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Copywork
About This Passage
The discovery moment — rendered without fanfare. Sachar denies Stanley the Hollywood-treasure pronouncement and instead pairs the find with a cave-in risk calculation. The passage models taut, procedural prose: five short sentences of sensation followed by one long sentence of restraint. It also couples copywork to vocabulary: shovel, astonishment, collapse, pronounced, texture.
Stanley didn’t know. He moved his shovel up and down the side of the hole. As the dirt chipped and flaked away, the hard object became more pronounced. It was sticking out of the side of the hole, abo...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell Chapter 44 in five to six sentences. Include the pre-dig wait, the shift in digging strategy, the discovery of the metal case, the cave-in risk, the “We did it” exchange, and the Warden’s arrival.
Discussion Questions
- Sachar writes that Stanley’s voice is “filled more with astonishment than with excitement” when he first suspects he has found the treasure chest. The text suggests the distinction is deliberate — what does this reveal about how Stanley has been changed by his weeks at camp? Support your reading with evidence.
- When Stanley sizes up the buried suitcase, he reasons that Kate Barlow “probably wouldn’t have been able to dig much deeper, so why should he?” What does this mental shortcut reveal about the way the author is using point of view? The author puts theory of mind in Stanley’s own head — why?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A feeling of great surprise, often mixed with wonder or disbelief.
Item 2
Unstable or dangerous; likely to fall, collapse, or fail at any moment.
Item 3
Noticeable or clearly defined; standing out distinctly.
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Critical Thinking
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