Ready Steady Read Together
October, October: Fiction Lesson 3
What do you think you know?
What?
Who?
Why?
Where?
How?
When?
Book Talk: Let's explore this illustration.
Explore
Soundscape: growling, hissing sound - link below
What do you know and think?
I know I should leave it. Dad said it wasn’t right for humans to take owls. But we don’t let the trees die.
How might this extract link to the illustration?
Explore
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Today's Question(s)
A) How does the extract show the vulnerability and fragility of the baby owl?
B) How does the extract show strength and resilience?
Explore
Let me read today's text
Explore
There’s a rustling too and it’s not the normal scuffle of leaves and branches twitching in the wind.
I remember that I am wild and that these are my woods and I shout into the lightening air that I am October and that I have a machete and a tiger.
No one responds, which is normal because no one ever has, but my palms are slippery. The growling is softening into something else. I take a few steps towards the rounded pebble that sits above the earth-bound owl. The sound gets louder and so does the beat of my heart in my ears.
I sweep back the sedge and see the hook of a beak and a flash of a tiny white cloud. A still-alive baby owl roaring at a world that isn’t feeding it.
One owl is dead and this one doesn’t have a mother any more and another owl hasn’t swooped down to save it.
I know I should leave it.
Dad said it wasn’t right for humans to take owls.
But we don’t let the trees die.
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
When I shuffle closer to the squeaking owl it doesn’t try to move away from me. It’s too little and it’s too scared and I don’t know how this one isn’t dead as well, because it’s been out here in the cold all alone. It is very small and very young and its eyes aren’t even open yet. I reach out my fingers again and brush the fluff that will one day be rippled feathers. It’s so soft that it feels like I’m touching warm air. Hey hey hey I whisper and it turns its tiny head towards the sound of my voice and I feel a tug in my chest. You’re OK I say and I feel its trembling heart.
I remember a book I read a long time ago when I was just learning to stumble through words like each sound was a scrub of undergrowth to battle through and get to the end. I remember a baby barn owl scared of the dark and not knowing that the night was exciting and kind and fun and necessary and wonderful and beautiful. This owl is all alone and the whole world is frightening and pitch-black dark.
I take off my rainbow scarf and use it to scoop the owl up. It struggles weakly and I wrap it loosely so its wings can’t beat in a panic and so its sharp talons are caught in fabric. It feels fragile and breakable and I think of hollow bones and the broken body of its mother, who was much bigger and stronger.
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Vocabulary
Explore
Hover for definitions!
machete
sedge
earth-bound
scrub of undergrowth
talons
hollow bones
Explore
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
I will model the first.
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
machete
Explore
Find Read Talk
There’s a rustling too and it’s not the normal scuffle of leaves and branches twitching in the wind. I remember that I am wild and that these are my woods and I shout into the lightening air that I am October and that I have a machete and a tiger.
Reveal Vocabulary
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
machete
Your turn
earth-bound
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
sedge
scrub of undergrowth
talons
hollow bones
Use your text
Explore
Vocabulary Check
Explore
Reveal Vocabulary
Teacher Note: Re-read if time allows.
There’s a rustling too and it’s not the normal scuffle of leaves and branches twitching in the wind.
I remember that I am wild and that these are my woods and I shout into the lightening air that I am October and that I have a machete and a tiger.
No one responds, which is normal because no one ever has, but my palms are slippery. The growling is softening into something else. I take a few steps towards the rounded pebble that sits above the earth-bound owl. The sound gets louder and so does the beat of my heart in my ears.
I sweep back the sedge and see the hook of a beak and a flash of a tiny white cloud. A still-alive baby owl roaring at a world that isn’t feeding it.
One owl is dead and this one doesn’t have a mother any more and another owl hasn’t swooped down to save it.
I know I should leave it.
Dad said it wasn’t right for humans to take owls.
But we don’t let the trees die.
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Reveal Vocabulary
Teacher Note: Re-read if time allows.
When I shuffle closer to the squeaking owl it doesn’t try to move away from me. It’s too little and it’s too scared and I don’t know how this one isn’t dead as well, because it’s been out here in the cold all alone. It is very small and very young and its eyes aren’t even open yet. I reach out my fingers again and brush the fluff that will one day be rippled feathers. It’s so soft that it feels like I’m touching warm air. Hey hey hey I whisper and it turns its tiny head towards the sound of my voice and I feel a tug in my chest. You’re OK I say and I feel its trembling heart.
I remember a book I read a long time ago when I was just learning to stumble through words like each sound was a scrub of undergrowth to battle through and get to the end. I remember a baby barn owl scared of the dark and not knowing that the night was exciting and kind and fun and necessary and wonderful and beautiful. This owl is all alone and the whole world is frightening and pitch-black dark.
I take off my rainbow scarf and use it to scoop the owl up. It struggles weakly and I wrap it loosely so its wings can’t beat in a panic and so its sharp talons are caught in fabric. It feels fragile and breakable and I think of hollow bones and the broken body of its mother, who was much bigger and stronger.
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Fluency
Explore
Let me use my reader's voice...
I reach out my fingers again and brush the fluff that will one day be rippled feathers. It’s so soft that it feels like I’m touching warm air. Hey hey hey I whisper and it turns its tiny head towards the sound of my voice and I feel a tug in my chest. You’re OK I say and I feel its trembling heart.
What did you notice?
Explore
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
My Turn
Your Turn
Echo Read
I reach out my fingers again and brush the fluff that will one day be rippled feathers.
It’s so soft that it feels like I’m touching warm air.
Hey hey hey I whisper
and it turns its tiny head towards the sound of my voice
and I feel a tug in my chest.
You’re OK I say and I feel its trembling heart.
Explore
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Sound like a reader!
Stand up!
Choral Read
I reach out my fingers again and brush the fluff that will one day be rippled feathers. It’s so soft that it feels like I’m touching warm air. Hey hey hey I whisper and it turns its tiny head towards the sound of my voice and I feel a tug in my chest. You’re OK I say and I feel its trembling heart.
Explore
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Focus
Explore
Strategy: Read Between the Lines
A) How does the extract show the vulnerability and fragility of the baby owl?
Be a detective and look for clues!
Teach
Let me show you
Reveal Text Marks
No one responds, which is normal because no one ever has, but my palms are slippery. The growling is softening into something else. I take a few steps towards the rounded pebble that sits above the earth-bound owl. The sound gets louder and so does the beat of my heart in my ears.
A) How does the extract show the vulnerability and fragility of the baby owl?
Reveal Explainer
The noises from the baby owl make it sound weak and helpless as if it is urgently calling for help. The rounded pebble marks the grave of the mother owl, which October and her father buried when they first saw the baby owl. ‘Earth-bound’ has a dual meaning. It reminds us that the mother owl will never fly or hunt again. It also refers to the owl’s body being confined in the earth when it was buried. This shows that the baby owl is completely alone and defenceless.
Teach
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Stop
What else could you use to answer today's question(s)?
Teach
Your Turn
A) How does the extract show the vulnerability and fragility of the baby owl?
B) How does the extract show strength and resilience?
Find the answers
Text mark
Explore
Text Mark Evidence - a flash of a tiny white cloud - it’s (the baby owl is) too little - it (baby owl) is very small and its eyes aren’t even open yet
small and young / underdeveloped
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - a still-alive baby owl roaring at a world that isn’t feeding it - it (baby owl) struggles weakly - it (baby owl) feels fragile and breakable and I think of hollow bones and the broken body of its mother, who was much bigger and stronger
weak and starving
A) How does the extract show the vulnerability and fragility of the baby owl?
Text Mark Evidence - one owl is dead and this one doesn’t have a mother any more and another owl hasn’t swooped down to save it - this owl is all alone
orphaned with no one to care for it
Text Mark Evidence - it’s (the baby owl is) too little and too scared - I feel its (baby owl’s) trembling heart
terrified / frightened
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence I don’t know how this one (owl) isn’t dead as well, because it’s been out here in the cold all alone
exposure to the freezing cold
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence I remember that I am wild and these are my woods and I shout into the lightening air that I am October and that I have a machete and a tiger
October’s bravery
B) How does the extract show strength and resilience?
Text Mark Evidence - a still-alive baby owl roaring - I don’t know how this one (owl) isn’t dead as well
surviving alone
Text Mark Evidence I was just learning to stumble through words like each sound was a scrub of undergrowth to battle through and get to the end
persevering when learning to read
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Practise & Apply
Quiz Time
Start
Picture Me
Which image is the best match for ‘talons’?
Tick Me
I know I should leave it. Dad said it wasn’t right for humans to take owls. But we don’t let the trees die.
What does this suggest?
Tick all that apply:
A Trees are more important and valuable than owls.
B Humans should try to avoid meddling with nature.
Check
C Animals would be better off as pets than in the wild.
Click if correct
D It is likely the owl will die without help.
Which One's Right?
I remember a book I read a long time ago when I was just learning to stumble through words like each sound was a scrub of undergrowth to battle through and get to the end.
How does the comparison in bold make learning to read seem?
B simplistic
A full of surprises
D gruelling
C manageable
Sequence Me
Put the events from the story in the correct order:
A) October wraps the owl in her rainbow scarf.
B) October hears a rustling and growling sound.
C) The baby owl’s mother dies.
D) October gently touches the owl’s fluffy feathers.
Click if correct
Check
Feedback: Who did what well?
FindRead Talk
EchoRead
ChoralRead
ReadingStrategy
Answers & Text Marks
Other...
To be a book lover, you could...
picturethe story.
Reveal
Visualise the characters, places and events as you read.
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.
RSRT Y5 L3 October, October
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Transcript
Ready Steady Read Together
October, October: Fiction Lesson 3
What do you think you know?
What?
Who?
Why?
Where?
How?
When?
Book Talk: Let's explore this illustration.
Explore
Soundscape: growling, hissing sound - link below
What do you know and think?
I know I should leave it. Dad said it wasn’t right for humans to take owls. But we don’t let the trees die.
How might this extract link to the illustration?
Explore
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Today's Question(s)
A) How does the extract show the vulnerability and fragility of the baby owl?
B) How does the extract show strength and resilience?
Explore
Let me read today's text
Explore
There’s a rustling too and it’s not the normal scuffle of leaves and branches twitching in the wind. I remember that I am wild and that these are my woods and I shout into the lightening air that I am October and that I have a machete and a tiger. No one responds, which is normal because no one ever has, but my palms are slippery. The growling is softening into something else. I take a few steps towards the rounded pebble that sits above the earth-bound owl. The sound gets louder and so does the beat of my heart in my ears. I sweep back the sedge and see the hook of a beak and a flash of a tiny white cloud. A still-alive baby owl roaring at a world that isn’t feeding it. One owl is dead and this one doesn’t have a mother any more and another owl hasn’t swooped down to save it. I know I should leave it. Dad said it wasn’t right for humans to take owls. But we don’t let the trees die.
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
When I shuffle closer to the squeaking owl it doesn’t try to move away from me. It’s too little and it’s too scared and I don’t know how this one isn’t dead as well, because it’s been out here in the cold all alone. It is very small and very young and its eyes aren’t even open yet. I reach out my fingers again and brush the fluff that will one day be rippled feathers. It’s so soft that it feels like I’m touching warm air. Hey hey hey I whisper and it turns its tiny head towards the sound of my voice and I feel a tug in my chest. You’re OK I say and I feel its trembling heart. I remember a book I read a long time ago when I was just learning to stumble through words like each sound was a scrub of undergrowth to battle through and get to the end. I remember a baby barn owl scared of the dark and not knowing that the night was exciting and kind and fun and necessary and wonderful and beautiful. This owl is all alone and the whole world is frightening and pitch-black dark. I take off my rainbow scarf and use it to scoop the owl up. It struggles weakly and I wrap it loosely so its wings can’t beat in a panic and so its sharp talons are caught in fabric. It feels fragile and breakable and I think of hollow bones and the broken body of its mother, who was much bigger and stronger.
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Vocabulary
Explore
Hover for definitions!
machete
sedge
earth-bound
scrub of undergrowth
talons
hollow bones
Explore
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
I will model the first.
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
machete
Explore
Find Read Talk
There’s a rustling too and it’s not the normal scuffle of leaves and branches twitching in the wind. I remember that I am wild and that these are my woods and I shout into the lightening air that I am October and that I have a machete and a tiger.
Reveal Vocabulary
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
machete
Your turn
earth-bound
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
sedge
scrub of undergrowth
talons
hollow bones
Use your text
Explore
Vocabulary Check
Explore
Reveal Vocabulary
Teacher Note: Re-read if time allows.
There’s a rustling too and it’s not the normal scuffle of leaves and branches twitching in the wind. I remember that I am wild and that these are my woods and I shout into the lightening air that I am October and that I have a machete and a tiger. No one responds, which is normal because no one ever has, but my palms are slippery. The growling is softening into something else. I take a few steps towards the rounded pebble that sits above the earth-bound owl. The sound gets louder and so does the beat of my heart in my ears. I sweep back the sedge and see the hook of a beak and a flash of a tiny white cloud. A still-alive baby owl roaring at a world that isn’t feeding it. One owl is dead and this one doesn’t have a mother any more and another owl hasn’t swooped down to save it. I know I should leave it. Dad said it wasn’t right for humans to take owls. But we don’t let the trees die.
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Reveal Vocabulary
Teacher Note: Re-read if time allows.
When I shuffle closer to the squeaking owl it doesn’t try to move away from me. It’s too little and it’s too scared and I don’t know how this one isn’t dead as well, because it’s been out here in the cold all alone. It is very small and very young and its eyes aren’t even open yet. I reach out my fingers again and brush the fluff that will one day be rippled feathers. It’s so soft that it feels like I’m touching warm air. Hey hey hey I whisper and it turns its tiny head towards the sound of my voice and I feel a tug in my chest. You’re OK I say and I feel its trembling heart. I remember a book I read a long time ago when I was just learning to stumble through words like each sound was a scrub of undergrowth to battle through and get to the end. I remember a baby barn owl scared of the dark and not knowing that the night was exciting and kind and fun and necessary and wonderful and beautiful. This owl is all alone and the whole world is frightening and pitch-black dark. I take off my rainbow scarf and use it to scoop the owl up. It struggles weakly and I wrap it loosely so its wings can’t beat in a panic and so its sharp talons are caught in fabric. It feels fragile and breakable and I think of hollow bones and the broken body of its mother, who was much bigger and stronger.
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Fluency
Explore
Let me use my reader's voice...
I reach out my fingers again and brush the fluff that will one day be rippled feathers. It’s so soft that it feels like I’m touching warm air. Hey hey hey I whisper and it turns its tiny head towards the sound of my voice and I feel a tug in my chest. You’re OK I say and I feel its trembling heart.
What did you notice?
Explore
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
My Turn
Your Turn
Echo Read
I reach out my fingers again and brush the fluff that will one day be rippled feathers.
It’s so soft that it feels like I’m touching warm air.
Hey hey hey I whisper
and it turns its tiny head towards the sound of my voice
and I feel a tug in my chest.
You’re OK I say and I feel its trembling heart.
Explore
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Sound like a reader!
Stand up!
Choral Read
I reach out my fingers again and brush the fluff that will one day be rippled feathers. It’s so soft that it feels like I’m touching warm air. Hey hey hey I whisper and it turns its tiny head towards the sound of my voice and I feel a tug in my chest. You’re OK I say and I feel its trembling heart.
Explore
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Focus
Explore
Strategy: Read Between the Lines
A) How does the extract show the vulnerability and fragility of the baby owl?
Be a detective and look for clues!
Teach
Let me show you
Reveal Text Marks
No one responds, which is normal because no one ever has, but my palms are slippery. The growling is softening into something else. I take a few steps towards the rounded pebble that sits above the earth-bound owl. The sound gets louder and so does the beat of my heart in my ears.
A) How does the extract show the vulnerability and fragility of the baby owl?
Reveal Explainer
The noises from the baby owl make it sound weak and helpless as if it is urgently calling for help. The rounded pebble marks the grave of the mother owl, which October and her father buried when they first saw the baby owl. ‘Earth-bound’ has a dual meaning. It reminds us that the mother owl will never fly or hunt again. It also refers to the owl’s body being confined in the earth when it was buried. This shows that the baby owl is completely alone and defenceless.
Teach
From: October, October by Katya Balen © 2020. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Stop
What else could you use to answer today's question(s)?
Teach
Your Turn
A) How does the extract show the vulnerability and fragility of the baby owl?
B) How does the extract show strength and resilience?
Find the answers
Text mark
Explore
Text Mark Evidence - a flash of a tiny white cloud - it’s (the baby owl is) too little - it (baby owl) is very small and its eyes aren’t even open yet
small and young / underdeveloped
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - a still-alive baby owl roaring at a world that isn’t feeding it - it (baby owl) struggles weakly - it (baby owl) feels fragile and breakable and I think of hollow bones and the broken body of its mother, who was much bigger and stronger
weak and starving
A) How does the extract show the vulnerability and fragility of the baby owl?
Text Mark Evidence - one owl is dead and this one doesn’t have a mother any more and another owl hasn’t swooped down to save it - this owl is all alone
orphaned with no one to care for it
Text Mark Evidence - it’s (the baby owl is) too little and too scared - I feel its (baby owl’s) trembling heart
terrified / frightened
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence I don’t know how this one (owl) isn’t dead as well, because it’s been out here in the cold all alone
exposure to the freezing cold
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence I remember that I am wild and these are my woods and I shout into the lightening air that I am October and that I have a machete and a tiger
October’s bravery
B) How does the extract show strength and resilience?
Text Mark Evidence - a still-alive baby owl roaring - I don’t know how this one (owl) isn’t dead as well
surviving alone
Text Mark Evidence I was just learning to stumble through words like each sound was a scrub of undergrowth to battle through and get to the end
persevering when learning to read
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Practise & Apply
Quiz Time
Start
Picture Me
Which image is the best match for ‘talons’?
Tick Me
I know I should leave it. Dad said it wasn’t right for humans to take owls. But we don’t let the trees die.
What does this suggest?
Tick all that apply:
A Trees are more important and valuable than owls.
B Humans should try to avoid meddling with nature.
Check
C Animals would be better off as pets than in the wild.
Click if correct
D It is likely the owl will die without help.
Which One's Right?
I remember a book I read a long time ago when I was just learning to stumble through words like each sound was a scrub of undergrowth to battle through and get to the end.
How does the comparison in bold make learning to read seem?
B simplistic
A full of surprises
D gruelling
C manageable
Sequence Me
Put the events from the story in the correct order:
A) October wraps the owl in her rainbow scarf.
B) October hears a rustling and growling sound.
C) The baby owl’s mother dies.
D) October gently touches the owl’s fluffy feathers.
Click if correct
Check
Feedback: Who did what well?
FindRead Talk
EchoRead
ChoralRead
ReadingStrategy
Answers & Text Marks
Other...
To be a book lover, you could...
picturethe story.
Reveal
Visualise the characters, places and events as you read.
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.