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Copywork
About This Passage
Two short sentences that change everything. For two chapters the book called Camp Green Lake a place for bad boys — and now, riding the bus with Stanley, the narrator stops joking and tells us the truth straight: this boy did nothing wrong. As your child copies, point out how plain the words are. There is no wink here, no little joke after — and that is how we know the book means it. Sometimes a writer saves the simplest sentences for the things that matter most.
Stanley was not a bad kid. He was innocent of the crime for which he was convicted.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Tell someone about Stanley's bus ride, in order: the guard and the handcuffs, the pretend game called Camp Fun and Games, the family joke about the no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather, his father's sad song, and what Stanley sees when the bus arrives. Slow down at the part where the book says Stanley is innocent — tell that part carefully.
Discussion Questions
- Stanley is handcuffed on a bus with a guard, but he tries to pretend he is going to Camp Fun and Games, the game he played with stuffed animals when he was little. Why might pretending help Stanley right now? Use the chapter's words about his old game and the bus ride to explain your answer.
- The book stops and tells us straight: 'Stanley was not a bad kid. He was innocent of the crime for which he was convicted.' Why might the book want us to know that now, before Stanley even arrives at Camp Green Lake? What part of the chapter shows how knowing this changes the way we feel about the bus ride?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Bad luck that someone wishes onto a person
Item 2
A person whose job is to watch someone and stop them from leaving
Item 3
Believing good things can still happen
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Critical Thinking
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