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Copywork
About This Passage
This passage was chosen because it is the moment just before the lizard jumps off Stanley to eat the tarantula — a tiny scene that quietly tells us the lizards CHOSE not to bite the boys. It has clear, easy-to-picture words (crawl, dirt, hole, hairy, body) and shows how Sachar slows the story down before a big action happens.
Sometime later Stanley saw a tarantula crawl across the dirt, not too far from his hole. He had never seen a tarantula before, but there was no doubt what it was. He was momentarily fascinated by it, ...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
In three or four of your own sentences, tell a grown-up what happens in Chapter 47 from the moment the sun comes up. Be sure to mention the eight lizards, the tarantula, Zero’s question about Stanley’s name, and the big black letters on the suitcase.
Discussion Questions
- Stanley counts exactly eight lizards and eleven yellow spots on each one. What in the story makes you think Stanley is noticing those numbers because he is scared, and not because he is calm?
- Zero asks Stanley, ‘Is your last name your first name backward?’ How do you know that Zero has been thinking about Stanley’s name all night long, and what does this reveal about Zero’s careful mind?
+ 2 more questions in the complete study guide
Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Small round marks of a different color
Item 2
To move along the ground on your hands and knees, or the way a bug moves
Item 3
Loose brown earth on the ground
+ 5 more vocabulary words in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
+ 4 more questions in the complete study guide
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