Learning About the Iroquois: Using Text Features

What We Are Learning

We can explain what a text tells us by using facts from the text.
We can explain how pictures and diagrams help us understand what we read.

We want to:

• Learn about special parts of informational text (text that teaches us facts) that help us find the main idea.
• Use those parts to learn about the Iroquois Confederacy. A confederacy is a group of nations that work together.

Getting Started

The teacher talks with the class about the Iroquois. This is a group of people who taught us about telling stories out loud and living peacefully together.

The teacher says, "I want to learn more about the Iroquois! Do you?"

Students think about questions they have. Maybe they wonder:

• How did the Iroquois use nature to help them live?
• How did men, women, and kids work and play?
• What special traditions did they have?

The teacher writes these questions on a chart.

The class will read a new book called The Iroquois and other texts too. This will help them learn how the Iroquois lived long ago — and how they still live in the Northeast today!

The class reads a goal together: "I can find special parts of informational text that help me understand the main idea." They talk about tricky words like text features (special parts of a book, like headings or pictures) and informational text (writing that teaches us facts).

Exploring Text Features

Students look through The Iroquois book. They talk with a partner about how this book looks different from a storybook.

They find special parts, called text features, like:

• Heading – a title for a section
• Glossary – a list of hard words and what they mean
• Caption – words under a picture that explain it
• Index – a list at the back that tells you what page to find things
• Sidebar – extra facts next to the main text
• Bold and italic – special ways to print words to make them stand out
• Pronunciation guide – help for saying a tricky word

The teacher writes each feature on a card. Students write what each one means and why it helps readers.

Then, pairs of students look at other informational books. They check if these books have the same features. They might find new ones too!

Making a Chart Together

Students work in small groups. Each group gets one text feature. They:

1. Write what it means.
2. Write why authors use it.
3. Find an example in a book, with the page number.

Groups share their work. The teacher writes it all on a big chart called Informational Text Features.

Reading Together

The teacher reads pages 5–8 of The Iroquois out loud. Students follow along.

On page 6, the teacher stops and says, "I found an answer to one of our questions!" Students talk about how the Iroquois used natural resources (things from nature, like trees and rivers).

On page 7, students find the word impressed. The teacher shows them a trick: keep reading to figure out what a word means! They learn that Thomas Jefferson liked the Iroquois's ideas so much, he used them when writing part of the U.S. Constitution (the important rules for our country). So impressed means you really like and learn from something.

On page 8, the teacher asks: "Why does the author say the people of the longhouse have survived?" Students reread quietly, then talk with a partner about the answer.

Reading Again to Find Text Features

Students read from the cover through page 9 again. This time, they look closely for text features. They fill out a sheet called the Learning Using Text Features Recording Form to show what they found.

Wrap-Up

Students think about what new things they learned by using text features while reading.

They talk with a partner: "Why are text features important when reading informational text?" The class picks a great answer and adds it to their chart.

Homework

Finish reading Chapter 1 of The Iroquois. Keep thinking about how life for the Iroquois was different long ago compared to now.