In this third lesson of the Year 7 Holes scheme, students explore how Louis Sachar introduces Stanley Yelnats as the novel’s protagonist. Through close reading and structured inference tasks, learners analyse how narrative detail reveals Stanley’s personality, family background and early reactions to Camp Green Lake.

• Understand the role of a protagonist and how Stanley is introduced.
• Analyse narrative detail to identify Stanley’s character traits and family background.
• Infer meaning from Stanley’s early responses to Camp Green Lake.

• Editable PowerPoint exploring protagonist roles, character introduction and early inference.
• Worksheet: Unlucky or Cursed? — students categorise Stanley’s misfortunes to debate the role of the Yelnats curse.
• Short tasks, guided questions and paired discussion opportunities.

• Builds strong early character understanding for mixed‑ability Year 7 groups.
• Strengthens inference and evidence‑selection skills.
• Encourages debate and empathy through the “curse vs misfortune” activity.
• Includes AI‑enhanced imagery to support understanding and deepen learning.
• Fully ready to teach with no additional planning required.