Second Grade English: Text Features: Table of Contents, Index, and Glossary

Imagine walking into a massive library containing one hundred thousand books. If those books were piled in giant messy heaps on the floor, finding a book about sea turtles would take weeks! Fortunately, libraries have systems, and informational nonfiction books have internal navigational systems. Navigational text features are special directories that allow a reader to locate specific chapters, pages, and vocabulary definitions in seconds. In this chapter, you will master the three master navigational tools of nonfiction books: the Table of Contents (at the front), the Glossary (at the back), and the Index (at the very end).

The Three Great Navigational Stations

Each of these three tools sits in a specific location in a book and performs a unique search job.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|               THE THREE NAVIGATIONAL STATIONS                   |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                 |
|   FRONT OF BOOK:           BACK OF BOOK:       VERY LAST PAGES: |
|                                                                 |
|   [ TABLE OF CONTENTS ]    [ GLOSSARY ]        [ INDEX ]        |
|   Lists chapters in        Alphabetical        Alphabetical     |
|   page-by-page order       dictionary of       list of EVERY    |
|   from start to finish.    bold keywords.      topic & page #!  |
|                                                                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

Tool 1: The Table of Contents (The Front Guide)

The Table of Contents appears at the very beginning of a book, immediately following the title page. It lists the major chapters or sections in the exact chronological order in which they appear, along with their starting page numbers.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|                   SAMPLE TABLE OF CONTENTS                      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Chapter 1: The Ocean Habitat ........................ Page 4   |
|  Chapter 2: Sharks: Predators of the Deep ............ Page 12  |
|  Chapter 3: Colorful Coral Reefs ..................... Page 20  |
|  Chapter 4: Mysterious Deep Sea Creatures ............ Page 28  |
|  Glossary ............................................ Page 36  |
|  Index ............................................... Page 38  |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

When to Use the Table of Contents

Use the Table of Contents when you want a broad overview of the whole book, or when you are searching for an entire chapter (like finding Chapter 3 to learn about coral reefs).

Tool 2: The Index (The Back Search Engine)

The Index is located on the very last pages of a nonfiction book. It is a comprehensive alphabetical list of every specific topic, person, animal, or object mentioned in the book, followed by the exact page numbers where that topic is discussed.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|                      SAMPLE INDEX EXCERPT                       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Blowfish, 22, 24                                               |
|  Coral, 20-23                                                   |
|  Dolphins, 6, 8, 10                                             |
|  Great White Shark, 14-16                                       |
|  Hammerhead Shark, 17                                           |
|  Octopus, 29, 31                                                |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

Table of Contents vs. Index: The Quick Decision

If you want to read a whole general section on sharks -> Use the Table of Contents! If you want to find the single page that mentions Hammerhead Shark -> Use the Index!

Tool 3: The Glossary (The Specialized Dictionary)

The Glossary sits near the back of the book. It is an alphabetical mini-dictionary defining the bold, specialized vocabulary words that appeared in the text. Example entry: Echolocation (noun): A method used by dolphins and bats to locate objects by bouncing sound waves off surfaces.

Practice Exercises

Exercise 1: Based on the sample Table of Contents in this chapter, on which page does Chapter 3 about Coral Reefs begin?

Exercise 2: If you want to know on which exact page the book discusses "Blowfish," which navigational tool at the back of the book should you check?

Exercise Solutions

Solution to Exercise 1: According to the sample Table of Contents, Chapter 3 about Colorful Coral Reefs begins on Page 20.

Solution to Exercise 2: You should check the Index at the very back of the book, which lists specific topics in alphabetical order with their exact page numbers.