Virginia SOL 7.RI.2.A
The Standard
Analyze how an author uses text features (e.g., boldface and italics; type set in color; underlining; indentation; sidebars; illustrations, graphics and photographs; headings and subheadings; footnotes and annotations) to enhance and support the reader’s comprehension.
Virginia Standards of Learning for English · Craft and Style
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students examine headings, images, sidebars, charts, footnotes, and formatting choices in an informational text. They explain how each choice guides attention or makes ideas clearer.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students identify a specific feature and connect it to information in the main text. They explain what the feature clarifies, emphasizes, organizes, or adds for the reader.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may name a feature without explaining how it helps the reader. They may assume every image is decorative or that headings only divide sections.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short article with a heading, sidebar, and chart. Ask: Which feature helps you understand the article most, and what information does it clarify?
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a printed article and sticky notes to label each feature, connect it to related text, and explain how it helps.
Ask students to write: Which feature most changes your understanding of the article, and what would you miss without it?
Play Feature Match with cards showing headings, charts, captions, and sidebars paired with cards describing their effects on readers.
Compare a news webpage and its print version, then list which features help readers skim, locate details, or understand data.
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Printable 7.RI.2.A Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 7.RI.2.A, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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