What is a textbook scavenger hunt?

Students use scavenger hunt activities to find and identify text features in their content area textbook.

Why use textbook scavenger hunts?

Use this strategy to familiarize students with the features of their textbooks. This activity allows students to activate background knowledge about the upcoming course topics. If students understand how their textbooks are organized, they are more likely to take ownership in classroom reading.

When to use textbook scavenger hunts?

The initial textbook hunt should be done within the first days of school to help familiarize students with the course text. Unit hunts should take place at the introduction of a new unit.

How to use textbook scavenger hunts:

Below we have provided two textbook scavenger hunt lessons. These lessons could be used once at the beginning of the year to introduce your course text, or preferably modified for the start of each new unit in the text book. Please feel free to modify these lessons to best accommodate your students and course material.