Fifth-grade students at Midway Elementary recently participated in a culminating project called “Text Feature Surgery”, designed to enhance their understanding of informational text features in alignment with the Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE). Through various hands-on projects, students have gained a comprehensive understanding of how different text features enhance readability and comprehension.
One of the standout activities in this learning journey was Text Feature Surgery, where students played the role of “text doctors.” They diagnosed their “patients”, which were various texts missing crucial features, and performed “transplants” of text features, such as headings, bold words, glossaries, maps, diagrams, tables of contents, captions, graphs, tables, photographs or illustrations to ensure their patients were “healthy” and easy to read. Each student had to explain how the chosen text feature would aid their patient during reading and the specific purpose it served.
“These text features are essential tools that help our students become better readers and researchers,” said Mrs. Tessa Carden, the 5th grade teacher. “By understanding and using these features, they can navigate complex texts more effectively and gain a deeper comprehension of the material.”
Fifth grade text surgeons Abel Gillis, Jonan Clark, Avery Smith, Kelsie Davis and Karaline Herrin work on saving their patient.
