Holes Reading Guide
Part One (Chapters 1-28)
Date
Chapters to Read
Activities
Monday,
March 31
Chapters 1-3 (read in class)
Wednesday,
April 2
Thursday
April 3
Monday,
April 7
Chapters 4-7 Homework
Have complete before class
Chapters 8-12 Homework
Have complete before class
Chapters 13-18 Homework
Have complete before class
Wednesday,
April 9
Thursday,
April 10
Friday,
April 11
Chapters 19-21 Read aloud in class
3.2 Volunatry/Involuntary Quick Write;
parallel structures
3.10 Entering Camp Green Lake - homework
3.11 Visualizing Sub-plot
3.12 Stanley’s Attitude (in class)
3.13 Character Analysis
3.14 Tracing Stanley’s Character
3.15 Writing a Letter Home
(Whole truth vs. telling mom)
3.16 Filling in Stanley’s Character
3.17 Noticing Zero
3.18 Hierarchy HW
Chapter 22 Read aloud in class
3.19 Stanley & Zero CW
Chapters 23-28 Homework
Have complete before class
3.20 Kissin’ Kate
Part Two (Chapters 29-41)
Date
Chapters to Read
Monday,
Chapters 29-32 (read aloud in class)
April 14
Tuesday,
Chapters 33-38 Read aloud in class
April 15
Wednesday, Chapters 39-41 read aloud in class
April 16
Part Three (Chapters 42-50)
Date
Chapters to Read
Thursday,
April 17
Friday,
April 18
Activities
3.19 Stanley & Zero CW Add more after reading this
portion
3.22 Visualizing Vocabulary
3.23 Positive/Negative Chart
Activities
Chapters 42-47
3.23 Positive/Negative Chart
Book Must be Completed before
coming to class
3.25 Evolution of a Caveman (homework on
Thursday night due Friday)
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3.2 Changes: Voluntary and Involuntary
Voluntary
Involuntary
Quick Write: Choose one “voluntary” change and explain why you made the change and what effect it had on
you. Your teacher will direct you how to use a looping process to write this paragraph.
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Parallel Structure: Rewrite the following sentences using the information in class as a model. Pay particular
attention to the punctuation and patterns of the examples.
1. Walter needed to fill his life with activity. He also needed to fill it with talking and with dreaming.
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
2.
The lizard has yellow eyes and black teeth. It also has a white tongue. _______________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
3. Reread your quick write. Look for ideas in the writing that you can combine into one sentence using
parallel structure. __________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
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3.10 You are Entering Camp Green Lake
1. What feelings do you get when you read the description of Camp Green Lake? ___________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
2. How do you think Stanley feels, seeing it for the first time? ___________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
3.
How do you know that the point of view from which the story is told is omniscient? ____________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
4.
How would the story differ if Stanley were telling the story? ________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Character Analysis for Stanley Yelnats (Add to this as we read)
Text Evidence
Page #
Tells me about : appearance,
actions, character’s says, others say
about this character
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3.11 Visualizing the Subplot
1.
What is happening in the main plot with Stanley? Summarize the main events through Chapter 6.
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2. As you read Chapter 7, list the major incidents in Elya’s Yeltnats’s life. These incidents are part of the
sub-plot in this novel. (must have 4) _____________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________________________________________
3. In a paragraph, summarize the family myth and describe the flashback’s effect on Stanley’s selfperception. __________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
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3.12 Vocabulary in Context
1. “All of them had something else in common. Despite their awful luck, they always remained hopeful…
But perhaps that was part of the curse as well The first Stanley Yelnats, Stanley’s great-grandfather,
had made a fortune in the stock market. He couldn’t have been too unlucky. ” Curse
means___________________________________________________________________________.
2. “Stanley took it as some kind of sign. His father had been trying to figure out a way to recycle old
sneakers, and suddenly a pair of sneakers fell on top of him, seemingly out of nowhere, life a gift from
God.” Sign means___________________________________________________________________.
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3. “Stanley couldn’t help but think that there was something special about the shoes, that they would
somehow provide the key to his father’s invention. It was too much of a coincidence to be a mere
accident. Stanley had felt like he was holding destiny’s shoes.” Coincidence means ___________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Destiny means ____________________________________________________________________.
4. “He wondered if he had a defective shovel. He glanced helplessly at his shovel. It wasn’t defective.
He was defective.” Defective means ____________________________________________________.
5. Madame Zeroni warned that if he failed to do this, he and his descendants would be doomed for all of
eternity.” Doomed means ____________________________________________________________.
After thinking about the words and completing the class activity, write a sentence using parallel
structure and some of the vocabulary words to describe Stanley’s attitude toward himself. At the
beginning of Holes, Stanley believes he is _______________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________.
3.13 Character Analysis
Nickname
Boy’s Real Name
Details about the Character
The Caveman
Armpit
Magnet
Zigzag
Squid
Zero
X-Ray
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Part 2: Choose one of the boys (not Stanley) and fill in the graphic organizer about that character
based on what you have learned so far.
Character’s Name:_________________________________________________
What does the
character look like?
What does the
character do?
What does the
character say?
What do the other
characters say
about this
character?
What does the
charter seem to
think about
Stanley?
Part 3: Think about Mr. Sir and Mr. Pendanski, the two adults Stanley has met. Look through
chapters 4-9 and take notes on both characters.
Mr. Sir
Mr. Pendanski
What does the
character look like?
What does the
character do?
What does the
character say?
What do the other
characters say
about this
character?
What does the
charter seem to
think about
Stanley?
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3.14 Tracing Stanley’s Character (chapters 1-10)
Chapters
Chapters 1-3
Appearance
Actions
What Stanley Says
What Stanley Does
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapters 7-8
Chapters 9-10
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3.15 Writing a Letter Home (chapters 9-16)
Think about the people Stanley has come to know at camp. He might feel comfortable telling his mother the
whole truth about some of them. For others, he might slightly change the truth or omit part of the truth. He
doesn’t want her to worry. Complete the chart and refer to page numbers in your notes.
The Whole Truth
What Stanley Would Tell His Mother
Armpit
Magnet
Zigzag
Squid
Zero
X-Ray
Mr. Sir
Mr. Pendanski
The Warden
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Part 2: Note the important incidents since Stanley’s first day at Camp Green Lake (including the page
numbers). Again think about the whole truth versus what Stanley would tell his mother.
Incident
(including page #)
The Whole Truth
Incident:
Mr. Sir tells Stanley he is not “in
the Girl Scouts anymore.”
Stanley is forced to give up his
own clothes to reveal he isn’t
hiding anything. He is given 2
orange jumpsuits which is the
only thing he is allowed to
wear.
Page# 13
What Stanley Would Tell His
Mother
Don’t worry about my clothes or
how I am doing my laundry. Mom,
it’s pretty cool here at camp. They
give us uniforms. Since we all have
the same thing to wear, it’s like
being on team.
Incident:
Page#
Incident:
Page#
Incident:
Page#
Incident:
Page#
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3.16 Filling in Stanley’s Character
(chapters 11-18)
Chapters
Chapters 11-12
Appearance
Actions
What Stanley Says
What Stanley Does
Chapters 13-14
Chapters 15-16
Chapters 17-18
Write a paragraph demonstrating your understanding of Stanley’s personality. Use the following to help you
plan your paragraph. The paragraph will be written on separate sheet to be turned in.
Topic Sentence: __________________________________________________________________
Detail/ Text Evidence
Commentary about Detail/example 1
Detail/ Text Evidence
Commentary about Detail/example 2
Detail/ Text Evidence
Commentary about Detail/example 3
Concluding Sentence: _____________________________________________________________
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3.17 Noticing Zero
Quick Write: In Chapter 18, Zero asks Stanley to teach him how to read. Why do you think Zero feels
comfortable enough with Stanley to reveal his secret wish? Why does Stanley turn Zero down? Can you think
of any reasons other than the ones stated in the book?
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3.18 The Boys of D Tent
The Social Ladder: There is clearly a hierarchy of status among the boys at Camp Green Lake; even the adults
know about it.
Which boy is at the top of the hierarchy at Camp Green Lake?
How can you tell? Provide
concrete details from the text.
What skills, talents,
characteristics, etc., put him
at the top?
How does Stanley interact with him?
Which boy is at the bottom of the hierarchy at Camp Green Lake?
How can you tell? Provide
concrete details from the text.
Why is he at the bottom?
How does Stanley interact with him?
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Fitting IN: Stanley begins to move from being the new arrival to being one of “The boys from D Tent.”
How can you tell that Stanley is becoming
“one of the guys?” Provide text evidence.
How does Stanley seem to feel about it? How can you
tell? Provide concrete details from the text.
How can you tell that Zero is not “one of the
guys”? Provide text evidence.
How does Zero seem to feel about it? How can you
tell? Provide concrete details from the text.
3.19 Stanley & Zero
You have traced the characters of Stanly and Zero since the beginning of the novel. Now it is time to trace the
change in their relationship. On the chart below, write incidents that mark a change in their friendship. Start
with chapter 18 and continue through chapter 22. Give specific page numbers. The first one is done for you.
After reading chapter 32, you add more notes to this chart.
Zeros’ Actions Toward Stanley
Chapter 18 (p82) – Zero asks Stanley to teach
him to read
Chapter 21
Stanley’s Actions Toward Zero
Chapter 18 (p82) Stanely says he can’t help Zero.
Chapter 22
*Write a statement below about how Stanley and Zero’s relationship has changed.
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3.20 Kate Barlow (chapters 23-28)
You will meet new characters in a new subplot during this portion of the text. On the chart below, keep
track of these characters by listing objects associated with them, things they say, things they do, and how
they look. Write two precise adjectives under each name.
Character
Details
(Be sure to include the page number)
Katherine Barlow
1.
2.
Charles Walker
1.
2.
Sam
1.
2.
3.21 Visualizing Vocabulary (After reading Chapter 38)
Create a picture for the following words found in text. Your drawing should convey the meaning of the word.
Quotation
(chapter and page)
“No one dared to look at his
grotesque face.” (Ch 24, p
105)
“But the image of the fist
and thumb remained in
Stanley’s head.” (Ch 29, p
129)
“It was a mirage caused by
the shimmering waves of
heat rising off the dry
ground.” (Ch 34, p 152)
“It was a warm, bubbly,
mushy, nectar, sweet, and
tangy.” (Ch 35, p 157)
Drawing
Quotation
(chapter and page)
Drawing
“Stanley cupped his hands
together, and Zero stepped
on his interwoven fingers.”
(ch 36, p165)
“Zero had deep gashes in
both hands.” (ch 36, p166)
“Instead they zigzagged back
and forth, increasing their
altitude by small increments
every time they changed
direction.” (Ch 37, p 167)
“As the ground flattened, a
huge stone precipice rose up
ahead of him, just barely
visible in the moonlight.”
(Ch 38, p171)
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3.22 The Lifeline (chapters 30-47)
Use this area to create the chart
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3.25 Evolution of the Caveman
You have seen Stanley change in some significant ways. Think about how, and even more
importantly, why Stanley has changed. Write the changes on the appropriate rows on the chart
below and label each change as INTERNAL or EXTERNAL.
Involuntary Changes (no control)
Reason for Changes
Voluntary Changes (some control)
Reason for Changes
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
Part 2: Now think about Stanley’s changes in terms of their importance. List 3 or 4 of the most
important changes in Stanley - the ones that are likely to change him for the rest of his life.
At the Beginning of the Novel
By the End of the Novel
1.
2.
3.
4.
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Sentence Models: Use your notes from both charts to fill in the model sentences below.
1.
At the beginning of the novel Stanley was ______________________________________, but
because of __________________________________________________________, he is
___________________________________________________________ by the end of the novel.
2. At first Stanley was _________________________________________ but as a result of
_________________________________, he became _____________________________ in the end.
3. Circle the words in the preceding sentences that tell when. These are transition words. List 3 more
transition words that show time. ______________________________________________________
4. You figured out that most the changes in Stanley were caused by something in particular. Highlight
the words in the sentences 1 and 2 that show cause and effect. List 3 more transitional words that show
cause and effect. ____________________________________________________________________
5. Rewrite sentence one and two summarizing the changes in Stanley as you would do in the conclusion
of an essay.
a. ________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
6. In conclusion, besides restating the thesis, or main idea, of an essay you may predict how these
changes would affect Stanley’s future. Brainstorm ways you think the changes in Stanley will affect
his life.___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
7. Another way to conclude an essay, after restating your thesis, is to make a connection between the
book and real life that supports your thesis. Brainstorm some connections. _____________________
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