Preview
Copywork
About This Passage
This is Stanley at a very quiet moment. The same smelly cot that bothered him on his first day does not bother him anymore. Is the smell gone? Or did Stanley just get used to it? Sachar is asking us a big question through a small thing. Sometimes we stop noticing when hard things are still happening. Stanley is growing up enough to wonder which one it is — and in Chapter 32 he is about to stop just 'getting used to' things, and start doing something.
Stanley lay on his scratchy sheets. It occurred to him that his cot no longer smelled bad. He wondered if the smell had gone away, or if he had just gotten used to it.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell Chapter 32 to a grown-up. Start with the new boy Twitch arriving at camp. Then tell about the worry that keeps coming back into Stanley's head: 'what if it's not too late?' Then tell about Stanley jumping into the water truck. Finish by telling what happens to the truck — and how Stanley ends up running with an empty canteen.
Discussion Questions
- What in the story tells you that Camp Green Lake does not care about Zero at all — that the camp just moves a new boy into Zero's bed and his crate like he never existed?
- What in the story tells you that Stanley is not worried Zero is dead — he is worried Zero is STILL ALIVE and needs help? Why is the second worry scarier to Stanley than the first?
+ 2 more questions in the complete study guide
Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Rested your body flat on something, like a bed.
Item 2
Rough on the skin; not soft.
Item 3
The thin cloth covers that go on top of a mattress.
+ 5 more vocabulary words in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
+ 4 more questions in the complete study guide
Get the complete study guide — free
Sign up and get your first book with every chapter included. Copywork, discussion questions, vocabulary, and critical thinking.
Sign up free