Holes by Louis Sachar
Lesson plans and teaching resources

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

A variety of post-reading activities.

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

Prereading, followup activities, and crosscurricular connections.

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

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.

This page features a summary, a booktalk, 11 discussion questions, and related titles.

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

Ten questions related to Holes .

In this pre-reading activity, students piece together a plausible narrative based on a list of key words from the novel 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.