Holes
by Louis Sachar
Icons key:
For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation
Flash activity. These activities are not editable.
Extension activities
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Web addresses
Teacher’s notes included in the Notes Page
Accompanying worksheet
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The cover
What are your first impressions of the novel?
Does the front cover attract you and make you
want to read the book or does it put you off? Why?
Without reading any of the novel, or even the blurb,
try to guess what the story is, using only the title
and book cover to help you.
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Part One
PART ONE
YOU ARE ENTERING CAMP GREEN LAKE
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The setting
Read the first chapter of
the novel.
Sachar gives his novel a
very harsh setting.
How has he managed to
do this?
Make a list of all the words or phrases which make Camp
Green Lake sound hostile.
The word hostile
How does Sachar create a
means unfriendly
sense of tension?
or unwelcoming
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Openings
Read Chapters 1 and 2 thoroughly before answering the
questions below.
1. Why are openings important in stories?
2. Has Sachar managed to create an engaging
opening to Holes?
3. Now that you know a little more about the setting,
can you guess what the main themes of this novel
will be?
4. What questions are raised in these chapters
which you are interested in finding the answers
to?
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Stanley Yelnats – true or false?
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Camp Green Lake
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What’s in a name?
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Character profiles
What do you think the characters look like?
Draw a picture of two characters from the book and
label them to show why you have decided to draw them
in the way you have.
Here is an example to help you think about it.
Stanley
Sunburned due to working in the
heat all day
Friendly face to show he is kind
tired eyes
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The sub-plot
A sub-plot is the part of a story which is told alongside the
main plot, but is different from it in some way. Often the
significance of a sub-plot is not revealed until the end of a
story. In Holes, there is a sub-plot which runs parallel to the
main plot set at Camp Green Lake.
What is the sub-plot of Holes? Who are the main
characters of this sub-plot and how are they related to
the main storyline? Write down your ideas.
love
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Stanley’s pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather!
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Stanley’s diary
Read Chapters 7–9, which describe Stanley’s first full day
at the camp.
Can you explain Stanley’s letter
to his mother? Why does he lie
to her?
Imagine that as well as writing
home to his mother, Stanley also
keeps a diary in which he is
completely truthful about his life
at the camp. How would it differ
to his letters home?
Write an honest diary entry for Stanley’s first full
day at Camp Green Lake.
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Comprehension
Read Chapters 10 and 11 and then complete the questions
below, using full sentences and giving reasons for your
answers wherever possible.
Chapter 10
1. How can you tell that Stanley is tired?
2. Why does Stanley show the fossil to Mr Pendanski?
3. How can you tell that Mr Pendanski is not interested in
the fossil?
Chapter 11
4. Why does Stanley agree to give anything he finds in the
future to X-Ray?
5. What prompts Stanley to think of Derrick Dunne?
How does he feel about Derrick Dunne?
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Predictions
Can you guess why this object might be
more ‘interesting’ to the Warden than
the fossil which Stanley also found?
What do you think the tube is?
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The Warden
In Chapter 14, we meet the Warden.
Read the description of the Warden from ‘A tall woman…’
until ‘Her voice was soft’.
This description does not
say the warden is a bad
person. However, how
has Sachar hinted at a
darker, or more sinister
side to her?
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Complete the Warden’s identity badge:
Name:
______________
Age:
______
Occupation:
______________
______________
Duties and
responsibilities:
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______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
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Teamwork
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Reading and writing
In Chapter 18, Zero asks Stanley to teach him to read but
Stanley refuses. Stanley seems to be quite kind, so why
doesn’t he want to help Zero?
What kinds of things do
people who cannot read or
write miss out on?
Why is it important to learn
how to do these things?
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Zero
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Kissin’ Kate Barlow
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Sam and Kate’s relationship
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Kissin’ Kate Barlow – comprehension
1. The love story between Katherine and Sam is important
in the novel. Can you guess why?
2. When do Sam and Katherine fall in love and how do they
manage to see each other regularly?
3. Why do the people of Green Lake disapprove of the
relationship between Sam and Kate?
4. What do they do as a consequence of their hate?
5. Who is the main instigator of the trouble?
6. Can you work out why Camp Green Lake becomes dry
and barren?
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Part Two
PART TWO
THE LAST HOLE
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Atmosphere
Read the first page of Part 2 until ‘a barren wasteland’.
1. What atmosphere is created by Sachar at the start of
Part 2?
2. How can you tell that something important is about to
happen? What do you think it is?
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Zero, Zigzag and X-Ray
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Conflict – comprehension
In Chapter 30, Stanley and Zigzag fight.
1. How does the argument start between Stanley and
Zigzag?
2. Why does Mr Pendanski encourage the fight?
3. How can you tell that Zero and Stanley have developed a
bond?
4. How does the Warden try to humiliate
Zero?
5. Why do you think Zero runs away?
6. Why do none of the adults try to stop
Zero from escaping?
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Stanley’s diary
When Zero runs away, Stanley is left alone and another
boy, Twitch, arrives in Zero’s place. Finally, Stanley decides
to leave too.
Imagine that you are Stanley.
Write a diary entry in which you
are completely truthful about
what has happened at camp and
why you decided to run away.
Think especially about how
Stanley would feel about the
Warden’s attitude to Zero’s
disappearance. Remember to
mention any fears he might have
as well.
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Sploosh!
A food company has decided to produce bottles of Sploosh!
Imagine that you are part of the marketing team.
Your task is to design the label for the bottle of Sploosh
to encourage shoppers to buy it. Think carefully about
the words and pictures on the label.
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I’m an English student…Get me out of here!
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Treasure maps
Draw a detailed treasure map of Camp Green Lake and
the surrounding area.
X
Once you have done this, write down an important thing
that happens at each location.
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Test your knowledge
1. What was the curse on Stanley’s family?
2. Why were Stanley Yelnats’s family cursed in the first
place?
3. How was the curse lifted?
4. How did the Warden know there
was treasure buried at Camp
Green Lake?
5. Why was Stanley’s name written
on the buried treasure?
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Test your understanding
1. How can you tell that Stanley and Zero are
friends?
2. In what ways do the Warden and Mr Sir reveal
themselves as villains in Part Two?
3. In what ways do Stanley and Zero undergo a
change in their lives once they have left Camp
Green Lake?
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Holes – evaluation
What kinds of qualities make a character a hero or heroine?
Make a list.
Which of these qualities does Stanley possess?
Write a short article entitled:
You may, if you wish, write it as a newspaper
report.
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