Rub a sewing needle with a magnet about twenty times in the same direction. Push the needle through a small piece of cork. Float the cork in a bowl of water and watch the needle turn to point north and south.
4th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 2 of 14
Text Features
Headings, glossaries and indexes
What your child practices
Using the parts of a nonfiction book to find information: reading a table of contents and index, knowing what glossaries, captions, labels and timelines are for, and choosing headings.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 4.9(D); 4.10(C) · headings, glossaries, maps and indexes
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- The table of contents at the front lists chapters and their pages.
- The index at the back lists topics in ABC order. The glossary explains special words.
- Captions explain pictures, headings name sections and timelines show events in order.
Example: Which text feature lists the chapters and their page numbers at the front of a book? It is at the front, not the back. It lists chapters, not word meanings. Answer: the table of contents
Text Features in Texas
In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 2 of 14 in 4th grade English Language Arts, after Reading Detectives and before Figurative Language.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
- 4th grade guide for Texas parents
- Printable 4th grade English Language Arts sheet
- Texas report cards explained
Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
You want to find every page that mentions volcanoes in a big science book. Where is the best place to look?
- the glossary
- the first caption
- the index
- the table of contents
the index
Hint: The index is at the back. It lists topics in ABC order with ALL the pages where they appear.
Question 2
Which heading best fits this section?
- Floating and Sinking
- How to Make a Compass
- Why Magnets Stick to Fridges
- The History of Maps
How to Make a Compass
Hint: These are steps for making something. What are you making?
Question 3
Which of these is an index entry?
- pollen, 21–23
- Chapter 4: Bees and Flowers
- pollen: a yellow powder made by flowers
- A bee covered in pollen visits a sunflower.
pollen, 21–23
Hint: An index entry is a topic followed by page numbers.
Question 4
Use the index. Which page or pages tell about thunder?
Wild Weather: Index Topic Pages clouds 8–12 fog 11 hail 17 lightning 24, 26 rainbows 15 snowflakes 16–17 thunder 25 tornadoes 28–29 - 11
- 8–12
- 25
- 15
25
Hint: An index lists topics in ABC order. Find “thunder” in the Topic column and read across to the pages.
Question 5
Look at the table of contents. On what page does “Life in the Shallows” begin?
Amazing Oceans: Table of Contents Chapter Page Waves and Tides 3 Life in the Shallows 9 The Deep Sea 16 Coral Reefs 22 Protecting Our Oceans 28 Glossary 33 Index 35 - 9
- 22
- 35
- 33
9
Hint: Find “Life in the Shallows” in the Chapter column, then read straight across to the page number.
Question 6
Which part of this book should you use to learn about moving air that can spin a pinwheel?
Wild Weather: Table of Contents Chapter Page Sun and Seasons 2 Clouds 8 Rain and Snow 13 Wind 19 Thunderstorms 24 Glossary 30 Index 32 - Wind
- Index
- Rain and Snow
- Sun and Seasons
Wind
Hint: Read each title and ask which one fits the topic. Remember: a glossary explains words, and an index lists every page a topic is on.