Nonfiction text features have always been a snooze fest in my 3rd grade class. I mean how do you make a table of contents, glossary, or an index interesting? This year I ran across an interesting activity, so I figured why not? I’m fairly certain I sounded like Charlie Brown’s teacher to them anyway.
So, we had Text Feature Surgery today. I printed nonfiction books from Learning A-Z and saved all the sample magazines I could get my hands on.
My little surgeons had to transplant five text features to their patient in order to save him or her, and use band-aids to label the different features. 
With some dollar store shower caps, dust masks, and gloves they looked the part. I added a name badge for the finishing touch. They were so engaged! It was fun to sit back and watch them in action!
I honestly can’t wait to plan this activity again next school year!
