald

Posted 6 hours ago

Michael Woodward

Continue reading.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Added To Cart

Related , 17 titles to diversify teens' summer reading | we are kid lit collective, 21 fun picture books to delight young readers | we are kid lit collective, going the extra mile: equity in summer programming, 3 summer reading picks from a graduating senior, 15 coming-of-age middle grade novels and high-interest nonfiction for tweens | we are kid lit collective, 10 transitional books to kick off summer reading | we are kid lit collective, "what is this" design thinking from an lis student.

 alt=

The job outlook in 2030: Librarians will be in demand

L J image

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, --> Log In

You did not sign in correctly or your account is temporarily disabled

L J image

REGISTER FREE to keep reading

If you are already a member, please log in.

Passwords must include at least 8 characters.

Your password must include at least three of these elements: lower case letters, upper case letters, numbers, or special characters.

The email you entered already exists. Please reset your password to gain access to your account.

Create an account password and save time in the future. Get immediate access to:

News, opinion, features, and breaking stories

Exclusive video library and multimedia content

Full, searchable archives of more than 300,000 reviews and thousands of articles

Research reports, data analysis, white papers, and expert opinion

Passwords must include at least 8 characters. Please try your entry again.

Your password must include at least three of these elements: lower case letters, upper case letters, numbers, or special characters. Please try your entry again.

Thank you for registering. To have the latest stories delivered to your inbox, select as many free newsletters as you like below.

No thanks. return to article, already a subscriber log in.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing

Thank you for visiting.

We’ve noticed you are using a private browser. To continue, please log in or create an account.

Hard paywall image

CREATE AN ACCOUNT

SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS

Already a subscriber log in.

Most SLJ reviews are exclusive to subscribers.

As a subscriber, you'll receive unlimited access to all reviews dating back to 2010.

To access other site content, visit our homepage .

On Lemon Lane

June 7, 2022 By On Lemon Lane

Fun Ideas for Teaching Nonfiction Text Features, Texts, Structures & Main Idea for Reading Comprehension

How to teach informational text, nonfiction skills, text features, text structures, in the 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th, grade, 8th grade, and middle school classrooms. ideas to help students improve their reading comprehension in nonfiction texts, finding the main idea, authors purpose, or using vocabulary terms. using nonfiction picture books to teach text structures. graphic organizers for teaching nonfiction. .

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Click Here for my Text Feature Freebie 

  • Facebook Ads
  • Instagram posts
  • Articles about the latest Celebrity Gossip
  • Product descriptions or reviews while shopping online
  • Documentaries on Netflix
  • Headlines on the magazines at the grocery store
  • Comparing and contrasting nutritional labels
  • Reading a Recipe
  • ESPN Sports Center
  • Your creepy True Crime Podcast 😜
  • THIS blog post
  • …etc! 

For you younger, hip teachers, (I love you please don’t think I’m old 😅 haha)  An encyclopedia was like google as a book, better yet wikipedia in text form…. 🤣

  • Guinness Book of World Records
  • National Geographic’s: Cutest Animals on the Planet
  • Who Would Win Books
  • National Geographic’s: Awesome facts about Everything
  • National Geographic’s: Weird but True Facts
  • Try This Science Experiments
  • Don’t Read this Before Dinner: Gross Facts
  • The Most Deadly Animals
  • Sports Illustrated: Greatest Athletes of All Time
  • Brochures to Favorite Destinations
  • Websites to theme parks…

PLEASE comment below with your favorite nonfiction text ideas and sources below! 

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

My classroom is set up on Literature circles and Guided Reading group rotations. As a teacher we all do something well, this was my thing.

  • If you’d like to read more about my literature circles, Click Here.
  • If you would like to be notified when my Guided Reading Course opens up, Click Here.
  • Time for Kids (Leveled K – 6)
  • National Geographic  (GREAT WAY TO INTEGRATE OTHER SUBJECTS)
  • Sports Illustrated for kids
  • Freckle: Differentiate Platform K-12 ( I LOVE FRECKLE)
  • Common Lit K-12 Passages
  • Read Works K – 8
  • Wonderopolis
  • TT Junior | Tween Tribune | Teen Tribune (Differentiated articles by Smithsonian) k-12

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

 While on vacation, students are encouraged to collect travel brochures to share with the classroom.

TEACHER TIP:

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Click Here to Shop

Best Seller: ✨Informational Text Breakdown✨

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

✅ Don’t Forget to Snag My FREE Text Feature Sort, and Anchor Charts HERE

  • Activate Schema
  • Ask a Question
  • Supporting details | evidence
  • Author’s Purpose | text evidence
  • Connection to text
  • Questions I still have

I’ve also included a fun ROLL A DICE Response sheet that students have LOVED. Click on the preview to learn more 💛

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Click Here to Learn More

 ✨Text Structure Breakdown✨

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

*Text is editable. Complete digitally or as a printable, works great in interactive notebooks. Anchor chart, activity, graphic organizer, video, links to free passages, and picture book recommendations are included for every text structure.

✅ Click Here to Shop my Text Structure Picture Book Recommendations

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

*Text is Editable: Students pair any nonfiction text with the graphic organizer to determine which text structure is being used.

    🍋 FREE TEXT STRUCTURE SORT 🍋

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

  Click Here for the FREE Text Structure Sort

I also wanted to create a fun and FREE Text Structure sort! This text structure sort can be assigned digitally, or print it out and complete it like a puzzle! I recommend using the sort as a pre & post assessment at the start and end of your text structure unit. 

Click on the button above for the Text Structure Sort, *Different from the Text Feature Sort, to be sent straight to your email! 

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

 ✨Nonfiction Text Choice Board✨

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

  • Fact vs. Opinion Sort | Foldable
  • Create a nonfiction Crossword Puzzle: Design a puzzle based on text
  • Nonfiction Book Report Brochure | Design includes Text Features
  • Design a Symbol or Infographic based on reading
  • Create a new Text Feature using information from text
  • Research a question you have after reading and respond
  • Web Designer: Create a Frequently Asked Question page based on the reading
  • Make an Arrangement: Sort and Organize Information from Reading

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Do you have any questions? Comment below, I LOVE to hear from you 😀 

Thanks again friends, until next time 💛

Like this? Make Sure to Check Out These! 🍋Freebies Included🍋

Click on the image to learn more.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Free Informational Text Survey COMING SOON: Comment below if you would like the link! 

  • What I Want to learn about, why I want to learn about this
  • What I want to learn how to do, Why
  • Places Id Like to learn about, why
  • Processes I’d like to learn about, why

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

To stay up-to-date on new blog posts, freebies, exclusive promo codes, and sales… Join the Teaching on Lemon Lane Community! Pick any or all of the following to stay in the loop of all things Teaching on Lemon Lane. 

  • Follow @TeachingonlemonLane on Instagram
  • Like Teaching on Lemon Lane on Facebook
  • Join our exclusive Teaching on Lemon Lane Facebook Group
  • Sign-Up for our Monthly Newsletter: No Spam, only make your life easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy goodness… Promise. 

If you enjoyed this PLEASE SHARE! Sharing on Pinterest, Facebook, or tagging on Instagram is a simple, yet wonderful way to support the efforts of Teaching on Lemon Lane!

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

  • Become a Member
  • Member Login

Inspiration & Creatives

Add a little zest.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Join the Newsletter

Let's be Friends!

📚 Adding a Little Zest to your Teaching! 🍏Fresh Ideas for Upper-Grade Teachers 💕Detail Oriented Products 🍋 Everything’s Better with a Little Lemon

No Thanks! I don't have an Instagram Account

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

4 Steps for Tackling Nonfiction Text Features

nonfiction text features

My students always grasp a concept better when I pair it with a hands-on activity. With that in mind, I am always on the hunt for ways to make learning more interactive. This was my thinking when I sought to really make the learning stick when teaching nonfiction text features as part of our informational text unit .

So how did I do it? Enter the scavenger hunt.

When used effectively, this simple activity provides a big bang for your buck since it offers a creative and interactive outlet that simultaneously encourages knowledge and understanding. 

We’re talking about middle school – need I convince you more?!

Step #1: Introduce the Types of Text Features

Middle school students have already had several years’ worth of exposure to text features, so I find that they simply need a refresher when it comes to the types of text features. Additionally, I think it’s more important at the middle-grade level to place emphasis on why authors use particular text features. 

The first step was to provide a mini-lesson explaining that authors use nonfiction text features in their writing to present or integrate information that will help the reader develop a better understanding of the topic.

Next, I share information about different nonfiction text features. These include

  • a table of contents
  • titles, headings, and subheadings, 
  • bold or underlined or highlighted text,
  • charts, graphs, maps,
  • an image, illustration, or photograph with or without a caption.

Of course, students will have seen many of these elements before, but they haven’t spent much time considering the purpose of the features.

To help with that, we categorize the types of nonfiction text features we discuss based on their purpose:

  • To help the reader understand key ideas
  • To help the reader build knowledge
  • To represent information

I recommend capturing this on a note-taker that students can reference in future activities like the one displayed below!

nonfiction text features notetaker

Step #2: Embark on Your Nonfiction Text Feature Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts are one of the ways I have been successful in making learning both student-directed and hands-on. Not only is a scavenger hunt engaging for students, but it is also manageable for teachers to set up, too.

For this particular lesson, a well-structured scavenger hunt gets students to learn about nonfiction text features while searching for them in their ‘natural habitat’– aka a published text, newspaper, or magazine.

Before students begin their hunt, provide a list of text features for them to look for or have them use their Types of Text Features note-taker from your mini-lesson. 

Supply groups with a stack of magazines along with scissors and gluesticks. Give them time to “go on the hunt” for as many examples of nonfiction text features as possible to add to their collage.

create a nonfiction text features scavenger hunt

Make sure they take the time to label each of the nonfiction text features they add to their collage!

To make this manageable for digital learners, you can have them complete a digital scavenger hunt and add their examples to a collage using Google Drawings! 

Step #3: Determine the Nonfiction Text Features’ Purpose

When I’m teaching nonfiction text structures , I tell my students that “Nonfiction writers organize their ideas in a logical way that best communicates their purpose for writing.” Our goal, as readers, is to determine the big ideas in a text and understand how the author develops them. The same is true for the use of nonfiction text features. 

After students search for text features, I continually circulate and ask various students why they think a particular text feature has been used. What does the text feature do? Or, what’s the job of this feature?

An important tip at this point in the learning is to make sure students consider the purpose of the text feature once they’ve found it but before they cut it out of the magazine. 

Where the informational text features are found is important context for understanding its purpose. If students cut out the example and then later try to identify its purpose, they’ll likely have to scramble to remember where it was and why it was used.

Step #: 4 Check for Understanding with An Exit Ticket

Once students complete their scavenger hunt, you could collect the work in order to check for understanding about them all… but the last thing teachers want more of is a stack of grading. 

Instead, do your regular check-ins during the task, and then use an exit ticket. The information that you can collect from an exit ticket is invaluable.

nonfiction text features exit ticket

An exit ticket doesn’t have to be complicated! An exit ticket can vary from a sticky note to a single page. For this lesson, an exit ticket that’s about half of a page is ideal–enough room to record key information but not too daunting for students to complete (or the teacher to review!).

Here are a few options to close out this lesson:

  • Invite students to choose three text features they found and explain why the author included them.
  • Ask for a 3-2-1: Three text features they understand best, two they need more time/information to better understand, and one that they have no idea on or could not find.
  • Invite students to define text features, explain why authors use them, and list a few examples.

In reviewing the data from the exit tickets, you can determine the next steps for learning and build those into an upcoming lesson.

This was a wonderfully engaging and hands-on way to get students to clearly understand nonfiction text features before moving on to a more complex lesson on nonfiction.

To make this even more manageable for you, check out my no-prep, ready-to-deliver lesson with everything mentioned above.

nonfiction text features

Did you find this post helpful? I’d love to hear from you if so! Drop a comment below or tag me in your posts on IG . Happy teaching!

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

  • On My Bookshelf
  • Teaching Resources
  • Privacy Policy

The Literary Maven

April 25, 2018

8 nonfiction texts that will captivate middle school and high school students.

At any grade level, it is easy for English class to be solely a study of fictional literature, but students should be equally immersed in rich nonfiction as well. Here's nonfiction recommendations, many of them memoirs and biographies, that will captivate your middle and high school students.

You Might Also Like

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

I'm always looking for new books to include in my classroom library. These are fantastic recommendations!

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Thank you for the recommendations! I've had The Other Wes Moore on my WTR list forever...I need to get that book! :-) I have an Audible subscription, and, luckily, my students this year really like to listen to audiobooks. I have low-level freshmen, so hearing it as they read really pulls them in and helps them get a better understanding of the text. Plus, the narration is so much more engaging than my daily "performance." Hehee! Right now, I'm going to go check out How They Croaked; it sounds perfect! Thank you, again!

' height=

Find It Fast

Get support, shop my tpt store, top categories.

  • my bookshelf

Post Topics

Blog archive.

  • ►  December (3)
  • ►  August (4)
  • ►  July (10)
  • ►  June (2)
  • ►  February (2)
  • ►  November (3)
  • ►  October (2)
  • ►  September (2)
  • ►  July (2)
  • ►  June (9)
  • ►  May (1)
  • ►  April (1)
  • ►  March (1)
  • ►  February (1)
  • ►  January (1)
  • ►  December (1)
  • ►  November (2)
  • ►  October (1)
  • ►  September (1)
  • ►  June (1)
  • ►  May (3)
  • ►  February (6)
  • ►  January (5)
  • ►  December (2)
  • ►  October (6)
  • ►  September (6)
  • ►  August (5)
  • ►  July (6)
  • ►  May (2)
  • ►  April (4)
  • ►  March (4)
  • ►  February (4)
  • ►  December (6)
  • ►  November (10)
  • ►  October (13)
  • ►  September (10)
  • ►  August (14)
  • ►  July (7)
  • ►  May (4)
  • ►  April (7)
  • ►  March (10)
  • ►  February (7)
  • ►  January (7)
  • ►  November (4)
  • ►  October (8)
  • ►  September (13)
  • ►  August (13)
  • ►  July (9)
  • ►  June (6)
  • ►  May (7)
  • On My Bookshelf: Saints and Misfits by S. K. Ali
  • #2ndaryELA Twitter Chat on Tuesday 5/1 Topic: Tips...
  • Making the Most of Google in the Classroom
  • 8 Nonfiction Texts That Will Captivate Middle Scho...
  • On My Bookshelf: Still Star-Crossed by Melinda Taub
  • #2ndaryELA Twitter Chat on Tuesday 4/24 Topic: Goo...
  • On My Bookshelf: Bruiser by Neal Shusterman
  • #2ndaryELA Twitter Chat on Tuesday 4/17 Topic: Inq...
  • Inspiring Student Writing with Mentor Texts & Sent...
  • On My Bookshelf: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya ...
  • #2ndaryELA Twitter Chat on Tuesday 4/10 Topic: Men...
  • On My Bookshelf: The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind by...
  • #2ndaryELA Twitter Chat on Tuesday 4/3 Topic: Inte...
  • ►  March (12)
  • ►  February (11)
  • ►  January (12)
  • ►  December (7)
  • ►  November (11)
  • ►  October (14)
  • ►  August (12)
  • ►  July (12)
  • ►  June (7)
  • ►  May (8)
  • ►  April (14)
  • ►  March (17)
  • ►  October (12)
  • ►  July (11)
  • ►  June (5)
  • ►  May (14)
  • ►  April (13)
  • ►  February (13)
  • ►  January (13)
  • ►  December (8)
  • ►  November (13)
  • ►  September (12)
  • ►  August (11)
  • ►  May (5)
  • ►  October (4)
  • ►  September (4)
  • ►  August (3)
  • ►  July (4)
  • Our Mission

Nonfiction Writing Techniques to Add to Your Teaching Repertoire

These text features are not often included in nonfiction writing instruction, but they’re important elements of expository writing.

Photo of elementary student writing in classroom

If you search the term text features in connection with any grade level between kindergarten and fifth grade, something curious happens: You’re inundated with images of anchor charts that depict the same five to seven features over and over again: photographs with captions; diagrams with labels, glossaries, headings and subheadings, extra facts pages, a table of contents.

This similarity implies that we’re also teaching the same text features repeatedly. And while these components are important—they make nonfiction writing more visually appealing and helpful when navigating expository text—there is little differentiation across grade levels if students are not exposed to new elements each year.

The current diet of nonfiction text features may not, then, be the best way to help students understand the purpose and creative power of this incredibly engaging part of nonfiction. To freshen your instructional approach, here are some ideas to share with students in order to help them expand their text feature repertoire as readers and writers.

In nonfiction writing, sidebars typically comprise one or two short paragraphs, separated from (and appearing next to) body text, in a box with supplementary material. Sidebars give writers an opportunity to expand on an idea while simultaneously deepening their reader’s understanding. 

Students might practice using sidebars in their writing in connection with a number of categories: highlighting myths versus facts, to share truths and misconceptions about a particular topic; to display a primary source document and explain how it connects to the content being discussed; to expand upon vocabulary, defining important terms or concepts for readers; to share modern-day viewpoints on historical events depicted in body paragraphs; or to expand readers’ knowledge of a person, concept, or place in ways that don’t fit into the main text. Of course, there are many other possibilities, and you might invite students to brainstorm their own use cases.

Introduce this text feature to students using mentor texts like The Story of Eliza Hamilton , by Natasha Wing;  Newsmakers: Malala Yousafzai , by Andrea Wang; or The Revolutionary War , by Josh Gregory, to get their ideas flowing.

TALK TO THE READER

The talk to the reader text feature offers writers a way to add voice to informational writing and engage their reader through direct addresses written in the second person. This approach can help create mood in nonfiction writing and establish opportunities for writers and readers to practice making inferences in connection with the text.

Invite students to experiment with the second-person point of view through a “Speak for Yourself” activity. Ask them to give an animal, a biography subject, or an inanimate object a life of its own, to share its perspective, feelings, or life experiences, using a second-person point of view so that the subject speaks directly to readers. What must they intuit or consider as they take on the perspective of this subject?

You might also encourage students to ask questions of their reader(s). Ask them to create questions about the information that they present in their nonfiction piece, in the form of literal or inferential inquiries, or to craft “What would you do?” questions to extend readers’ thinking. 

Finally, ask writers to share advice with their readers about certain topics (e.g., what to eat while traveling in China; where to shop in New York City; how to carefully handle a boa constrictor; how to begin playing the guitar). Be sure this advice, written in the second person, directly connects to the facts included in students’ nonfiction pieces.

Books that model this text feature include Learning about Asia , by Andrea Wang; Big Babies, Little Babies , by Lorrie Mack and Penny Smith; and What Would She Do? 25 True Stories of Trailblazing Rebel Women , by Kay Woodward—the reading of which can deepen instruction.

True words spoken by a subject are a great way to engage readers. Writers can collect quotations from experts in a particular field through research and news articles, primary source documents, or live original interviews. 

Using quotations from experts assures readers that an author’s research is valid and vetted. Quotations can also further explain a concept and enhance the voice of informational text, adding another layer—another element of storytelling—to the facts.

Ask writers to experiment with quotations by including them in headings and subheadings to give a hint as to what will follow in the next section or chapter of their text; in the introduction to shock, compel, or otherwise engage readers, pulling them into the rest of the piece; in the conclusion, to wrap up a main point or idea; or smack in the middle of body paragraphs to transition the reader from one section to another. 

Aesthetically, quotations allow a pause in reading, giving the audience a moment to take a breath, digest what they’ve read, and gain additional insight into multiple perspectives on a topic. Books that model powerful usage of quotations in nonfiction writing include The Story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg , by Susan B. Katz; What Would She Do? 25 True Stories of Trailblazing Rebel Women ; by Kay Woodward; and Newsmakers: Ketanji Brown Jackson: Supreme Court Justice , by Amy C. Rea.

In nonfiction writing, text features have three main functions: They help a reader locate information, deepen understanding of information already presented, and extend or deepen knowledge in connection with the main topic. Using any or all of these text features will support students’ crafting and using text features in a purposeful and potentially novel way, strengthening their writing and reading skills in the realm of nonfiction.

  • Grades 6-12
  • School Leaders

Black History Month for Kids: Google Slides, Resources, and More!

Printable Activity: Informational Text Features Scavenger Hunt

Informational text features can teach readers so much—but kids need to understand how to use them.

boys outside on scavenger hunt with magnifying glass - text features worksheets

National Geographic’s  Explorer Magazine  is a not-for-profit K-5 classroom resource that helps build vocabulary, non-fiction reading skills, and science knowledge. All subscriptions include print issues access to a digital suite of resources — teacher's guides, digital magazine, projectables — and classroom poster. 

' src=

Captions. Diagrams. Fact boxes. Informational texts have the potential to teach readers so much—but many kids don’t pay attention to the special features found in them or fully understand how to use them. Help your students practice nonfiction reading with a scavenger hunt activity that uses our printable, text features worksheets and  free samples of Explorer , a National Geographic magazine for students in grades K through 5/6 that builds vocabulary, reading skills, and science knowledge.

1. Download the printable, text features worksheets for your class’s grade level.

Distribute the informational text features worksheets to your students. Students can work individually or in pairs.

Grade K: Young Explorer Scavenger Hunt Printable: Scout Edition (Kindergarten)

Grade 1: Young Explorer Scavenger Hunt Printable: Voyager Edition (1 st Grade)

Grade 2: Explorer Scavenger Hunt Printable: Pioneer Edition (2 nd Grade)

Grade 3: Explorer Scavenger Hunt Printable: Trailblazer Edition (3 rd Grade)

Grade 4: Explorer Scavenger Hunt Printable: Pathfinder Edition (4 th Grade)

Grades 5/6: Explorer Scavenger Hunt Printable: Adventurer Edition (5/6 th Grades)

2. Send your students to a free digital copy of Explorer magazine.

Or download it yourself and distribute it to your students.

Young Explorer: Scout (Kindergarten)

Young Explorer: Voyager (1st Grade)

Explorer: Pioneer (2nd Grade)

Explorer: Trailblazer (3rd Grade)

Explorer: Pathfinder (4th Grade)

      Explorer: Adventurer (5/6th Grade)

3. Answer Keys

Explain to your class that the answer to each question on the text features worksheets can be found in the magazine.

Answer Key (Grade K):

1. Grizzly bear family 2. Playing 3. Yellowstone Lake 4. Options: river, waterfall, lake, hot spring, geyser 5. Pages 16-17

Answer Key (Grade 1):

Answer key (grade 2):.

1. Mayan 2. Long tail feathers 3. Arctic Civilization 4. Part of a plant from which a new plant can grow 5. Photographs 6. Answers vary (Sample: “This is a photograph of a bristlecone pine. It looks like it’s dead because it doesn’t have leaves, but it is still alive.”) 7. “Signs of Life?” 8. Options: “The Search;” “Looking for Lake Edib;” “Important Findings” 9. Answers vary

Answer Key (Grade 3):

1. Mayan 2. Up to 1 meter in length 3. Aztec civilization 4. Page 14 5. Light energy; water; carbon dioxide 6. A gas in the air that humans and animals need to breathe 7. Photographs 8. Answers vary (Sample: “This is a photograph of a bristlecone pine. It looks like it’s dead because it doesn’t have leaves, but it is still alive.”) 9. “Signs of Life?” 10. Options: “Setting Out;” “Looking for Lake Edib;” “Sampling the lake;” “Important Findings” 11. Answers vary

Answer Key (Grade 4):

1. Endangered, activist, advocates 2. Pages 8-9 3. 10% 4. She drags tires across the beach. 5. Page 19 6. Alaska 7. Laws of how objects move 8. Illustrations 9. Answers vary (Sample: “This is an illustration of outer space that includes a spaceship, astronauts standing on scales on the Moon and Mars, and a person standing on a scale on Earth. The illustration shows how the force of gravity can change your body weight.”) 10. “Frozen!” 11. Options: “Getting to the Goal;” “Perfecting the Plan;” “Underway;” “Racing Against Time;” “Finding Their Way;” “Success!” 12. Answers vary

Answer Key (Grade 5/6):

1. Endangered, activist, advocates 2. Pages 8-9 3. 10%; She drags tires across the beach. 4. Page 19 5. Alaska 6. Laws of how objects move 7. Illustrations 8. Answers vary (Sample: “This is an illustration of outer space that includes a spaceship, astronauts standing on scales on the Moon and Mars, and a person standing on a scale on Earth. The illustration shows how the force of gravity can change your body weight.”) 9. “Frozen!” 10. Options: “Getting to the Goal;” “Perfecting the Plan;” “Underway;” “Racing Against Time;” “Finding Their Way;” “Success!” or “What’s Next” 11. Answers vary

Printable Activity: Informational Text Features Scavenger Hunt

You Might Also Like

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Free Printable: Informational Text Worksheet

Answer key included! Continue Reading

Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. 5335 Gate Parkway, Jacksonville, FL 32256

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Bring high-interest nonfiction into your ELA classroom with 40 weeks of articles, reading responses, creative assignments, and videos! 

You want to challenge your students to read closely and think critically about what they read.

You want to meet your nonfiction curriculum standards without sacrificing engagement.

You are a middle or early high school teacher looking for ways to engage your students with more nonfiction.

who this program is for.

If this sounds like you, then you are in the right place.

BEFORE WE DIVE INTO THE DETAILS, LET'S TALK ABOUT

You want to have ALL of your nonfiction lessons planned for you, so you can focus on instruction. 

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

The Nonfiction Article of the Week is a full-year, 40-week nonfiction program   for middle and high school English language arts teachers that includes high-interest articles, instruction slides, standards-based reading responses, videos, and creative assignments.

Let's look at each of the components

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Who doesn't like a good deal, right? I've reached out to some of my favorite education-related companies to offer exclusive discounts on items you may need for the classroom. There are discounts on teacher bags, library book stamps, custom pencils, lanyards, teacher t-shirts and much more! 

SO, HOW DOES THE PROGRAM WORK? 

1. TEACHER SLIDESHOWS

Use the eye-catching presentation slides to guide you through each element of the lesson.  The slideshow includes pre-reading discussions questions, prompts for each of the activities, reading response answer keys, and a link to a related video. 

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

2. HIGH-INTEREST ARTICLES

Students will love reading these 40 high-interest nonfiction articles. The articles were intentionally written and designed to include a variety of text types and text features to meet nonfiction standards. 

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

3. READING RESPONSE

Have students respond to the text with the included reading response assignments.  The assignments include a variety of questions that meet nonfiction standards, but also encourage text connections and creativity. Detailed teacher answer keys are included with sample responses.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

4. VIDEO CLIPS

Students watch a video clip that is related to the article. After watching, students respond to a related writing prompt. The prompts are designed to have students make text-to-self connections.

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

5. CREATIVE ASSIGNMENTS

Now, students are ready to get creative!  Each lesson has a fun and creative assignment or project for students to complete that is related to the article.   This will allow students to use higher-order thinking and make even deeper connections to the text.

I'M READY TO BUY!

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

LET'S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE ARTICLES AND ASSIGNMENTS

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

START USING THE NONFICTION PROGRAM TODAY!

Best value:, save $140 compared to buying all challenges individually, all prices in us dollars. , if you are ready to take your nonfiction instruction to the next level, choose the best bundle that works for you below., print program, digital program, digital & print bundle, most popular, pdf and powerpoint, google slides , save $50 compared to buying digital challenges individually., save $50 compared to buying print challenges individually., click here to browse the individual articles, get the best deal with the program, or, school and district purchase orders.

Purchase orders from schools may be used to pay for the Grammar Challenge program. Request a quote here .

REQUEST A QUOTE

Discounts available for multiple teachers. District-wide program purchases available. Purchase orders accepted. 

These are just some of the Skills and standards Addressed...

Citing text evidence  Finding the main idea Vocabulary in context Author's point of view Author's purpose Evaluating arguments Comparing and contrasting  Inferring information Figurative language Author's tone

Text features examining bias sharing an opinion analyzing quotes surveying problem and solution cause and effect  allusion  evaluating grammar word choice, examining analogies categorizing information oxymorons & puns non-fiction genres supporting details locating irony  examining graphics writing questions the 5 ws researching, charts and graphs making predictions making connections  critical thinking/judgements explaining idioms exploring text structure pros and cons summarizing examining writing style writing types, (persuasive, narrative, descriptive, opinion, instructional).

Want to get a closer look?  Try one for free!

fREE SAMPLE

Teach your students about the origins of hot dog eating contests with this free sample in digital and print format , print version.

The print version of The Nonfiction Article of the Week Program includes the presentations in PowerPoint format and the assignments in printable, PDF format. Simply print the resources, and you are ready to engage your students with high-interest nonfiction! 

DIGITAL VERSION

The digital version of The Nonfiction Article of the Week Program includes the teacher and student documents in Google Slides format.  Simply share the link or file with students and have them complete it on their device.  This works well for a 1:1  classroom or remote teaching.

PRINT AND DIGITAL VERSIONS

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

ALL YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

What grades is the nonfiction article of the week program suitable for .

The nonfiction article of the week is appropriate for middle and early high school English language arts teachers, ideally for grades 7-9, but it can also work for a lower-level grade 10 class. 

What curriculum standards does the Nonfiction Article of the Week Program address? 

The Nonfiction Article of the Week Program is incredibly comprehensive, so it will likely meet the informational text standards no matter which ELA curriculum you are using.  If you are using the Common Core curriculum, the program meets nearly all of the informational text standards.   Scroll up to see a list of many of the skills and standards addressed in this resource.  

What's the difference between the digital and print bundles?

The print bundle was created for use within a traditional classroom setting without technology.  The presentations are all in PowerPoint format, and the articles and assignments are meant to be printed and distributed to students.   The digital bundle, on the other hand, is 100% paperless and is meant to be used in a remote teaching or 1:1 classroom setting.  Students will complete the work using Google Apps (Slides).  If you purchased all of the digital and print weekly articles separately, the cost would be $240.  By purchasing the discounted bundles, you receive a significant discount.

How do I access my purchase?

After you purchase, you will receive an email with a link to download Nonfiction Article of the Week Program.  It's a large file, so it may take some time to download, but if you have any issues, you can reach out to me via email at [email protected] with your receipt.

Can I share the program with my colleague?

Your purchase of the program entitles you to a single-use license which means that you are not legally permitted to share it, and it can only be used within your own classroom.

Can I post the content online? 

If you are teaching remotely or in a 1:1 classroom, you are permitted to share the slides with your students on a closed, password protected site (like Google Classroom), so they can complete the challenge online.  You are not legally permitted to share any of the materials in the Nonfiction Article of the Week on an open website that can be accessed by the general public.  

Ready to send »

Have another question  send us a message , thank you for reaching out. , we will be in touch shortly..

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

nonfiction activities middle school

All Formats

Resource types, all resource types, nonfiction activities middle school.

  • Rating Count
  • Price (Ascending)
  • Price (Descending)
  • Most Recent

Preview of Middle School Literature and Nonfiction Reading Activities Lessons Assessments

Middle School Literature and Nonfiction Reading Activities Lessons Assessments

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Turkey Nonfiction Reading Passage Middle School Thanksgiving Reading Activities

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Nonfiction Reading Comprehension Activities - 9 Middle School ELA Lessons

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

St. Patricks Day Activities For Middle School English Nonfiction Inferences

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Halloween Activities - Middle School English - Nonfiction , Grammar, Wordsearch

  • Google Apps™

Preview of Nonfiction Text Features Activities for Middle School

Nonfiction Text Features Activities for Middle School

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Thanksgiving Activities - Middle School English Nonfiction , Grammar, Wordsearch

Preview of Al Capone | Nonfiction Article | Close Reading Activities | Middle School

Al Capone | Nonfiction Article | Close Reading Activities | Middle School

Preview of Middle School Nonfiction Bundle - Notes and Activities

Middle School Nonfiction Bundle - Notes and Activities

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Nonfiction unit bundle- Super Bowl, Stations, articles, activity , Middle School

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Super Bowl, football- Middle School Nonfiction passages, Text structure activity

Preview of Non-Fiction Text Features - Google Slides Activity | No Prep, Middle/High School

Non-Fiction Text Features - Google Slides Activity | No Prep, Middle /High School

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Nonfiction Informational Text Activities for Middle School - Choice Board

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

  • Google Slides™

Preview of Nonfiction Literature Circle Roles & Activities | Middle School

Nonfiction Literature Circle Roles & Activities | Middle School

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Summarizing Lesson Plan And Activities For Middle School - Nonfiction , No Prep

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

  • Easel Activity

Preview of Context Clues Nonfiction Passage Practice Activity for Middle School

Context Clues Nonfiction Passage Practice Activity for Middle School

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

  • Google Forms™

Preview of Creepy Critters for Middle School, Non Fiction Activity

Creepy Critters for Middle School , Non Fiction Activity

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Middle School Making Inferences Nonfiction Passage Activity

Preview of High Interest Context Clues Nonfiction Activity for Middle School

High Interest Context Clues Nonfiction Activity for Middle School

Preview of Hip Hop History Compare and Contrast Nonfiction Activity for Middle School

Hip Hop History Compare and Contrast Nonfiction Activity for Middle School

Preview of Middle School Context Clues Nonfiction Reading Activity

Middle School Context Clues Nonfiction Reading Activity

Preview of  Middle School Science Human Activity Nonfiction Texts for Reading Comprehension

Middle School Science Human Activity Nonfiction Texts for Reading Comprehension

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Nonfiction Reading Activities for Memoir or Biography Middle School Choice Board

nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

Context Clues Nonfiction Passage Activity for Middle School

  • We're hiring
  • Help & FAQ
  • Privacy policy
  • Student privacy
  • Terms of service
  • Tell us what you think

IMAGES

  1. Nonfiction TEXT FEATURES Posters & Activities

    nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

  2. Articles With Text Features

    nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

  3. 41 nonfiction text features worksheet

    nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

  4. Using Non-Fiction Text Features Worksheet by Teach Simple

    nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

  5. 3 Easy Steps For Teaching Students to Use Nonfiction Text Features

    nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

  6. Nonfiction Text Features Anchor Chart (including a freebie!)

    nonfiction articles with text features for middle school

VIDEO

  1. TEXT TYPES: narrative, expository and argumentative

COMMENTS

  1. Finding Nonfiction Articles for Middle Grades

    Without further ado, here are my 3 favorite websites for finding nonfiction articles that are (1) appropriate (2) rigorous and (3) interesting. The first resource my kids LOVE is NewsELA. News ELA is a website that offers free news articles for teachers and students.

  2. Nonfiction/Informational

    Nonfiction/Informational. Standards require that students have experiences with a variety of nonfiction texts—informational, historical, biographical—and their text features. Most texts are paired with worksheets, response pages, or projects that will help build knowledge and comprehension of nonfiction texts. < ALL CATEGORIES.

  3. 15 Texts for Middle School: Informational, Short Stories, & More

    15 Texts for Middle School: Informational, Short Stories, & More 15 CommonLit Texts Middle School Teachers Will Love Aug 12, 2019 • 6 min read Amanda Riddle New to CommonLit? A long-time user looking to refresh your lesson plans? Use these texts in your middle school classes!

  4. PDF Nonfiction Articles for Kids

    Text Set of Articles about Nonfiction Issues. Could be used for making judgments and forming opinions, persuasive writing, or author's purpose. Kelly Gallagher's Article of the Week. Higher Level Nonfiction with instructed annotations and critical thinking questions.

  5. Teach Nonfiction Text Features (+ Free Scavenger Hunt)

    The nonfiction books that include text features include these formats: traditional nonfiction, browseable nonfiction, and active nonfiction. These format classifications can be found in 5 Kinds of Nonfiction by Melissa Stewart and Marlene Correia. Traditional nonfiction is fact-based nonfiction books about a specific topic, such as a shark book.

  6. Freebies to Help Students Master Nonfiction Text Features

    What Are the Nonfiction Text Features? Text features are all the components of a text that are not part of the main body text. There are many unique features that serve different purposes. Some help students pay attention to important words, find information, and connect important ideas in a text.

  7. Nonfiction Passages and Functional Texts

    The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of freedom, America, and its historical alliance with France. Learn many interesting things about the construction of this iconic monument in this nonfiction reading passage. Then answer questions covering a variety of reading skills. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 8-12.

  8. Informational Text Features for Middle School

    1 Comment April 12, 2022 brennanelson05 Reading informational texts and other types of nonfiction becomes increasingly more important as our students progress through middle school. In high school and especially in college, students are expected to read large amounts of complex text and retain the information.

  9. Teaching Nonfiction Text Features

    1. To start this unit, we discuss the differences between fiction and nonfiction. Before you can directly teach nonfiction text features, the kids need to be able to distinguish between fiction and nonfiction. I like to start by having the kids help me brainstorm as we create an anchor chart listing the characteristics of each.

  10. 26 Engaging, Informative Nonfiction Books for Middle Graders

    Moss provides a guide to friendship for young readers. Topics include making friends, social media, and how friendships can change over time. The text features engaging quizzes and relatable scenarios or scenes that readers might have experienced directly or indirectly. Bill Nye's Great Big World of Science by Bill Nye & Gregory Mone. Abrams.

  11. Fun Ideas for Teaching Nonfiction Text Features, Texts, Structures

    June 7, 2022 By On Lemon Lane Fun Ideas for Teaching Nonfiction Text Features, Texts, Structures & Main Idea for Reading Comprehension How to teach informational text, nonfiction skills, text features, text structures, in the 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th, grade, 8th grade, and middle school classrooms.

  12. 4 Steps for Tackling Nonfiction Text Features

    The first step was to provide a mini-lesson explaining that authors use nonfiction text features in their writing to present or integrate information that will help the reader develop a better understanding of the topic. Next, I share information about different nonfiction text features. These include. a table of contents

  13. Teaching Nonfiction Texts All Year Long in Middle School ELA

    Grab 4 weeks of my nonfiction article collection completely free! If you assign one per week on Mondays, then that's a whole month's worth of Mondays you don't have to plan for! 4 simple one-page articles even your reluctant readers can access. Easy-to-follow lesson plan page that already includes the standards.

  14. Teaching nonfiction text features

    Nicki Clausen-Grace and Michelle Kelley, two educators, offer up a great teaching tip for helping students navigate features of nonfiction text that students might overlook. Teachers help students brainstorm a list of text features that exist in nonfiction. These might include headings, pictures, captions, maps.

  15. Nonfiction for Middle School

    1. Nonfiction builds a background Using nonfiction is a terrific way to help students build background knowledge. We hosted an annual Medieval Faire in our middle school. This was a great cross-curricular project, but it meant that students had to learn a lot about the time period in a short amount of time.

  16. 8 Nonfiction Texts That Will Captivate Middle School and High School

    Here's nonfiction recommendations, many of them memoirs and biographies, that will captivate your middle and high school students. 1. Night by Elie Wiesel. While perhaps the most well known piece of Holocaust literature, this literary nonfiction is also a coming of age tale. Elie's struggle with his relationship with his father, with his faith ...

  17. Browse Printable Nonfiction Text Feature Worksheets

    Nonfiction Text Features: Martin Luther King, Jr. Practice identifying and interpreting nonfiction text features in this worksheet about the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. 4th grade

  18. Nonfiction Text Features Activities for Middle School

    Nonfiction text features practice that's fun and engaging for your middle school students is here! After your students have learned the basic definitions of title, heading, caption, chart, label, boldface, and glossary using the included activity, then have them put that knowledge to use with task cards, an article to color code, and even a project-based assessment!

  19. Techniques to Add to Your Nonfiction Writing Instruction

    This approach can help create mood in nonfiction writing and establish opportunities for writers and readers to practice making inferences in connection with the text. Invite students to experiment with the second-person point of view through a "Speak for Yourself" activity. Ask them to give an animal, a biography subject, or an inanimate ...

  20. Printable Activity: Informational Text Features Scavenger Hunt

    Help your students practice nonfiction reading with a scavenger hunt activity that uses our printable, text features worksheets and free samples of Explorer, a National Geographic magazine for students in grades K through 5/6 that builds vocabulary, reading skills, and science knowledge. 1. Download the printable, text features worksheets for ...

  21. Results for nonfiction text features middle school

    Nonfiction Genres - Nonfiction Text Features - Middle School Library. This Digital Bulletin Board includes 14 nonfiction genres for teens, plus 5 common nonfiction text features. This is intended as a scrolling slideshow for the secondary library, but it is possible to use it as a lesson with some edits.Click the PREVIEW button above for sample ...

  22. Nonfiction Article of the Week Program

    The Nonfiction Article of the Week is a full-year, 40-week nonfiction program for middle and high school English language arts teachers that includes high-interest articles, instruction slides, standards-based reading responses, videos, and creative assignments.

  23. Results for nonfiction activities middle school

    School With Sever. This middle school reading level nonfiction reading passage has students read about turkeys. It goes through the anatomy of turkeys, facts about them, and the history of turkeys in America. Then there are 6 different activities including a page of comprehension questions, graphic organizers to practice identifying the story ...