Mini-Lesson

Nonfiction Text Features

(Grades 4-6)

Objective: Students will identify and use nonfiction text features in a news story

1. Tell students that news stories follow a certain format. List and discuss the following terms: headline (or hed), dek, and subhead. (The headline is like a title; the dek conveys the main idea; and the subheads are like subtitles that hint at what information will be found in each section of the article.)

2. Pass out the article A Queen's Homecoming and have students underline the hed, dek and subheads. Then have students make predictions about what they will find in the article and what information will be in each section.

3. Have students read the article and check their predictions. Ask: Were your predictions correct? Why do writers use heds, deks and subheads? How do these features help readers?

4. To review the features of a new story use the worksheet Inside a News Story

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SITE SET: Nonfiction Text Features Use this set of topic-based online resources to supplement this mini-lesson. Additional resources available at www.eduhound.com