Chapter 1

Holes

Trailblazers · 4th–6th

Copywork

Here’s a good rule to remember about rattlesnakes and scorpions: If you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you. Usually.

Read the passage aloud. How does the last word change the sentence before it?

Discussion

Narration Tell back what the narrator says about Camp Green Lake: the lake, the heat, the shade and the three animals to watch out for.

1. 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

2. 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

3. Sometimes a camper tries to get bitten by a scorpion so he can rest in his tent. Is that clever, desperate, or both?Character

4. The chapter ends with “There is nothing anyone can do to you anymore.” What do you hear in that sentence?Tone

Make a Connection Tell about a time someone told you something scary in a calm voice. How did the calm voice change how you felt?

Vocabulary

Crossword

1					2

		3					4
						5
	6
				7


8			9

Across

Across 1. Snakes with a rattle on the tail that can give a poisonous bite.
Across 3. Stays near one level without moving away.
Across 5. Land where almost nothing can live or grow.
Across 7. Getting well again after being hurt or sick.
Across 8. Not allowed.

Down

Down 2. Dried up and shrank.
Down 4. Full of hurt.
Down 6. A hanging bed made of cloth or net.
Down 9. To disturb or annoy on purpose.

The words in the chapter

rattlesnakes Here’s a good rule to remember about rattlesnakes and scorpions
bother If you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you.
wasteland Now it is just a dry, flat wasteland.
shriveled The town shriveled and dried up along with the lake, and the people who lived there.
hovers During the summer the daytime temperature hovers around ninety-five degrees in the shade

forbidden The campers are forbidden to lie in the hammock.
hammock A hammock is stretched between the two trees, and a log cabin stands behind that.
recovering Then he will get to spend a day or two recovering in his tent
painful You will die a slow and painful death.

Critical thinking

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.