Holes: Vocabulary From Literature
Holes: Vocabulary From Literature
Holes: Vocabulary From Literature
Holes
by Louis Sachar
Written by Christa Miles
Copyright © 2004 by Prestwick House, Inc., P.O. Box 658, Clayton, DE 19938.
1-800-932-4593. www.prestwickhouse.com Permission to copy this unit for
classroom use is extended to purchaser for his or her personal use. This material,
in whole or part, may not be copied for resale.
ISBN 978-1-60389-993-2
Item No. 202162
Vo c a b u l a r y F r o m L i t e r a t u r e
Table of Contents
The activities in this Unit are designed to help students increase their vocabulary by studying the meanings of
words selected from Louis Sachar’s novel Holes. All definitions provided in these activities are based on the
contexts in which the vocabulary words appear, which may not always convey the words’ conventional usage.
It is the goal of this Unit to familiarize students with vocabulary words that they will re-encounter in life and
other readings. The words are carefully selected to meet this goal. Many unfamiliar words not covered by the
Unit are defined in a Glossary following the Activities section; the Glossary also contains slang expressions and
proper nouns.
Rather than matching Holes chapter-for-chapter, we have divided the book into segments depending on the
number of vocabulary words from each chapter. While all of the activities may be completed by students indi-
vidually, we have had the best results when students worked on them in pairs or small groups. The following
activities are provided for each segment.
While the words in this reproducible do represent those necessary for a better understanding of the text, our
primary concern is that we select words not only pertinent to the literature, but also useful in other aspects of
the students’ lives.
All page references come from the Yearling Newberry edition of Holes, copyright 1998.
Activity I
Activity II
Activity III
Activity IV
Test A twenty question multiple choice test with answer key is provided.
Activity I
Matching Definitions
Chapters 1-7
Directions: Match each of the words below with its definition based on the context in which the
word appears in the book. Use the page numbers in parentheses to locate the word. Then, look
up the word in the dictionary and change any answers that are not correct.
Activity II
Writing Synonyms from Context Clues
Chapters 1-7
Directions: Replace each highlighted word in the following passages with the synonym that best fits
the context of the sentence.
1. The campers are forbidden to lie in the hammock. It belongs to the Warden. The Warden owns
the shade. (Pg. 3)
2. The apartment smelled the way it did because Stanley’s father was trying to invent a way to
recycle old sneakers. (Pg. 9)
3. “They all have nicknames,” explained Mr. Pendanski. “However, I prefer to use the names
their parents gave them–the names that society will recognize them by when they return to
become useful and hardworking members of society.” (Pg. 18)
Activity III
Writing Definitions and Sentences
from Context Clues
Chapters 1-7
Directions: For each highlighted word, write a definition that fits the context of the passage. Then,
check your answers by looking the words up in the dictionary. Finally, write a sentence using each
word. The first one is done for you as an example.
Example: There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. There once was a very large lake here, the largest
lake in Texas. That was over a hundred years ago. Now it is just a dry, flat wasteland.
(Pg. 1)
Definition for wasteland: country marked by lack of cultivation; unused, untended earth
Sentence: The settlers had no choice but to keep moving; there were no signs of life on the
deserted wasteland.
1. On his last day of school, his math teacher, Mrs. Bell, taught ratios. As an example, she chose
the heaviest kid in the class and the lightest kid in the class, and had them weigh themselves.
Stanley weighed three times as much as the other boy. Mrs. Bell wrote the ratio on the board,
3:1, unaware of how much embarrassment she had caused both of them. (Pg. 7)
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2. At such times she neglected to mention the bad luck that befell the first Stanley Yelnats. He lost
his entire fortune when he was moving from New York to California. (Pg. 9)
_________________________________________________________________________________
3. It was too much of a coincidence to be a mere accident. Stanley had felt like he was holding
destiny’s shoes. (Pg. 24)
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4. The sun had only just come up over the horizon, but he already could feel its hot rays against
his face. (Pg. 31)
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5. “Why not let Myra decide?” suggested Elya. “That’s preposterous!” exclaimed Igor, expelling
saliva as he spoke. (Pg. 34)
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Activity IV
Completing Sentences
Chapters 1-7
Directions: The following sentences each contain a vocabulary word from the text. Complete each
sentence in a way that shows you understand the meaning of the highlighted vocabulary word.
You may use a dictionary or thesaurus to help with the meaning.
Example
It may be a coincidence that the twins both gave birth to twins in the Twin Mountain Lodge on 2/2/02.
________________________________________________________________________________.
________________________________________________________________________________.
3. Sandra’s smile through the pain gave Doctor Ben an idea about her character.
He thought she ___________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________.
4. The baseball team needed a good hitter who could deftly _________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________.
________________________________________________________________________________.
6. Following the theft of the library books, a new rule was put into place. Thereafter, ___________
________________________________________________________________________________.
Activity V
Roots and Prefixes
Chapters 1-7
A. The Latin solus means “alone.” The words below are all from the solus root. Define each one and
give a synonym for it.
1. desolate
2. solitary
3. sole
4. solitude
5. solo
6. soliloquy
B. All the words below come from the Latin pressi, meaning “press.” From the definition of each
word, try to figure out the meaning of its prefix. If you need help, consult a dictionary.
Activity VI
Crossword Puzzle
Chapters 1-7
1 2
3 4 5
7 8
9 10
11 12
13
14 15 16
17 18
19
20 21
22 23
24
25
26 27 28
29
30 31