Holes
Chapter 3 — 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
The Yelnats family says it doesn't believe in the curse, yet blames it whenever things go wrong. Is that blame a comfort to them, or a way of not looking at what really happened?
The tension The family laughs at the curse and says it does not believe in it, while every Stanley keeps hoping and every failure still hurts.
Today's focus
Notice how the Yelnats family talks about bad luck: a curse they joke about, a hope they keep, and a family story they tell their own way.
Two core ideas
- The family jokes about a curse from a great-great-grandfather and blames it whenever things go wrong, though they say they do not believe in it.
- Hope runs through the family too: Stanley's father says he learns from failure, and the narrator wonders if the hope makes each failure hurt more.
The shape at a glance
Stanley rides a bus toward Camp Green Lake, handcuffed, with a guard watching. Along the way the chapter tells the family's story: the pig-stealing great-great-grandfather, the curse they joke about, a father whose inventions fail, and a mother who tells the hopeful part of the family's history. It ends when the bus arrives and Stanley sees no lake and hardly anything green.
A way in
Start with the family joke. Ask the student what a family gets from blaming one long-ago person whenever things go wrong.
Lesson plan
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the bus ride, the family joke about the great-great-grandfather, the father's inventions, the mother's story, and the arrival.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences in the same pattern: a claim about a family or team, then a saying someone often repeats.
Debate Take sides on the big question: does blaming the curse comfort the family, or keep them from seeing what really happened? Each side must use one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why an author might open a story with a boy who blames his troubles on a curse he says he does not believe in.
Easier Read the family-history stretch aloud together and talk through discussion questions 2 and 4 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 tells a story the way they want it told, and to add it to a critical-thinking answer.
Discussion
- The chapter keeps leaving the bus to tell about Stanley's family, then coming back. Why might the author build the chapter that way?Plot structure
What it asks It asks why the author moves between the bus ride and the family's stories, and what each return to the bus adds.
One reading
The returns keep the danger in view: Stanley is a prisoner on his way to an unknown place, even while the family stories seem light.
A rifle lay across his lap.
The bus hit a small bump and the guard sat up, instantly alert.
Another reading
The returns mark the journey, so the family stories fill the ride and the arrival feels earned.
The bus ride became increasingly bumpy because the road was no longer paved.
The bus was slowing down.
Listen for
- Names at least one place where the story leaves the bus and comes back.
- Says what the bus moments add, such as danger or the feeling of travel.
If stuck
- Where is Stanley when the chapter begins, and who is with him?
- What happens each time the story comes back to the bus?
- What would be missing if all the family stories came first, in a row?
A strong answer The chapter tells the family history in pieces and keeps returning to the bus: the guard sits up alert, the road turns bumpy, the bus slows. Those returns remind us that Stanley is handcuffed on a long ride with a rifle across the guard's lap, and they carry the reader step by step to the arrival. Either reading works if it points to a particular return to the bus.
- The family blames Stanley's “no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather.” What do you hear in that long name: a joke, a complaint, or something else?Tone
What it asks It asks the student to listen to a long, silly name and decide what feeling it carries and who is feeling it.
One reading
It is a playful joke the family shares, which makes the bad luck easier to bear.
He smiled. It was a family joke.
Another reading
It is a real complaint: the father says it when his experiment fails.
Every time an experiment failed, Stanley could hear him cursing his dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-grandfather.
Listen for
- Hears more than one tone and names it.
- Points to who says the name and when.
If stuck
- How does Stanley react when he thinks of the name?
- What is the father doing when he says it?
- Can a joke also hold a real complaint?
A strong answer Stanley smiles when he thinks of the name, and the chapter calls it a family joke, so it sounds playful. But the father uses it when an experiment fails, so a complaint sits inside the joke. The long string of insults is almost too big to be serious, which is part of the humor. A strong answer says which tone it hears loudest and why, and allows that the name can carry both.
- When Stanley or his father feels so discouraged that they start to believe in the curse, Stanley's mother says the first Stanley Yelnats made a fortune. Why might she leave out how he lost it?Inference
What it asks It asks why the mother tells only the hopeful half of a story, and whether that is kindness, habit or something else.
One reading
She is encouraging them: the half she tells gives them a reason to keep hoping.
whenever Stanley or his father became so discouraged that they actually started to believe in the curse
He couldn’t have been too unlucky.
Another reading
She leaves out what does not fit, which shows the family tells its own history the way it wants to hear it.
At such times she neglected to mention the bad luck that befell the first Stanley Yelnats.
He lost his entire fortune when he was moving from New York to California.
Listen for
- Says what the mother mentions and what she leaves out.
- Gives a possible reason, such as kindness or comfort.
If stuck
- What does the mother say about the first Stanley Yelnats?
- What happened to his fortune?
- Who is she talking to, and how are they feeling when she says it?
A strong answer The mother speaks when Stanley or his father is discouraged, so she may want to give them hope by pointing to a fortune made. But the narrator says she neglected to mention that he lost it all when his stagecoach was robbed by Kissin’ Kate Barlow. A strong answer can see kindness in that, or a half-truth, and notices that the same man looks lucky or unlucky depending on which part of his story is told.
- Stanley's father works on his inventions for years, never has any luck, and says “I learn from failure.” Is his hope wise, foolish, or both?Character
What it asks It asks the student to judge whether hope in the face of bad luck is a strength, and to weigh it against the narrator's hint that it hurts.
One reading
It is wise: he keeps working and learning, which is how an inventor gets better.
Stanley’s father was smart and had a lot of perseverance.
As Stanley’s father liked to say, “I learn from failure.”
Another reading
It is foolish: the failures do not stop, and each time his hopes are crushed it hurts.
He just never had any luck.
then it wouldn’t hurt so much every time their hopes were crushed
Listen for
- Says what the father gains from hoping and what it costs him.
- Gives a reason for wise, foolish or both.
If stuck
- What three things does an inventor need, and which one does the father lack?
- What does the narrator say happens when hopes are crushed?
- What would the father be like without any hope?
A strong answer A strong answer weighs both sides. The father is smart and does not give up, and “I learn from failure” is a wise way to treat a setback. But the narrator also says the family's hope may be why it hurts so much each time their hopes are crushed, so hoping has a price. The student can call it wise, foolish or both if the answer uses the father's years of work and the chapter's remark about hurt.
- A line from the father's song, “If only, if only,” comes back later on a line of its own. Why might the author bring it back there?Author's choice
What it asks It asks why the author repeats the song's words right after the family's lost mansion, and what the repeating makes the reader hear.
One reading
It echoes the family's habit of wishing things had gone differently and turns the song into a refrain for their lives.
If it weren’t for that, Stanley’s family would now be living in a mansion on a beach in California.
If only, if only …
Another reading
It brings the song's sad tune into the story, so the reader feels the family's loss as well as the joke.
“If only, if only,” the woodpecker sighs
The melody was sweet and sad
Listen for
- Notices that the words appear in the song and again after the mansion lines.
- Says what feeling the repeating adds.
If stuck
- What does the family have instead of the mansion?
- Who sings the words first?
- What does “if only” say about the past?
A strong answer The words first appear in a song the father sings, and they return right after we learn the family would be living in a mansion if the stagecoach had not been robbed. That placement makes the words sound like the family's own wish: if only things had gone differently. It also joins the song's sad tune to a real loss. A strong answer says what the repeating makes the reader feel and points to where the words appear.
Critical thinking
- Mrs. Bell used Stanley's weight as a ratio example without seeing the embarrassment it caused. Using two pieces of evidence, explain whether she should be blamed.
What it asks It asks whether someone who causes pain without noticing is to blame, using what the chapter says Mrs. Bell did and did not know.
One reading
She is not to blame: she did not know how it felt.
unaware of how much embarrassment she had caused both of them
Even his teachers sometimes made cruel comments without realizing it.
Another reading
She is partly to blame: she chose the two boys and put their ratio on the board.
Stanley weighed three times as much as the other boy.
Mrs. Bell wrote the ratio on the board, 3:1
Listen for
- Two separate pieces of evidence, not one told twice.
- A reason that says what a person owes others even when they mean no harm.
If stuck
- What does the narrator say Mrs. Bell was unaware of?
- What did she write on the board?
- Does meaning no harm make the harm smaller?
A strong answer A strong answer picks a side and uses two facts. The narrator says she was unaware of the embarrassment she caused, which suggests she meant no harm. But she chose the two boys and wrote the ratio 3:1 on the board, so her choice caused it even if she did not see it. The student can call her blameless, partly to blame, or to blame for not thinking, so long as the evidence holds.
- Stanley tries to pretend he is going to Camp Fun and Games. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what that pretending does for him.
What it asks It asks whether pretending gives Stanley real comfort or only covers over how things are.
One reading
It comforts him: it gives him something good to look forward to.
Now Stanley tried to pretend he was going to Camp Fun and Games.
Maybe he’d make some friends, he thought.
Another reading
It is thin cover: the handcuffs and the long ride are the real picture.
He was on a long bus ride to nowhere.
the hot, heavy air was almost as stifling as the handcuffs
Listen for
- Uses what Stanley hopes for and what he sees around him.
- Says what pretending can and cannot change.
If stuck
- What does Stanley hope to find at camp?
- What is around him on the bus?
- Where did the pretending game begin?
A strong answer Pretending gives Stanley something to hope for: he may make friends, and he did not have any friends at home. But the chapter keeps showing how things really are, with the handcuffs, the guard and a long bus ride to nowhere. A strong answer says how much comfort the pretending can give, and uses one fact on each side or two on the same side.
- At the end Stanley sees no lake and hardly anything green. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how he might take it, given how his family handles bad news.
What it asks It asks the student to predict Stanley's reaction from what the chapter shows about his habits, since the chapter does not say what he feels.
One reading
He may shrug it off with a joke, as the family does when things go wrong.
He smiled. It was a family joke.
Things went wrong a lot.
Another reading
He may be let down, since he had hoped for a lake.
At least he’d get to swim in the lake.
He couldn’t see a lake.
Listen for
- Uses one habit of Stanley's family and one thing he hoped for.
- Does not claim to know what he feels.
If stuck
- What did Stanley hope to do at the lake?
- What does the family do when things go wrong?
- What does the last sentence say about the camp?
A strong answer The chapter does not tell us how Stanley feels, so a strong answer predicts from evidence. He had hoped to swim in the lake and he cannot see one, which could let him down. But his family jokes about bad luck and things went wrong a lot, so he may shrug it off. The best answers name the habit and the hope and say which seems stronger.