Text Feature Detective Worksheet
Reading Informational Text • Grade 3
Text Feature Detective Agency
Case File #305: Mixed Review
Agent Name:
Date:
Badge #:
Mission Brief: Nonfiction text features give clues that help readers navigate and learn. Inspect each case file to solve the clues!
CASE EXHIBIT A: Giant Panda Report Examine the sample article below
Giant Pandas of the Bamboo Forest
Daily Habits & Diet
Giant pandas live in cool mountain forests in China. These black-and-white bears spend up to 12 hours a day eating tough, fibrous bamboo stalks. Because bamboo lacks nutrients, a panda must eat up to 38 kilograms every day!
Label: False Thumb (Wrist Bone) Enables the panda to grasp thin bamboo shoots tightly.
Panda Fast Facts
- • Status: Vulnerable
- • Weight: 150–280 lbs
- • Diet: 99% Bamboo
1. Identify Feature:
What is the boxed text titled "Panda Fast Facts"?
2. Bold Word Clue:
Why is the word fibrous printed in bold?
3. Diagram Purpose:
How does the labeled paw diagram help the reader?
CASE EXHIBIT B: Volcano Anatomy Report Examine the diagram, caption, and definitions
Diagram: Inside an Erupting Volcano
Ash Cloud (gas & rock fragments)
Central Vent (main tunnel)
Magma Chamber (pool of melted rock)
Caption: Pressure forces melted rock upward from deep underground.
Mini-Glossary
crater: A bowl-shaped opening at the volcano's summit.
magma: Liquid rock located underground.
vent: A crack or pipe where lava erupts outward.
4. Feature Function:
Where in a book would you find a glossary, and how does it help a reader?
5. Caption Clue:
What is the sentence printed under the picture called, and what is its job?
Text Feature Detective Agency • Investigation Page 1 of 2 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.5
Case File Part 2: Navigation & Feature Superpowers
Agent:
CASE EXHIBIT C: Reference & Navigation Evidence Examine the book preview tools
Table of Contents Front
Ch 1: Sunlit Reefs p. 3
Ch 2: Midnight Trench p. 14
Ch 3: Submersible Tech p. 26
Pacific Dive Map Visual
Map Key / Legend:
= Deep Trench Site
= Research Station
Deep Dive Timeline Order
1934: Bathysphere dive 3,028 ft
1960: Trieste reaches 35,797 ft
2012: Solo dive in Deepsea
6. Table of Contents:
Which chapter and page start the Midnight Trench?
7. Map Key:
What feature explains what map symbols mean?
8. Timeline Purpose:
How does a timeline help a reader understand events?
FEATURE SUPERPOWER MATCH-UP Write the matching letter (A–E) in each square
Every text feature has a special superpower. Match each feature with its job description:
1. Heading
2. Caption
3. Diagram & Labels
4. Sidebar / Fact Box
5. Glossary
A. Explains what is shown in a photograph or illustration.
B. Shows the parts of an object and points to where each part is.
C. Tells the reader what a chapter or section will be about.
D. An alphabetical list of important words and their definitions.
E. Gives extra, interesting facts set apart from the main story.
CASE SCENARIOS: Which Feature Solves the Problem? Apply your detective knowledge
Scenario A:
Marcus is reading about ancient pyramids. He doesn't know what the bold word "pharaoh" means. Which text feature should he look at?
Scenario B:
Elena is doing a project on rainforest layers. What text feature would be best to show what the canopy, understory, and forest floor look like?
Text Feature Detective Agency • Investigation Complete! Master Detective Certified
