Using Text Features to Locate Information

You already know that books have titles and page numbers. Now you will learn how headings, captions, and page layout work together like little signposts. They help you find facts fast, without reading every single word on the page.

A heading is a short line of words above a section of text. It is often bigger, bolder, or a different color than the rest of the words. A heading tells you what that part of the page is about before you even read it.

If you see the heading "Frogs," you know that section talks about frogs. If you are looking for facts about spiders, you can skip that heading and keep looking for one that says "Spiders" instead.

A caption is a short sentence next to a picture or under it. A caption tells you what is happening in the picture. It can also give you a fact that is not written anywhere else on the page.

Say a page has a photo of a frog on a lily pad. The caption might say, "A frog waits on a lily pad for insects to fly by." That caption teaches you something new, even if you only look at the picture and its words.

Page layout means how all the parts of a page are arranged. A page might have a heading at the top, a picture on one side, a caption under the picture, and paragraphs of text next to it. Knowing where each part usually sits helps you find information quickly.

Look at the labeled page below. It shows where a heading, a picture, a caption, and a paragraph usually go on a page.

When you have a question, you do not need to read a whole page word by word. First, look at the headings and pick the one that matches your question. Then look at any pictures and captions near that heading. This helps you find the answer much faster.

For example, if your question is "What do frogs eat?" you would look for a heading like "What Frogs Eat" or check captions under pictures of frogs eating. You can practice this same skill with a book from home or a page from your classroom, and you can build on it with Analyzing Text Structure and Features as your books get longer.

Heading: A short line of words above a section that tells you what that section is about.

Caption: A short sentence next to or under a picture that explains what the picture shows.

Page Layout: How the heading, picture, caption, and paragraph are arranged on a page.

Locate Information: To find a fact or answer by looking in the right part of a page.

Related lessons

• Concepts of print directionality and text features