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Interpreting text features | Reading

Let's talk about text features! Text features include resources like charts, maps, images, timelines, and other parts of a passage that aren't just the words! They can help readers navigate the text and visualize information. They're just as important to comprehending a text as the words themselves.

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  • duskpin seedling style avatar for user Alaina Lee milky way star
    is there a very important detail in maps?
    (33 votes)
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  • spunky sam red style avatar for user PAYTON
    At what is the red then orange then yellow then green what is that?
    (17 votes)
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    • cacteye green style avatar for user Nights Dawn
      Do you mean the little bar in the upper left corner of the small map?

      I think that is the elevation from sea level. The greener it is, the closer the ground is to sea-level. As you look toward the mountains, the colors are turning yellow, orange, and red, to show the ground has a higher altitude.
      (20 votes)
  • aqualine ultimate style avatar for user Kraven
    What is interpreting text.
    (14 votes)
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  • starky tree style avatar for user Lynx
    Does science use evidence?
    (10 votes)
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  • starky ultimate style avatar for user Charizard 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
    Inventing Progress: reading informational text; Discovering the Process of Invention 5
    Google Classroom
    Problem
    Read the passage, then answer the practice question.
    Discovering the Process of Invention
    Our world runs on technology: gadgets and gizmos like computers, cell phones, and cars that drive themselves. The history of technology is built on story after story of great inventors and their brilliant ideas. But where do these ideas come from? And what does it take to bring them to life—to transform a concept into a product? The work doesn’t stop with an inventor’s ingenuity; in fact, the real work begins after the lightbulb moment.
    A museum display showing different versions of Thomas Edison's lightbulbs. An assortment of lightbulbs Thomas Edison invented
    There’s a reason that inventors like Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers are better known than others who created more original inventions. All were skilled at navigating the business side of invention. The process of inventing takes more than an innovative idea alone: it also requires money and business savvy. Products begin as prototypes, or early samples, which have to be tested and approved. Market research tells inventors what consumers want or need and what changes are needed so the product will sell. Inventors find out who will buy their products, what consumers expect the product to do, and the best price to charge. Then comes manufacturing, marketing (or promoting and selling) the product, and applying for patents—which are documents that protect the product from being copied. Finally, the inventor has to sell enough of the product to ensure they make enough money to cover costs and keep the product alive.
    A gray plastic tablet-like prototype with a matching stylus. This Apple PenLite prototype from 1992 never made it past the prototype step in the invention process.
    Whew! That’s a lot of risk and a lot of work. So why do inventors bother? Surprisingly, there are more reasons for inventions than you might think. Some inventors, like Patricia Bath, are fueled by humanitarian passion. Bath’s belief that sight is a basic human right led her to invent a laser that removes cataracts, a cloudiness that forms in the lens of an eye. Ferdinand Petzl was a French spelunker, or cave explorer, who wanted safer equipment to explore caves in the mid-1900s. The gear he needed to safely “spider”, or climb down, into the world’s deepest, darkest caves wasn’t available, so he designed and crafted it himself. Petzl used inventions to solve a problem.
    An orange helmet with a headlamp attached and Petzl's name in black text on the side. A helmet invented by Ferdinand Petzl designed to make spelunking safer
    Sometimes inventions happen by accident. Slinkys and playdough are fun novelties that were invented by people who were trying to make something else. Other inventions have evolved over time. Early versions of the camera and the first modern first appeared in the 1800s, but these inventions have since been reinvented and improved many times over. Although we tend to think of inventors as scientists or engineers, many accomplished inventors were neither—they succeeded through trial and error. Thomas Edison is a perfect example: he was a man with little education and no formal training. Edison tried thousands of materials before finding the one that led to his invention of the lightbulb.
    A silver metal coil, or Slinky, sitting on a flat surface forming an arch. Mechanical engineer Richard James was working on developing springs to keep equipment on ships steady while at sea. He accidentally knocked the springs off a shelf, and the Slinky was born!
    Today, most inventions are corporate—that means they’re created by large companies. Companies like Apple and IBM piggyback onto previous inventions to sustain their businesses and generate profits. Instead of one inventor trying to mold an idea into a product, corporations employ a myriad of inventors. They have the resources to manage a crucial but complex step in the invention process: filing for patents. Patents are what keep other people from copying someone else’s idea.
    A line drawing from a patent application of a person using a moon capsule suit; this document includes the name of the patent owner, the patent number, and the name of the invention. A patent application has to include all the technical information about the invention, along with the year it was invented, and who owns the rights to it.
    Patents are legal documents that allow inventors to stop other people from making, using, or selling their invention for a set period of time. Inventors have to submit a patent application to the patent office in their country. Anyone can file a patent, but the process is complicated. In the United States, it takes about two years to get approval after filing. Once a patent expires, the idea behind the invention is available for anyone to use, so inventors try to make as much money as they can before that happens.
    Now you know a little more about the process of invention. So what do you think? Is there something in your imagination waiting to come out into the world?
    [Readability and attribution]
    Practice Question
    What are TWO of the most important ideas to include in a summary of the passage?
    Choose 2 answers:
    Choose 2 answers:
    (Choice A) Market research is the most important step in the invention process because it informs inventors about what consumers want to buy and if the invention needs to be changed.
    A
    Market research is the most important step in the invention process because it informs inventors about what consumers want to buy and if the invention needs to be changed.
    (Choice B) The patent process is unfair: only legitimate inventors should be able to apply, and they should hold the rights to the patent indefinitely.
    B
    The patent process is unfair: only legitimate inventors should be able to apply, and they should hold the rights to the patent indefinitely.
    (Choice C) Inventing requires strong business skills in order to successfully develop prototypes, conduct market research, sell the finished product, and apply for patents.
    C
    Inventing requires strong business skills in order to successfully develop prototypes, conduct market research, sell the finished product, and apply for patents.
    (Choice D) Inventors create things for many different reasons: to help others, to fill a need, by accident, or to make money for a corporation.
    D
    Inventors create things for many different reasons: to help others, to fill a need, by accident, or to make money for a corporation.
    (Choice E) Some inventions have evolved numerous times over the years, such as early versions of the camera and the modern automobile.
    E
    Some inventions have evolved numerous times over the years, such as early versions of the camera and the modern automobile.
    (Choice F) Thomas Edison had little education and no formal training, which is proof that anyone can become an inventor as long as they keep trying.
    F
    Thomas Edison had little education and no formal training, which is proof that anyone can become an inventor as long as they keep trying.
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    Do 4 problems
    (10 votes)
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  • duskpin sapling style avatar for user amyjung52
    How does David draw so fast but good!?
    (10 votes)
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  • blobby green style avatar for user iS-tea-ak .
    what does comprehension mean ?
    (10 votes)
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  • winston baby style avatar for user es1804021
    I’m a third grader.
    (8 votes)
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  • starky ultimate style avatar for user Charizard 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
    Are We a Nation of Addicts?
    A bowl filled to the brim with bags of M&Ms and mini candy bars.
    A recent article in the New York Times, “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food” by Michael Moss, showed how companies use science to design food that consumers will crave. By adding more salt, sugar, and fat, food companies design food to make us want to eat more and more. Moss says people have an addiction to junk food because they are often powerless to resist it. This also happens to people who smoke or take drugs.
    Today, one in five children in the United States is obese. Health professionals want to encourage healthier eating habits and eliminate childhood obesity. But this is a contentious issue. Some people believe that everyone should have enough self-control to regulate what they eat, while others say that food companies should stop designing and advertising addictive food.
    Moss’s article mentions how Kraft Lunchables were advertised on television to make kids feel as though they were in control of their food choices. The ads said, “All day, you gotta do what they say . . . But lunchtime is all yours.” Kraft, the company that owns Lunchables, sold the idea of power to kids, and it worked. Sales skyrocketed!
    Children are an important target for companies producing junk food and soda. Children who eat and drink their products are more likely to buy these same products when they grow up to be adults.
    Many people believe that regulations should be enforced to protect children from unhealthy food advertisements. They argue that we should follow the lead of countries like Norway and Sweden, where it is illegal to advertise to children under the age of 12. However, companies that sell junk food believe these regulations inconvenience consumers and target the snack food industry unfairly. Others say that advertisements are good because they teach children about new products and can help them become critical consumers—people who think carefully about the products they buy and use.
    [Readability and attribution]
    Which of these examples tells us why junk food companies advertise to children?
    Choose 1 answer:
    Choose 1 answer:
    (Choice A) Children who eat junk food and drink soda are more likely to buy those products when they are older.
    A
    Children who eat junk food and drink soda are more likely to buy those products when they are older.
    (Choice B) Parents are more likely to buy food products that their children like to eat.
    B
    Parents are more likely to buy food products that their children like to eat.
    (Choice C) Most adults have healthier eating habits and don’t buy much junk food or soda.
    C
    Most adults have healthier eating habits and don’t buy much junk food or soda.
    (Choice D) Food companies want children to become critical consumers and think carefully about the products they buy.
    D
    Food companies want children to become critical consumers and think carefully about the products they buy.
    Report a problem

    Do 4 problems
    (9 votes)
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  • blobby green style avatar for user AustinM
    How old is Egypt?
    (9 votes)
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Video transcript

- [David] Hello, readers. Today I'm gonna be talking about text features. Which is to say, the parts of a text that aren't just words. We look at text features to get a better understanding of what the text is all about. Although they're not words. Like I said, text features help our reading comprehension. So what's a good example of a text feature? Well, let's start with, ah, say, a map. Maps are a great example of a feature of the text that isn't made up of words. So this is a social studies textbook. This section is about Egypt. I've turned to this page where there is a map. What is this map of? Well, we can look at this part here. This text here over on the side is a caption. It's something that can tell us about an image. And the map is labeled. So it's about the Nile River and how the Nile River is fed from rainfall to the south, the water travels to the north. Here's Egypt up here. Don't focus too much on the details of this being about the Nile and stuff. Really, what we're talking about is here is an image, there is a caption next to the image, reading the caption helps us understand what's in the image, and looking at the image helps us understand what's in the caption. So we've got maps, we've got images. And that can be illustrations, photos, blueprints, anything really. And if we go back to our social studies textbook, we can see here there's this image. And just looking at the image on its own, we might not be able to tell what that is exactly. But again, there is another helpful little caption over to the side that says this is an aerial view of the Nile. So now we know what this is. And that can help ground us as we go through the rest of the text, which is also, I assume, about the Nile River an ancient Egypt. The caption and its picture are two halves of a whole. They're both helping you understand the other. Other useful text features include charts, diagrams, and graphs, which can include things like timelines. This page here has a table. You can see up at the top, this top row is labeled Ancient Egypt. And then on the left, we have all the different periods of Egyptian history. And on the right, all the dates associated with those periods. There's also a timeline in this lesson. And this one has a bunch of different text elements, right? So we have, it's not a traditional-looking timeline, but you can see that it's arranged from top to bottom, oldest to most recent. Those are just some of the many options that are available to you when you look at a text. Remember that when you're reading a passage, it's not just the words, it's everything on the page. Sometimes I even like to familiarize myself with the charts or the diagrams or the images on the page before I start reading, before I really get down to the business of reading the paragraphs. Because that helps me get rooted. It helps me anchor myself in what the text is gonna be about. I look at the pictures, I skim the captions just to say, "Okay, what's goin' on here? "Cool, we're talkin' about rivers. "We're talkin' about ancient Egypt. "I'm ready." And building those skills of readiness and being able to anchor yourself in any text that you encounter is what's gonna make you a strong reader. You can learn anything. David out.