Holes
Chapter 29 — Teaching Companion
Louis Sachar · Trailblazers 4th–6th
Coaching, not a script — and not an answer key: every question here has more than one defensible answer.
This chapter's big question
Stanley is not sure he saw a rock shaped like a thumb in the lightning, yet the picture stays in his head as the thumb of God. How far should he trust a glimpse he cannot check?
The tension Stanley has only a split second of lightning, and his great-grandfather's words, said when he was delirious, are the only explanation anyone has; the picture grows in his mind anyway.
Today's focus
Notice what Stanley sees, what he is sure of, and what he only pictures.
Two core ideas
- Stanley glimpses a shape in a flash of lightning and is not sure he saw it, yet the picture stays with him.
- His great-grandfather's words come with no explanation, and the chapter settles neither the words nor the glimpse.
The shape at a glance
The weather turns heavy and humid, and a storm rumbles far off beyond the mountains while the boys joke about rain and an ark. In a flash of lightning Stanley thinks he sees a rock like a giant fist with its thumb up, and he remembers his great-grandfather's words about God's thumb. His father cannot explain them. The storm moves off, and the picture stays in Stanley's head.
A way in
Start with the flash. Ask what Stanley saw, and then what he only thinks he saw.
Lesson plan
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the heavy air, the far storm, the boys' jokes, the flash, the family story and the picture that stays.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences in the same pattern: one for what they thought they saw, and one for what it looked like.
Debate Take sides: should Stanley trust what he saw in the flash? Each side uses at least one quote from the chapter and says what the chapter does not tell us.
Purpose Close by asking why the author lets Stanley stay unsure instead of showing the rock plainly.
Easier Read the flash and the family story aloud together and talk through discussion questions 1 and 3 only.
On level Talk through all five 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 place where someone in the chapter says what they do not know, and to add it to a critical-thinking answer.
Discussion
- Stanley thought he saw the fist, then was not sure he had. What makes the seeing so uncertain?Inference
What it asks It asks the student to sort what makes Stanley doubt his own eyes: how quick the lightning is, or what he already carries in his mind.
One reading
The flash is too quick: he has only a split second, and then it is gone.
In that split second Stanley thought he saw an unusual rock formation
Then it was gone.
Another reading
He already knows his great-grandfather's words, so he may have seen what he was ready to see.
I found refuge on God’s thumb.
No one ever knew what he meant by that.
Listen for
- Separates what the lightning shows from what Stanley might add.
- Points to a line in the scene, not only to a feeling.
If stuck
- How long does the lightning show the peak?
- What does Stanley think of right after the shape is gone?
- What had his great-grandfather said about a thumb?
A strong answer The lightning lights the horizon for only a split second, and then the shape is gone, so Stanley has hardly any time to look. Right after, he remembers his great-grandfather's words about God's thumb, which could have shaped what he thought he saw. A strong answer weighs the quickness of the flash against what Stanley already carried in his mind, and does not decide whether the rock was really there.
- The boys joke about building an ark and gathering two of each animal. What mood do you hear in their joking?Tone
What it asks It asks what feeling sits under the boys' jokes: real hope for rain, or a way of laughing at how unlikely it is.
One reading
It is hopeful play: they call to the storm and picture the lake full.
“C’mon, rain!” shouted Armpit. “Blow this way!”
“Maybe it’ll rain so hard it will fill up the whole lake,” said Squid. “We can go swimming.”
Another reading
It is bitter humor: the animals they list are the dangers they live among.
“Two rattlesnakes. Two scorpions. Two yellow-spotted lizards.”
“Guess we better start building us an ark. Get two of each animal, right?”
Listen for
- Notices that Zigzag's list names the dangers of the place.
- Hears hope and teasing in the same lines.
If stuck
- What does Armpit shout at the storm?
- Which animals does Zigzag add to the ark?
- Do the boys sound sure that it will rain?
A strong answer The first lines are eager: Armpit shouts for the rain to blow their way and Squid dreams of swimming in the lake. The ark joke turns darker, since Zigzag's animals are two rattlesnakes, two scorpions and two yellow-spotted lizards, the creatures they already live with. A strong answer hears both, hope that wants to be loud and humor that does not quite believe, and says which carries more of the mood.
- The author stops the storm scene to tell about Stanley's great-grandfather. Why might the family story come right here?Plot structure
What it asks It asks why the author sets the family story in the middle of the storm, and what the story does to the scene around it.
One reading
The story shows why the shape matters to Stanley, so the reader feels what he feels.
I found refuge on God’s thumb.
The peak looked to him exactly like a giant fist, with the thumb sticking straight up.
Another reading
The story adds a puzzle with no answer, so the reader wonders along with Stanley.
No one ever knew what he meant by that.
His father didn’t know.
Listen for
- Notices what comes right before and right after the story.
- Says what the story adds that the storm alone could not.
If stuck
- What does Stanley think of right after the flash?
- Does anyone in the story know what the words mean?
- What image comes back when the story ends?
A strong answer Stanley sees a shape and then remembers the words, and the author puts the two next to each other so the reader can connect them. The family story also gives no answer: no one knew what he meant, and Stanley's father did not know. A strong answer says what the story adds to the storm scene and notices that it leaves a puzzle open.
- Stanley's father answers, “I don’t know. I wasn’t there.” Is that an honest answer, or an unhelpful one?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks whether "I don't know" is the right answer when the truth is out of reach, and what Stanley needed from his father.
One reading
It is honest: his father gives what he has and does not invent the rest.
I don’t know. I wasn’t there
My grandmother, your great-grandmother, was a nurse in the hospital where they treated him.
Another reading
It is unhelpful: Stanley asks again and again and gets very little.
His father didn’t know.
No. He just blamed his no-good-pig-stealing-father.
Listen for
- Weighs honesty against helpfulness.
- Notices what the father does tell Stanley.
If stuck
- What does Stanley's father say he cannot know, and why?
- What does he tell Stanley about the nurse?
- What does Stanley ask last, and what is the answer?
A strong answer Neither Stanley's father nor his own father had been born yet, so he cannot say how the great-grandfather lived. He does not make up an answer, but he passes on what the family remembers: the nurse, the cool cloth, the angel. Still, Stanley's questions mostly end in "I don't know" and "No." A strong answer takes a side and says what a better answer would have been, or why honesty was enough.
- The storm moves off “along with any hope of rain.” Was it wise for the boys to hope for it at all?Theme
What it asks It asks whether hope is worth having when what you hope for is far away and may not come.
One reading
Hoping was worth it: it gave them a moment of play and a shared laugh.
“C’mon, rain!” shouted Armpit.
“Maybe it’ll rain so hard it will fill up the whole lake,” said Squid.
Another reading
Hoping was not wise: when the storm leaves, the hope leaves with it.
The storm moved off farther west, along with any hope of rain.
Listen for
- Weighs what the hope gives against what it costs.
- Uses what the boys do and say, not only what Stanley thinks.
If stuck
- What do the boys do while the storm is still in sight?
- What happens to the storm at the end?
- Would the laughing have happened without the storm?
A strong answer The boys shout at the storm and joke about swimming in the lake, and in a place with so little that is a real pleasure. Then the storm moves off and the chapter says the hope goes with it. A strong answer decides whether the laughter was worth the loss, and uses what the boys do, not only how the chapter ends.
Critical thinking
- The chapter opens with “a change in the weather. For the worse.” Using two pieces of evidence, explain what makes the change worse.
What it asks It asks the student to say how the author makes the weather feel worse, whether from the heat on the body or from a storm that is too far to help.
One reading
The air itself is worse: heavy, wet and hard to breathe.
The air became unbearably humid.
It was almost as if the temperature had gotten so hot that the air itself was sweating.
Another reading
The storm is worse because it is far away and cannot help them.
Stanley could count more than thirty seconds between the flash of lightning and the clap of thunder.
Sound travels a great distance across a barren wasteland.
Listen for
- Two different pieces of evidence, not one told twice.
- A reason that says why it is worse, not only that it is.
If stuck
- What does Stanley's shovel handle look like?
- How far away is the storm, and how does Stanley know?
A strong answer The change is worse for the body first: the air is unbearably humid, Stanley is drenched in sweat, and it is almost as if the air itself were sweating. It is also worse because the storm that might help is far off, with more than thirty seconds between the lightning and the thunder. A strong answer picks what makes the change worse, discomfort or distance, and uses two different pieces of evidence.
- Stanley's father says his great-grandfather thought the nurse was an angel. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what the nurse meant to him.
What it asks It asks what a small kindness meant to a man who was very ill, and how he thought of the person who gave it.
One reading
He was deeply grateful: a small kindness meant a great deal to him.
she’d dab his forehead with a cool wet cloth
He said that’s why he fell in love with her.
Another reading
He saw her as more than a nurse: he thought she was an angel.
He thought she was an angel.
Listen for
- Says what the nurse did and what the great-grandfather made of it.
- Notices that his father does not know whether she was a real angel.
If stuck
- What did the nurse do for him in the hospital?
- What did he say happened because of it?
A strong answer The nurse eased him with a cool wet cloth on his forehead, and he said that is why he fell in love with her. He also thought she was an angel, which shows how large a small kindness can seem to someone who is very ill. A strong answer uses one piece of evidence about what she did and one about what he thought of her, and notices that his father did not know if it was a real angel.
- In Stanley's mind, the lightning comes out of the thumb, not from behind it. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how his picture differs from what he saw.
What it asks It asks the student to compare the glimpse in the flash with the picture Stanley keeps, and to say how much has been added.
One reading
The picture has grown: it is now the thumb of God, with power coming out of it.
the lightning was coming out of the thumb
as if it were the thumb of God
Another reading
The picture has hardly changed: it is still the same fist and thumb.
the image of the fist and thumb remained in Stanley’s head
The peak looked to him exactly like a giant fist, with the thumb sticking straight up.
Listen for
- One piece of evidence from the flash and one from Stanley's mind.
- Sees that the lightning has moved from behind the thumb to inside it.
If stuck
- Where is the lightning in the flash he saw?
- Where is the lightning in his mind afterward?
A strong answer In the flash the lightning is behind the thumb. In Stanley's mind it comes out of the thumb, as if it were the thumb of God, so the picture has gained a meaning the glimpse did not give. But the fist and the thumb are the same shape he thought he saw. A strong answer says how much has been added, with one piece of evidence from the flash and one from his mind.