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Copywork
About This Passage
This is the scariest moment in Chapter 33. Stanley is looking into holes, hoping he might find Zero. Instead, he finds the lizards — the most dangerous creatures in the whole book. Sachar writes only two short sentences, but they do a lot of work. One sentence tells us WHAT is there (a family of lizards). The next tells us they are LOOKING BACK. The lizards see Stanley. This is a tiny, perfect scare.
Down at the bottom was a family of yellow-spotted lizards. Their large red eyes looked up at him.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell Chapter 33 to a grown-up. Start with Stanley walking away from the crashed truck. Tell about his plan to go halfway toward Big Thumb and then come back. Then tell about him looking down into every hole he passes. Finish with the yellow-spotted lizards looking up at him, and Stanley finding one sunflower seed for lunch.
Discussion Questions
- What in the story tells you that Stanley is looking into every single hole he passes — and that he is looking for ZERO, even though he does not say it out loud even to himself?
- What in the story tells you that Stanley is being SMART about his walk — that he made a new plan to only go HALFWAY so he has strength to walk back?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Toward a lower place; to the bottom of something.
Item 2
The lowest part of something; the floor of a hole.
Item 3
A group of parents and their children, or a group that lives together.
+ 5 more vocabulary words in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
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