1. Before and During Reading Skills
“That October”
By D.H. Figueredo
Before and During Reading Skills

2. “That October”
1. Identify and define the Literary Focus element in this selection.
2, Identify and define the Reading Focus element in the this text.
3. What is the Writing Focus in this story and what are you asked to do while reading?

3. Author Information
4. Read the information about the author on page 272.
4. Make a list of three important things you learned about the author.
4. Circle the detail you think will be the most important to help you understand the story.
5. Read the “Build Background” paragraph and make a list of three things you learned.

4. How does confidence play a role in how someone handles a struggle?
Quick Write
Struggles
Think of a time when you or someone you know struggled with something either physically or emotionally.
Describe what the struggle was and tell how the person dealt with this particular struggle.
How does confidence play a role in how someone handles a struggle?

5. Vocabulary ILLEGAL CONVINCED OPPONENTS ENCOUNTER BOASTING
For each of the vocabulary terms below, please define the word, construct a sentence that demonstrates your understanding of the term, and create an illustration to represent the word.
ILLEGAL
CONVINCED
OPPONENTS
ENCOUNTER
BOASTING

6. “That October”
Read the text carefully and note the way the author uses the technique of flashback to tell the story.
Think about how using a flashback is an effective way of telling this particular story.
Be prepared to tell why this technique works well for this fictional story.

7. Preview and Predictions
Before Reading Skills
Preview and Predictions
Examine the text features located throughout the selection.
What things do you “know” or “think you know” based only on the text features?
What do you want to know, but you need to read in order to find out.
What genre or type of text do you think we are reading? Why?

8. During Reading Skills I can connect to… My connection is…
The narrator/main character…
(Rudy)
The Russian soldier…
(Andrei)
The narrator’s father…
(Rodolfo)
Captain of the Team
(Alfredo)
The Pitcher
(Bebo)

9. Stop and Think!!! Character Traits:
What traits would a character have to possess for you to like them?
Judgments:
Consider all sides of a character’s “story” before making a judgment. Make sure you are fairly judging.