Download our four-page printable teaching guide for discussion questions, activities, and extended learning suggestions.

 

 

 

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Printables

My Sigil Activity:

A sigil is a like a seal, a symbolic representation of the owner’s beliefs and desired outcome. The Del Toro family’s sigil is a crescent moon, with its tips curved upward like the horns of a bull. It represents their family’s strength and dedication to fighting evil.

What would be on your sigil? What are four things that represent who you are and what you are dedicated to accomplishing? Decorate your shield with your own inscriptions that represent you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warhorse Creation and Coloring Activity:

Saddle up and decorate your own warhorse. Give it a name and personality, then let it ride with you into battle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adjective Identification and Skinner Art Activity:

What are some of the adjectives used to describe the skinners?

Draw what you think a skinner looks like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Suggested Learning Activities

Readers’ Theater:

Practice reading fluency, discuss character motives, goals, purpose and other literary devices, or break down the structure of a novel. There are countless purposes for and benefits to children performing in a readers’ theater. Here are some of our favorite strategies for putting on a successful show!

Interactive Reading Notebooks:

Interactive Reading Notebooks are an excellent way to keep students organized and focused by concentrating learning in a specific notebook. By Googling Interactive Reading Notebooks, teachers can find many different ways to use notebooks that allow students deeper learning and discovery. Some ideas for a Del Toro Moon specific notebook or section might include:

• Break down sentence structures in different ways or discuss various author writing styles.
• Mimic author writing styles or copy phrases from the book as students learn to find their own voice and style. This gives them a concrete platform to start from as they practice their own writing.
• Discuss character emotions: anger, fear, grief, excitement, love, trust, etc. What can we learn from each of the characters in these areas?
• Discuss what we learn from each character about relationships

Dad/ Ben / Matt / Perry /El Cid /Turk / Izzie / Rigo

Which relationships are new and exciting? Why are those fun to experience?

Which relationships are tense or strained? Why?

What subtle clues does the author give about the ways each of the characters feel about each other?

• Draw/name your own warhorse (printable available)
• Draw what you think a skinner looks like (printable available)
• Determine what stood out to you or the student about the book. Spend some time developing a learning activity focusing on that aspect.

Read Aloud:

Read to your child using expression and character voices, modeling fluency, accuracy, and feeling so they will develop those skills in their own reading.

Conversely, listen to your child read aloud. By listening, you can help them develop the previously mentioned reading skills, as well as teaching them strategies for sounding out unfamiliar words, deciphering meaning, teaching them in a non-obtrusive way how to self-correct their errors, and practice reading comprehension as you discuss the story together.

Become the Critic:

A great way to help children of all ages begin to think critically is by having them write their own reviews of the book. What did they love about the book? What did the author do really well? What would they have done differently with the story?

Bonus points if they post the review in a public place, either on a classroom wall, in a school paper, or on Amazon, Goodreads, or somewhere else online.

Check out our Del Toro Moon videos to springboard other activity ideas.