Teaching Companion · Chapter 1 · Holes

This chapter's big question

The narrator talks about rattlesnakes, scorpions and a deadly lizard in a calm, almost joking voice. Does that voice make Camp Green Lake feel safer or more dangerous?

The tension The narrator gives friendly advice and one-word jokes, while the facts underneath are heat, no shade and a slow, painful death.

Today's focus

Notice how calm the narrator sounds, and how dangerous the place is, and think about what that calm voice is doing.

Two core ideas

The narrator gives friendly rules and one-word jokes about real dangers: snakes, scorpions and a deadly lizard.
The camp is a place of heat and scarce shade, where the Warden owns the shade and the campers dig holes.

The shape at a glance

The chapter describes a dry lake bed where a lake used to be, the heat and the lone shade of two oaks, and the animals that live under the rocks and in the holes the campers dig. It ends with the narrator's ranking of the bites, from a scorpion to a yellow-spotted lizard.

A way in

Start with the word “Usually.” on a line by itself. Ask the student how it sounds when read aloud, then go through the chapter's other short lines.

Lesson plan

Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the missing lake, the town, the heat, the oaks and hammock, then the three animals.

Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes a friendly rule about something dangerous, followed by a single word that takes some comfort back.

Debate Take sides on the big question: does the narrator's calm voice make the camp feel safer or more dangerous? Each side must use one quote from the chapter.

Purpose Close by asking why an author might open a story with a calm voice describing a dangerous place.

Easier Read the chapter aloud together and talk through discussion questions 1 and 3 only.

On level Talk through all four discussion questions, then have the student write one critical-thinking answer with two pieces of evidence from the chapter.

Harder Ask the student to find one more sentence where the narrator sounds calm about something dangerous, and add it to a critical-thinking answer.

Discussion

Two lines on their own say “Usually.” A third says “Always.” Why might the author give each of those words a line to itself?Author's choice
What it asks It asks why the author sets single words on their own lines, and what each word does to the sentence before it.
One reading

The words work like a pause: the reader takes in each bad fact a beat late.
- You will die a slow and painful death.
- Always.
Another reading

The words are a dry joke: the narrator takes back a comforting claim with a wink.
- If you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you.
- Usually.
Listen for
- Reads the one-word lines aloud and hears the pause.
- Says what each word changes about the sentence before it.
If stuck
- What does the narrator say just before each of those words?
- Read the line before “Usually.” aloud, then add the word. What changes?
- How is “Always.” different from “Usually.”?
A strong answer Each short line comes right after a sentence that sounds safe or settled, so the single word lands like a second thought. “Usually.” softens the promise to a maybe, and “Always.” does the opposite: it leaves no room at all. Setting the words alone makes the reader stop and feel the change. A good answer can call it a pause, a joke, or both, as long as it points to the sentence before each word.
The narrator lists a scorpion bite, a rattlesnake bite and then a yellow-spotted lizard. Why might the narrator tell us about them in that order?Inference
What it asks It asks why the dangers are placed from mild to deadly, and what each step in the order does to the reader.
One reading

The order builds fear step by step, so the lizard feels like the real danger.
- That’s the worst thing that can happen to you.
Another reading

The order makes the first two dangers sound harmless, so the reader relaxes before the lizard.
- You won’t die.
- Sometimes a camper will try to be bitten by a scorpion, or even a small rattlesnake.
Listen for
- Names the three animals in the order the chapter gives them.
- Says what the reader feels at each step.
If stuck
- Which bite does the narrator say you will survive?
- Which bite does the narrator call the worst?
- How might the reader feel after the first two, and then after the third?
A strong answer The narrator starts with bites you survive, even bites a camper might wish for, and saves the death for last. By then the reader has been told twice that a bite is not the worst thing, so the lizard hits harder. The order can be read as building fear or as lowering the reader's guard, and both readings show the narrator choosing what to say first.
Sometimes a camper tries to get bitten by a scorpion so he can rest in his tent. Is that clever, desperate, or both?Character
What it asks It asks the student to judge a choice the chapter mentions and to say what it shows about how the campers live.
One reading

It is clever: a bite he can survive buys him a day or two out of the heat.
- Then he will get to spend a day or two recovering in his tent, instead of having to dig a hole out on the lake.
Another reading

It is desperate: he would risk a bite, even from a rattlesnake, to escape the work.
- Sometimes a camper will try to be bitten by a scorpion, or even a small rattlesnake.
- Usually.
Listen for
- Says what the camper gains and what he risks.
- Gives a reason for the word clever or desperate.
If stuck
- What does the camper get to do instead of digging?
- What did the narrator say about bites, and what word did the narrator add?
- How bad must the digging be for a bite to sound better?
A strong answer The plan is clever because a scorpion bite will not kill him and gets him a day or two out of the heat. It is desperate because he has to hurt himself to rest, and the narrator's “Usually.” reminds us that a bite is not perfectly safe. A strong answer can say both, and can notice that the choice tells us how much the campers want to avoid digging.
The chapter ends with “There is nothing anyone can do to you anymore.” What do you hear in that sentence?Tone
What it asks It asks the student to listen to the last sentence and decide what feeling or message it carries.
One reading

It sounds like a strange peace: after a lizard bite no one can hurt the camper again.
- you might as well go into the shade of the oak trees and lie in the hammock
Another reading

It sounds like a threat: there is no help and no way back from that bite.
- You will die a slow and painful death.
- There is nothing anyone can do to you anymore.
Listen for
- Names a feeling and ties it to a line from the chapter.
- Notices that the sentence follows a bite from the yellow-spotted lizard.
If stuck
- Who is the narrator talking about in the sentences just before this one?
- What does it mean for nothing to be left that anyone can do?
- Can one sentence sound like comfort and like a warning?
A strong answer The sentence comes right after a camper has been told he will die slowly, so it can sound like release: no more digging, a rest in the hammock. It can also sound like a threat, because it says no help is possible. A strong answer picks what it hears, backs it with the lizard lines, and admits the other hearing is possible.

Critical thinking

The narrator offers “a good rule”: if you don’t bother the snakes and scorpions, they won’t bother you. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how good that rule is for a camper.
What it asks It asks the student to test the narrator's rule against what the chapter says about where the animals live and what a bite does.
One reading

The rule is fairly good: the animals leave you alone if you leave them alone, and a bite is not the worst thing.
- If you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you.
- Being bitten by a scorpion or even a rattlesnake is not the worst thing that can happen to you.
Another reading

The rule is shaky: the animals hide in the campers' own holes, and the narrator adds that it only works usually.
- Out on the lake, rattlesnakes and scorpions find shade under rocks and in the holes dug by the campers.
- Usually.
Listen for
- Two separate pieces of evidence, not one told twice.
- A reason that says how good the rule is, not only whether it is true.
If stuck
- Where do the snakes and scorpions find shade?
- Who dug the holes out on the lake?
- What word does the narrator put right after the rule?
A strong answer The rule has some sense: animals that are left alone do not attack, and a scorpion or rattlesnake bite will not kill you. But the chapter also says the animals shelter in holes dug by the campers, so a camper may bother them without meaning to, and the narrator answers the rule with “Usually.” A strong answer names two different facts and says how far the rule can be trusted.
The narrator says there is no lake at Camp Green Lake, and puts “lake” in quotation marks. Using two pieces of evidence, explain why the place still has this name.
What it asks It asks the student to connect the camp's name to the lake's history and to decide what the name does now.
One reading

The name is left over from the past, when the lake was real and large.
- There once was a very large lake here, the largest lake in Texas.
- That was over a hundred years ago.
Another reading

The name is now a bitter joke on the dry land that is left.
- There is no lake at Camp Green Lake.
- The only trees are two old oaks on the eastern edge of the “lake.”
Listen for
- Separates what the place was from what it is now.
- Uses the quotation marks around “lake” as evidence.
If stuck
- What does the narrator say used to be here?
- How long ago was that?
- Why might a writer put a word in quotation marks?
A strong answer The chapter says a very large lake once lay here, more than a hundred years ago, so the name is left over from that time. But the narrator opens by saying there is no lake and puts the word in quotation marks, which makes the name sound like a joke on the dry land. A strong answer uses one fact from the past and one from the present, and does not claim to know who gave the camp its name.
Using two pieces of evidence, explain who has more power over the campers at Camp Green Lake: the Warden, or the heat and the animals.
What it asks It asks the student to weigh a person's power against the power of the place, using only what the chapter shows.
One reading

The Warden has more power: the Warden owns the one thing everyone needs, shade, and the campers may not use it.
- The Warden owns the shade.
- The campers are forbidden to lie in the hammock.
Another reading

The heat and the animals have more power: no rule or person can stop them.
- There’s not much shade in a big dry lake.
- You will die a slow and painful death.
Listen for
- Two different pieces of evidence, one from the Warden and one from the land, or two for one side.
- A reason that says what power means here.
If stuck
- What does the Warden own, and what are the campers not allowed to do?
- What can the heat or a lizard do that no rule can stop?
- Does the Warden's shade help against a lizard bite?
A strong answer The Warden's power is real: the Warden owns the shade, and the campers are forbidden the hammock. But the chapter shows the land is hard on everyone, since shade is scarce and a yellow-spotted lizard bite means a slow and painful death that no one can stop. A strong answer picks one side with two facts, and says what the other side would say back. The chapter does not say anything more about the Warden.