Holes by Louis Sachar
Lesson plans and teaching resources

7 Creative Classroom Activities
These activities include studying historical background, work with palindromes, making a timeline, working with cause and effect, more.

Teacher Guide to Holes by Louis Sachar
How might students use storyboards to demonstrate and to extend their learning? Check the resources here. Includes plot diagram and summary, essential questions, character maps, symbols, motifs and images, conflict analysis, vocabulary, more. Note: Storyboard That helps sponsor this site.

The Backwards Poem Assignment
After listening to excerpts from Holes , students will discuss ways that author Louis Sachar uses irony, antonyms and vivid vocabulary to develop his story. Using a graphic organizer, students compare and contrast these characters/places with their names (for example, Camp Green Lake is actually a dried up lake that is a detention center for delinquent boys). This lesson focuses on word choice and voice.

Explore Writing with Louis Sachar
Students make connections between the author's life and his work. They will learn about how the author comes up with ideas, and also gain insight into his writing process. Finally, they will look into their own writing process and create a collage to express how and what they like to write through words and pictures. Designed for grades 3-5.

Holes
A variety of reading strategies and postreading activities, including an anticipation guide, a guided imagery activity, and a timeline.

Holes
This unit plan includes 3 lessons, graphic organizers, discussion questions, and vocabulary words.

Holes
Designed for grades 3-6, this site has chapter-by-chapter summaries, discussion questions, and journal topics.

Holes
A variety of post-reading activities.

Holes
Five activities including descriptive writing, character analysis, the reading skill of predicting, and a poetry assignment.

Holes
Prereading, followup activities, and crosscurricular connections.

Holes Comprehension Companion
Practice with inferences, vocabulary, quote analysis, character analysis, more. Organized by chapter.

Holes Educator's Guide
Practice with character analysis, conflict, flashback, cause and effect, writing. Cross-curricular connections with science and social studies. Designed for grades 5-8 as a companion to the 2003 movie. 28 pages; Adobe Reader required.

Holes Book Discussion Guide
This page features a summary, a booktalk, 11 discussion questions, and related titles.

Holes Writing Workshop Educator's Guide
Practice with character analysis, notetaking skills, writer's workshop. Includes printable handouts. 12 pages; Adobe Reader required.

Questions on Books studied in YA and Children's Literature Classes
Ten questions related to Holes .

Story Impressions: Judging a Book by its Key Words
In this pre-reading activity, students piece together a plausible narrative based on a list of key words from the novel Holes .

Vocabulary from Holes
On the "definitions" tab, each word is defined, a link to pronunciation is available, and the word is shown in current use. On the "Notes & Examples" tab, each word is defined and presented as it is used in the novel. On the "Words Only" tab, the list of all 163 words.