Stanley's Character is Changing!

We characterized Stanley with the one word description "Loser!" last week because he was bullied by kids smaller than him, played with stuffed animals, and had no friends. After being at Camp Green Lake for a few weeks, Stanley has changed.

Give me a one word description of Stanley now and back it up using examples from the book through chapter 22.

Postcards from Stanley: Is It Ever Okay to Lie?

My students wrote postcards pretending to be Stanley Yelnats. Stanley's letters lied about his activities at Camp Green Lake. He told her that he was swimming and canoeing instead of digging holes. He did not want his mother to worry about him.

We had a good discussion in class about if Stanley did the right thing. We decided that Stanley really had three choices: to lie, to tell the truth, or to not write at all. Which would you have chosen? Explain your answer.

Sharing Holes With Mr. Lamshed's Class

Mr. Lamshed's class in Adelaide, Australia is reading Holes at the same time we are. We are going to do something different and post on his blog for this assignment. He has 3 reflection questions over chapters 1-7. I want you to choose one of the questions and leave a comment on his blog.

Make sure you use correct grammar and punctuation. Use your first name only and add the address for this blog so they can track it back.

Here is the link to the blog.

Holes Chapters 1-4 Reactions

After reading the first four chapters to Holes, you are introduced to Stanley Yelnats IV. Describe Stanley's physical appearance and the type of character he has.

Novel Study Holes by Louis Sachar

We have started reading the novel Holes by Louis Sachar. We will be focusing on character development and plot throughout this novel. We also will cover setting to help keep track of the time shifting elements. This is one of my favorite books to teach and I am really looking forward to the next few weeks.

Chapters 11-21

I really began to identify much more with Carlito through these chapters. I wasn't sure about his reasons for deciding to stay on the pirate ship and just live. After discussing this with the group we decided that he felt he was strong enough to survive if Billy could survive with his father imprisoned. This really seemed to make Carlito more real.

We also discussed having a female pirate in the story. I think the students were surprised about having her. They are pretty sure she will be important to the plot because of the way she was introduced.

The Stowaway

The first 10 chapters were very interesting because there was pirates involved in the story. Also in the beginning it said that the story was based on a true story it made the pirates even more interesting. When Carlito found out that the pirates were coming he probably was shocked.If I were Carlito I would freak out because who knows what could wrong? When I found out that Carlito's mom and aunt smoked I was shocked because Carlito sounds like a very nice boy and I didn't expect his mom and aunt to be smoking.

Cendy.G

The Stowaway

I felt like I was really there when they told Carlito the pirates were coming. And I felt hart broken when Carlito,s dad died. I felt scared when I found out Carlito's mom smoked a cigar .And when Carlito climmed into the boat it was very wered . When he made friend with billy.


THE END

My Thoughts on Chapters 1-10

I think the author really did an excellent job describing the setting of Monterrey Bay, I did not think she really developed her main character Carlito as well. I teach stories with well developed main characters such as Matilda by Roald Dahl, A Year Down Yonder and A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck, and Holes by Louis Sachar. In these stories the characters drive the plot. I don't think this story has been character driven.

I like the fact the story is based on true events. This makes the story easier to internalize and makes the problems that Carlito encounters more personal for the reader.

The Stowaway A Tale of California Pirates by Kristiana Gregory

The book our reading group chose for our first effort is The Stowaway A Tale of California Pirates by Kristiana Gregory. This story takes place in and around Monterrey, California in 1818. The story follows Carlito as he tries to avenge the death of his father at the hands of the pirates.

The book was chosen because of the lack of knowledge about Spain's ownership of California. Students rarely learn about the history of this state before The gold rush of 1849.

My thoughts on the first ten chapters.

The first ten chapters where interesting because Carlito actually saw pirates.I think he felt a mixture of excitement and terror when he saw them.The book has Spanish words I think that it was kind of annoying because some words I didn't understand.It also mentions his mom and grandmother smoking.I thought that was kind off weird.The California pirates are real pirates so that is scary.If I was Carlito stuck on the boat I would jump out.When Carlito saw Billy he was surprised to know that he is a spaniard.