Ready Steady Read Together
October October: Fiction Lesson 5
Quiz Time
Start
Questions about the book so far...
Picture Me
Which image is the best match for ‘moonstone’?
Find Me
Find the word which shows that October’s legs no longer feel ‘frozen or unable to move’:
I look at the woman who is my mother.
And my limbs unstick.
And I run.
My feet beat a path through leaves and mud and twists of undergrowth and I can hear my breath running ragged from my lungs and the shouts of Dad and then the beep of Stig’s little voice, but I keep going even though my air is running out.
Discuss then check
unstick
Link Me
Link each character with the words which best describe them:
A self-sufficientand capable
1 October
B fragile and vulnerable
2 October's dad
C curious and independent
Check
3 October's mum
Click if correct
D hopeful and uncertain
4 Stig
Sequence Me
Put the following events from the story in the correct order:
A) October’s mother left in a silver car when October was four years old.
B) October’s mother surprises her with a visit on her birthday.
C) October rescued an orphaned baby owl from certain death.
D) October and her father find and bury a dead owl.
Click if correct
Check
Speaking Spotlight
Teacher in Role
Explore
Teacher in Role
I am _____,what do you want to know?
How?
Who?
When?
What?
Where?
Why?
Vocabulary
Explore
Hover for definitions!
stroke
looping
splintering
temple
blooming
balled hands
Explore
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Let me read today's text
Explore
Dad is shouting not to climb and his words catch in the leaves as he follows me. Out of the corner of my eye I see her standing at the bottom of the trunk so I keep going towards the sky. I stretch and curl and reach and bend until I’m higher than I’ve ever been before and I can stroke the sun with my fingertips and breathe the clouds.
Dad’s breathing is getting louder and it creaks in his chest like the branches around us. His words come in little bursts.
October
October
you’re too high
this is too
dangerous
come down can you
get
down?
Dad shouts and moves after me, but I just keep reaching for branches and looping my ankles around the right ones. I don’t look down because that’s the number-one rule of climbing trees and everyone knows that.
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Climb.
Breathe.
Climb.
Climb.
Climb.
And then
a splintering
a creak
a shout
a scream
a crash
a whoosh
a thud.
Silence.
And where Dad was there are only broken branches and still-moving air.
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
And then my own heartbeat roars and I break the number-one rule and I look down. And he’s on the ground in a quiet impossible heap of arms and legs and angles and the woman who is my mother is on her knees and her moonstone hand is pressed flat against her mouth and her other hand is in the pocket of that bright coat that’s red like blood and there’s real blood too and her fingers are tapping at the rectangular screen of her mobile phone and she’s talking and I start to climb down with shaking arms even though she screams at me not to in case more branches break.
He is pale and he’s not moving and there’s a flash of bright blood on his temple and something darker blooming on to the leaves under his head. I want to shake him awake but she stops me and says don’t move him, October, you can’t move him in case it hurts him more and I want to scream that I’ve already killed him but I just tremble and put my burning balled hands into my pockets. She is still on the phone but she keeps holding it up to the sky and says hello hello yes I’m still here yes it’s quite hard to find if you just turn left at the yellow sign and then you’ll have to keep going even when the track stops being a road oh yes there’s a big patch of grass in front of the house I don’t know no smaller than that I think oh but please hurry are you on your way yes yes he’s still breathing.
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Stop
Teach
Your turn
Practise & Apply
Use your text
Practise & Apply
1) He is pale and he’s not moving and there’s a flash of bright blood on his temple and something darker blooming on to the leaves under his head.
Circle the word which best completes the sentence.
The word ‘blooming’ suggests the spot of blood on the leaves is…
colourful.
dark.
spreading.
shrinking.
Reveal Answer
Practise & Apply
2) What is the number-one rule of climbing trees?
Dad shouts and moves after me, but I just keep reaching for branches and looping my ankles around the right ones. I don’t look down because that’s the number-one rule of climbing trees and everyone knows that.
RevealText Marks
RevealExtract
Practise & Apply
3) How has the author used figurative language (simile, metaphor and other poetic features) to contribute to the meaning of the text?
Text Mark Evidence my own heartbeat roars
Text Mark Evidence his words catch in the leaves as he follows me
use of personification to create a tension / suspense / a sense of distance
use of personification to show panic / fear / urgency
Text Mark Evidence in a quiet impossible heap of arms and legs and angles
use of imagery to show the severity of the fall / Dad’s injuries
Text Mark Evidence I can stroke the sun with my fingertips and breathe the clouds
use of hyperbole to emphasise the danger / the height October has climbed
Text Mark Evidence her moonstone hand is pressed flat against her mouth
use of metaphor to highlight the mother’s paleness due to shock / fear
Text Mark Evidence (Dad’s breathing is getting louder and) it creaks in his chest like the branches around us
use of simile to increase concern for Dad’s safety / highlight Dad’s fragility / foreshadow Dad’s fall
Text Mark Evidence that bright coat that’s red like blood
use of simile to symbolise danger or alarm
Text Mark Evidence a creak…a crash…a whoosh…a thud
use of onomatopoeia to mimic the sounds and abruptness of Dad’s fall
RevealEvidence & Answers
4) How can you tell October’s dad is seriously hurt after his fall? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
Text Mark Evidence - there’s real blood too - there’s a flash of bright blood on his temple and something darker blooming on to the leaves under his head
Text Mark Evidence he’s on the ground in a quiet impossible heap of arms and legs and angles
visible bleeding
may have broken bones
Text Mark Evidence - my mother is on her knees and her moonstone hand is pressed flat against her mouth - don’t move him, October, you can’t move him in case it hurts him more - please hurry…are you on your way…yes yes he’s still breathing
mother’s reaction / urgency
Text Mark Evidence her fingers are tapping at the rectangular screen of her mobile phone
phones emergency services
Text Mark Evidence he is pale and he’s not moving
Dad’s appearance
Text Mark Evidence I want to shake him awake
appears unconscious
Text Mark Evidence - my own heartbeat roars - I want to shake him awake - I want to scream - I just tremble and put my burning balled hands into my pockets
October’s reaction
RevealEvidence & Answers
Text Mark Evidence I want to scream that I’ve already killed him
October first thought he was dead
5) Put the following events from the story in order. Write a number 1-5 in each box.
October hears a splintering sound followed by a creak, a scream, a crash and a thud.
October’s mother phones for help and tells them that he is still breathing.
October climbs a tree to escape the presence of her mother.
October’s father is laying in a heap on the ground and is not moving.
Reveal Answer
October’s dad tries to convince October to come down while he climbs the tree.
Practise & Apply
Feedback: Who did what well?
FindRead Talk
EchoRead
ChoralRead
ReadingStrategy
Answers & Text Marks
Other...
To be a book lover, you could...
learn new words.
Reveal
Keep a notebook to write down and remember new words.
If you like this book, you might like...
Copyright Notice
This document has been supplied under a CLA Licence with specific terms of use. It is protected by copyright and, save as may be permitted by law, it may not be further copied, stored, re-copied electronically or otherwise shared, even for internal purposes, without the prior further permission of the Rightsholder. Extracts sourced from: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020 Schools must purchase the original text for full content.
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Transcript
Ready Steady Read Together
October October: Fiction Lesson 5
Quiz Time
Start
Questions about the book so far...
Picture Me
Which image is the best match for ‘moonstone’?
Find Me
Find the word which shows that October’s legs no longer feel ‘frozen or unable to move’:
I look at the woman who is my mother. And my limbs unstick. And I run. My feet beat a path through leaves and mud and twists of undergrowth and I can hear my breath running ragged from my lungs and the shouts of Dad and then the beep of Stig’s little voice, but I keep going even though my air is running out.
Discuss then check
unstick
Link Me
Link each character with the words which best describe them:
A self-sufficientand capable
1 October
B fragile and vulnerable
2 October's dad
C curious and independent
Check
3 October's mum
Click if correct
D hopeful and uncertain
4 Stig
Sequence Me
Put the following events from the story in the correct order:
A) October’s mother left in a silver car when October was four years old.
B) October’s mother surprises her with a visit on her birthday.
C) October rescued an orphaned baby owl from certain death.
D) October and her father find and bury a dead owl.
Click if correct
Check
Speaking Spotlight
Teacher in Role
Explore
Teacher in Role
I am _____,what do you want to know?
How?
Who?
When?
What?
Where?
Why?
Vocabulary
Explore
Hover for definitions!
stroke
looping
splintering
temple
blooming
balled hands
Explore
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Let me read today's text
Explore
Dad is shouting not to climb and his words catch in the leaves as he follows me. Out of the corner of my eye I see her standing at the bottom of the trunk so I keep going towards the sky. I stretch and curl and reach and bend until I’m higher than I’ve ever been before and I can stroke the sun with my fingertips and breathe the clouds. Dad’s breathing is getting louder and it creaks in his chest like the branches around us. His words come in little bursts. October October you’re too high this is too dangerous come down can you get down? Dad shouts and moves after me, but I just keep reaching for branches and looping my ankles around the right ones. I don’t look down because that’s the number-one rule of climbing trees and everyone knows that.
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Climb. Breathe. Climb. Climb. Climb. And then a splintering a creak a shout a scream a crash a whoosh a thud. Silence. And where Dad was there are only broken branches and still-moving air.
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
And then my own heartbeat roars and I break the number-one rule and I look down. And he’s on the ground in a quiet impossible heap of arms and legs and angles and the woman who is my mother is on her knees and her moonstone hand is pressed flat against her mouth and her other hand is in the pocket of that bright coat that’s red like blood and there’s real blood too and her fingers are tapping at the rectangular screen of her mobile phone and she’s talking and I start to climb down with shaking arms even though she screams at me not to in case more branches break. He is pale and he’s not moving and there’s a flash of bright blood on his temple and something darker blooming on to the leaves under his head. I want to shake him awake but she stops me and says don’t move him, October, you can’t move him in case it hurts him more and I want to scream that I’ve already killed him but I just tremble and put my burning balled hands into my pockets. She is still on the phone but she keeps holding it up to the sky and says hello hello yes I’m still here yes it’s quite hard to find if you just turn left at the yellow sign and then you’ll have to keep going even when the track stops being a road oh yes there’s a big patch of grass in front of the house I don’t know no smaller than that I think oh but please hurry are you on your way yes yes he’s still breathing.
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Stop
Teach
Your turn
Practise & Apply
Use your text
Practise & Apply
1) He is pale and he’s not moving and there’s a flash of bright blood on his temple and something darker blooming on to the leaves under his head.
Circle the word which best completes the sentence. The word ‘blooming’ suggests the spot of blood on the leaves is…
colourful.
dark.
spreading.
shrinking.
Reveal Answer
Practise & Apply
2) What is the number-one rule of climbing trees?
Dad shouts and moves after me, but I just keep reaching for branches and looping my ankles around the right ones. I don’t look down because that’s the number-one rule of climbing trees and everyone knows that.
RevealText Marks
RevealExtract
Practise & Apply
3) How has the author used figurative language (simile, metaphor and other poetic features) to contribute to the meaning of the text?
Text Mark Evidence my own heartbeat roars
Text Mark Evidence his words catch in the leaves as he follows me
use of personification to create a tension / suspense / a sense of distance
use of personification to show panic / fear / urgency
Text Mark Evidence in a quiet impossible heap of arms and legs and angles
use of imagery to show the severity of the fall / Dad’s injuries
Text Mark Evidence I can stroke the sun with my fingertips and breathe the clouds
use of hyperbole to emphasise the danger / the height October has climbed
Text Mark Evidence her moonstone hand is pressed flat against her mouth
use of metaphor to highlight the mother’s paleness due to shock / fear
Text Mark Evidence (Dad’s breathing is getting louder and) it creaks in his chest like the branches around us
use of simile to increase concern for Dad’s safety / highlight Dad’s fragility / foreshadow Dad’s fall
Text Mark Evidence that bright coat that’s red like blood
use of simile to symbolise danger or alarm
Text Mark Evidence a creak…a crash…a whoosh…a thud
use of onomatopoeia to mimic the sounds and abruptness of Dad’s fall
RevealEvidence & Answers
4) How can you tell October’s dad is seriously hurt after his fall? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
Text Mark Evidence - there’s real blood too - there’s a flash of bright blood on his temple and something darker blooming on to the leaves under his head
Text Mark Evidence he’s on the ground in a quiet impossible heap of arms and legs and angles
visible bleeding
may have broken bones
Text Mark Evidence - my mother is on her knees and her moonstone hand is pressed flat against her mouth - don’t move him, October, you can’t move him in case it hurts him more - please hurry…are you on your way…yes yes he’s still breathing
mother’s reaction / urgency
Text Mark Evidence her fingers are tapping at the rectangular screen of her mobile phone
phones emergency services
Text Mark Evidence he is pale and he’s not moving
Dad’s appearance
Text Mark Evidence I want to shake him awake
appears unconscious
Text Mark Evidence - my own heartbeat roars - I want to shake him awake - I want to scream - I just tremble and put my burning balled hands into my pockets
October’s reaction
RevealEvidence & Answers
Text Mark Evidence I want to scream that I’ve already killed him
October first thought he was dead
5) Put the following events from the story in order. Write a number 1-5 in each box.
October hears a splintering sound followed by a creak, a scream, a crash and a thud.
October’s mother phones for help and tells them that he is still breathing.
October climbs a tree to escape the presence of her mother.
October’s father is laying in a heap on the ground and is not moving.
Reveal Answer
October’s dad tries to convince October to come down while he climbs the tree.
Practise & Apply
Feedback: Who did what well?
FindRead Talk
EchoRead
ChoralRead
ReadingStrategy
Answers & Text Marks
Other...
To be a book lover, you could...
learn new words.
Reveal
Keep a notebook to write down and remember new words.
If you like this book, you might like...
Copyright Notice
This document has been supplied under a CLA Licence with specific terms of use. It is protected by copyright and, save as may be permitted by law, it may not be further copied, stored, re-copied electronically or otherwise shared, even for internal purposes, without the prior further permission of the Rightsholder. Extracts sourced from: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020 Schools must purchase the original text for full content.