Mechanics & Literature: October 2023
October’s Dart, Arrow, Boomerang, and Slingshot selections spotlight protagonists who are brave and thoughtful. These stories provide loads to talk about and consider as your family explores writing, mechanics, and literary devices!
And this month’s Quill—Music & Song Lyrics—will get your feet tapping and fingers snapping as your family reads picture books, looks at lyrics, and explores a symphony of symbols!
Music & Song Lyrics
Tune up your singing voices and get ready to tap to the beat! The Music & Song Lyrics Quill is here! Check out the Music & Song Lyrics booklist to help curate your read-aloud stack!
In this Quill, we’ll:
- look lovingly at lyrics on the page;
- spot a slew of symbols that make meaning;
- enjoy a bit of rhyme time—and make a few of our own;
- make meaning with dots, lines, and curves;
- make math stick with musical counting; and
- count along to the beat of a song.
Get the Quill.
The Girl Who Stole an Elephant by Nizrana Farook
The lush terrain of Sri Lanka comes to life in this tale of friendship for fans of adventure and Robin-Hood inspired stories! We’re confident you won’t want to put this one down!
We’re “tickled pink” and “happy as clams” to share this month’s literary device—idioms. This device makes writing sparkle, inserts humor, and amplifies messages. Join us in October for a closer look!
Inside this Dart, we’ll also:
- litter a list with commas;
- ask a rhetorical question (or will we?);
- in-vestigate a common preposition;
- admire some action beats;
- take a look at words that can be both nouns and verbs;
- see how words grow from big to bigger to biggest; and so much more!
Get the Dart.
It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas
In this historical fiction novel, Zomorod Yousefzadeh is making a fresh start with a new home and a new name. But fun and adventure can’t distract her from troubles brewing back in Iran and anti-Iran sentiments hitting too close to home. This poignant but lighthearted story will spark Big Juicy Conversations your family will remember!
October’s literary device is Figurative Language.
In this Arrow, we’ll also:
- consider the clever comma;
- dive into dialogue punctuation;
- assess the power of snazzy synonyms;
- discover the power of detailed descriptions;
- gather golden lines;
- see how a hearty dose of humor lightens a tense scene; and so much more!
Get the Arrow.
The Giver by Lois Lowry
This modern classic features a highly discussable plot that touches on deep topics. You might want to budget extra time for the Big Juicy Conversations this book is likely to inspire!
In this Boomerang, we’ll:
- ride the escalating action;
- ponder puzzling irony;
- toss around commas galore;
- juggle the question of genre;
- hunt for allusions;
- track the crisis all the way through the turning point until resolution; and so much more!
Get the Boomerang.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
This autobiography of a power orator, activist, and spokesperson for civil rights will spark important conversations your family won’t soon forget.
In this Slingshot, we’ll:
- probe the past through Frederick Douglass’s courageous autobiography;
- tiptoe through timelines and jog through geography;
- pore over parallels and measure up metaphors;
- capitalize and hyphenate;
- ponder primary and secondary sources;
- use irony to tell the truth, and much more.
Get the Slingshot.
