Elements of textbooks

table of contents

•Show topics & how they are organized

•List major chapters, parts of a book with page

numbers•Helps the reader find

specific parts of the book quickly & easily

preview

• Helps the reader look ahead• Gives the reader key terms to know• Helps the reader see what will be in the

chapter

review

•To look back on

summaries•Brief concise writing that tells the main points in few words

headings• Creates an order, from broadest

topic to the narrowest topic• Lists BIG ideas in the textbook• Goes from title to unit and

chapter headings to part headings

column

•Any of the long sections of print lying side by side on a page and separated by a line or blank space

photos

• Used to make important points• Adds interest• Used to help find out what is in the chapter

Illustration(s)

• Used to make important points• Adds interest• Used to help find out what is in the chapter• Used a great deal with political cartoons

caption

• Words under a picture, photo, or illustration

Benjamin Franklin was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

subheadings

•Lists specific sections within a chapter

footnotes•A note at the bottom of a

page that explains something on the page

graphic organizer• Visual to show the key points

or ideas

Characteristics of a dog

dogs

4 legs

hairbark

Many colors

boldface terms

• Signals the reader to slow down, pay attention

• Shows us what is important

Example: James Oglethorpe is known as the founder of Georgia.

italics• Describing printing type in which the letters

slant upward to the right• It is used to call attention to words

Example: Southern Living is one of America’s leading magazines.

charts• Helps the reader understand general

points• Helps the reader remember main

idea• Gives information• Makes comparisons• Use charts as a resource

graphs

• Gives pictures and symbols to show information

• Gives information in a small space• Shown to make a point

maps

• Gives information in visual form• Shows where something is located• Shows where something happened

index

• Acts as a search tool like a search engine but in a book• Used to find things, such as

specific topics, terms, people, and places with page numbers• Helps the reader find what he or

she needs

appendix

•Collection of supplementary material

Example: Maps, lists of people, symbols

preface•An introduction to a book

written by the author of the book-tells the purpose of writing the book

forward•Same as a preface

acknowledgements• Recognition of those who

contributed to the formation of a book (writing, research, photos, etc)

bibliography•Another name is “Works

Cited”• Lists all of the print and

non-print sources you used in a report.

timeline• A graphic representation

showing the passage of time

glossary

• Defines terms