This textbook feature analysis, a two-page activity that may be copied for classroom use, guides students through a series of questions for understanding their most challenging textbooks. Questions for types of text, sidebars, typography, color, symbols and icons, images and graphics, organization, navigation (headers and footers), testing, note-making strategies, reading speed, and concerns all appear on the left-hand side of the page, while boxes on the right-hand side offer room for students to write their responses. (author/bebrown)

This ready-to-use textbook feature analysis will help students better understand textbooks, including those used in their career-technical classes. By paying attention to the organization, sidebars, typography, graphics, and other text features, they learn how to use the textbook more efficiently. The activity could be adapted for use with web pages. (sec)