Holes Louis Sachar Planning Whole Class Read

22 reading lessons based on Louis Sachar’s ‘Holes’, aimed at Y5/6 and above, using a whole-class reading approach.

The planning includes a mixture of the following sessions and they cover the entire novel:

Fluency and prosody sessions covering the chapters ahead of comprehension lessons.
Comprehension sessions based on ‘key concepts’ (language and vocabulary, characterisation, theme and conventions, authors’ methods, plot and context)
Extended reading of chapters

Most lessons follow a five-part lesson cycle:

Sharp start - Usually, each lesson begins with retrieval questions to be done on wipe boards. The retrieval sheet can be printed for pupils with SEND to help them with text-navigation and cognitive overload.
Connect - This part of the lesson links with previous learning and sets the children up for the learning they are about to do.
Input - The teacher models being an expert reader and the skill the children are learning in the session.
Guided - An opportunity for AfL.
Independent - Children complete the task. You should find that most sessions include differentiated resources for the bottom 20% of pupils and children with SEND.
Review -A recap of the session. Consolidation and reflection time.
Please read the notes carefully on the slides. Often there are suggestions and prompts.

Other texts studied in Y5/6 that may be referred to in the lessons include:
‘Trash’ by Andy Mulligan
‘Goodnight Mister Tom’ by Michelle Magorian
‘Cogheart’ by Peter Bunzl
‘The Spider and the Fly’ by Mary Howitt
‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare
‘Skellig’ by David Almond
‘Tyger’ by S. F. Said
‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar
‘Windrush Child’ by Benjamin Zephaniah
‘Sleeper and the Spindle’ by Neil Gaiman
‘Grimm Tales’ by Philip Pullman