Monday and Tuesday 2-13-12 and 2-14-12

HOMEROOM ACTIVITIES

WEEK #21

(02/13 – 02/17)

Monday 2-13-12

¢  Text features are like signposts that guide you through a reading passage and help you find and understand information.

¢  Have you ever tried to push a door and found that if wouldn’t budge? Then you read a sign in big BOLD letters and realize that you have to pull instead of push? Text features work in similar way. They help you find information quickly.

¢  Both informational reading passages (such as articles, Web sites, and textbook chapters) and literary texts (such as stories, autobiographies, and poetry) have text features.

HEADINGS AND SUBHEADINGS

¢  Headings and subheadings visually show readers how ideas are organized within a text. Each heading should accurately tell readers what each section covers. Using bold letters and different font sizes help readers locate the information they need. For some writing, especially scientific reports, it's helpful to number your sections.

¢  Different types of writings and citation styles might call for you to use headings and subheadings within your paper to help divide information. It's important to use clear and consistent wording in headings, as well as use headings to highlight significant information.

Practice #    Headings and Subheadings

Read the paragraphs. Then write answers to the questions that follow.

 About 500 years before Columbus, Vikings had reached North America.  They set up towns and colonies. They did not last very long. The weather  was very cold. The settlers from Northern Europe did not get along with the  Native Americans. Terrible battles were fought. Some people believe the  Vikings returned to Iceland or Europe. Others believe that the Vikings took on Native American ways. These people claim that they became another  Native American tribe. 

Columbus first reached the Western Hemisphere in 1492. He thought he had reached Asia. The Spanish king and queen were delighted by his news. They sent him back on a second voyage. This time he took 17 ships. On board were 1,200 people to set up towns in what they thought was Asia.  On November 19, 1493, they reached Puerto Rico. They began the city  of San Juan.

1. What are both paragraphs about?
2. Write a heading that tells the major topic of the two paragraphs.
3. Write a subheading for the second paragraph.
4. Who is the first paragraph about?

  

TUESDAY 2-14-12

Captions

¢  A caption explains what is shown in a picture or illustration.

¢  Captions help the reader understand information that may or may not be in the text.

¢  Words underneath a picture or photograph that explains what it is or is about.

Glossary

¢  A list of key terms in alphabetical order.

¢  Each key word is defined.

¢  Sometimes a glossary also tells you how to pronounce a word.

¢  Readers use the glossary to look up key terms to find out their meaning.  This helps the reader better learn and understand the subject.
EXAMPLE :
A

¢  Acid rain (AS ihd rayn) rain that carries certain kind of pollution.

¢  Adapt (uh DAPT) to change in order to survive in new environments

Charts or tables

¢  Charts and Tables organize large amounts of information in a small space.

¢  Tables present all kinds of data, from numbers and amounts, to calendars and menus.

¢  Charts and Tables help the reader compare information in the text and provide a visual way to read information quicker.