English
Holes by Louis Sachar Book Discussion Group: Flexible Schedule
In this 6-week class, students will read the hilarious Newberry Medal and National Book Award winner Holes by Louis Sachar #academic
10-15
year olds
1-6
learners per class
$45
Charged upfront
$8 per week
Flexible schedule
Over 6 weeks
No live meetings
There are no open spots for this class, but you can request another time or scroll down to find more classes like this.
Description
Class Experience
Week 1 Part One: Chapters 1-8 (42 pages) Week 2 Chapters 9-18 (40 pages) Week 3 Chapters 19-28 (40 pages) Week 4 Part Two: Chapters 29-35 (32 pages) Week 5 Chapters 36-43 (47 pages) Week 6 Chapters 44- Part Three Chapter 50 (35 pages)
I have an MFA in Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults. I was a substitute teacher for three years before teaching full-time on Outschool. I also teach English Composition as an adjunct university professor. I absolutely love Louis Sachar's sense of humor. His short chapters and humorous style is the perfect combination, especially for reluctant or beginner readers. This book is especially good for discussion because of the questions raised about the juvenile detention system, punishments versus alleged crimes, luck versus destiny, and right versus wrong.
Students will read between approximately 30-40 pages a week on their own time. Each Sunday, students will have access to the new video and a corresponding one page worksheet with discussion questions and places for fill-in-the blank answers. Each week, I assign a short writing assignment focused around that week's discussion questions and ask the students to share their responses in the classroom. There are also daily activities each day like vocabulary words, an I Spy game, and a Kahoot! quiz to test their comprehension from the weekly chapters.
Students will need a copy of the novel Holes to read on their own. It can be borrowed from the library or even listened to as an audio book. The students will not need a physical copy of the story in class, although they may find it helpful to have while filling out their worksheets or working on their writing assignment.
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
The more questions, comments, and posts that students share in the classroom, the more I can understand their knowledge and comprehension of the topics we are discussing.
No live meetings, and an estimated 1 - 2 hours per week outside of class.
According to Commonsensemedia.org: Parents need to know that Louis Sachar's Holes is a moving, action-packed, and sometimes violent mystery that won the Newbery Medal. It's about a boy named Stanley, who's falsely accused of a crime and sent to a juvenile detention center in the middle of a desert in Texas. The story will excite young readers' sense of justice, as Stanley is treated most unfairly. In the flashback passages, Katherine, a White woman, loves Sam, a Black man, and they're victims of racist violence. There's threatened as well as real violence in the present-day parts of the book, including fistfights, drawn guns, attacks with shovels, and danger of poisoning. This is a more intense book than many novels for this age group, as some adults in the book treat youngsters as slaves. However, there are some funny moments, and the mysterious ways that past and present connect in the book are engaging at just the right grade level. The book was adapted for a 2003 movie, and there's a good audiobook version read by Kerry Beyer. The class also includes access to a user-friendly weekly Kahoot! trivia quiz. An account is not required. The quiz is 100% optional. Any students that have timed quiz anxiety may simply ignore the link.
Teacher
About Me
I currently teach English Composition at the collegiate level. I have a Master's degree in Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults, so I teach reading and writing classes. I worked as a substitute teacher for 3 years, in all age ranges and...
