ShmoopTube

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[Coop and Dino singing]

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When you’re reading a text that’s informational… …it might have certain elements you won’t [Girl reading a book]

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find in a work of fiction.

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You’ll also probably notice a distinct lack of unicorns and wizards. [A wizard and unicorn on a book page]

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Sorry.

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Informational texts often include photographs, a glossary, labels, diagrams, and captions.

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It’s a good thing, too, because if we had to consume pages and pages of information [Pages turn over in a book quickly]

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without a pretty little bar graph every now and again to break things up, we might go

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a bit bonkers. [Girl hits face with a book]

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They’re not just there for their looks, though.

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These features help to teach us more about the subject matter than just the writing can

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teach us alone.

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You know that saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words?” [Framed picture of a historical battle]

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Well, a flow chart has to be worth at least three hundred.

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When we read articles, maps, and atlases, it’s important to pay attention to all of

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the writing in the book, and not just the main paragraphs.

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The writers, creators and illustrators didn’t plug in all those gizmos and whatchamacallits [Man holding his abdomen and doctor appears]

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for their health.

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The next time you read an atlas, article, or map, make sure you pay attention to all

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those little floating boxes with writing in them.

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Trust us, they’re important.

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A little floating box told us so. [A box contained in a page of an article]

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