Books in Grades 3-6 Classrooms

							                                                                                                          Let’s
                                                                                                             talk
Text Features                             How to help
                                          your child
Your child also needs to know about




                                                                                                          about ...
text features to understand how text is   • Give your child lots of opportunity to choose
organized and to make meaning from the      from a wide range of books or magazines
information presented.                      (library cards, subscriptions, book clubs,
                                            second-hand bookstores, flea markets).
Some examples of text features are
                                          • Talk to your child about what he or she is
• table of contents                         reading at school and at home.

• index                                   • Talk to your child about what you

• photographs and pictures
                                            are reading.
                                          • Show your child many purposes
                                                                                                                      Books in Grades
• headings and titles                       for reading.                                                              3–6 Classrooms
• use of colour                           • Show your child many forms of reading
• size of print                             materials around your home (newspapers,
                                            flyers, catalogues, magazines, Internet,
• italic and bold print                     TV guides).
• labels and captions
• diagrams and graphs
• charts and maps




                                                                                                          The Atlantic Canada English language arts
                                                                                                          curriculum is shaped by a vision of enabling
                                                                                                          and encouraging students to
                                                                                                          become reflective, articulate,
                                          This pamphlet is part of a series to inform parents about the
                                          Nova Scotia Department of Education Public School Program
                                                                                                          literate individuals who use language
                                          for students in grades 3–6.                                     successfully for learning and communicating in
                                          For more information, contact your child’s teacher.             personal and public contexts.
Let’s talk about ...                                     A wide range of books are available in grades 3–6 classrooms today. Your child is
                                                         learning how to make wise choices so that the book he or she chooses is of high
                                                         interest and is a good match for his or her current reading ability. Your child is also
Books in Grades 3–6                                      learning to recognize different purposes for reading such as to read for pleasure,
                                                         to follow directions, or to find out information.
Classrooms



Fiction                                              Non-Fiction                                           Genre
Fiction is usually thought of as imagined rather     Non-fiction text provides factual information          Different types of text are gouped by genre
than real. Fiction text is used to tell a story or   through text and images. Non-fiction text is           based on their characteristics.
stimulate a reader’s imagination.                    used to communicate information.
                                                                                                           Examples of categories of genre include
Some elements of fiction are                          Some elements of non-fiction are
                                                                                                           • folk tales, fables, myths, and legends
• setting                                            • facts
                                                                                                           • mysteries
• character                                          • concepts/ideas
                                                                                                           • poetry
• plot                                               • principles
                                                                                                           • fantasy
• theme                                              • references
                                                                                                           • realistic fiction
• point of view                                      • explanations
                                                                                                           • science fiction
• illustrations                                      • instructions
                                                                                                           • historical fiction
• dialogue
                                                                                                           • biography
                                                                                                           • autobiography




let’s talk about ...