Holes Lesson 15: Sam the Onion Man - Lesson Plan

In Lesson 15 of the 'Holes' novel study, the learning objective is to explore how Louis Sachar portrays the character of Sam to the readers. This exploration is achieved through interactive discussions, creating a spider diagram, and a written task. The lesson is structured to assess students' progress in understanding Sam's character by evaluating their participation in discussions, the completeness of their spider diagrams, and the quality of their written work.

The lesson commences with a 10-minute starter activity where students collaboratively recap the story, discussing the characters, themes, and main events to refresh their memory and set the context for the day's focus on Sam. The main teaching activity spans 40 minutes, starting with a brief discussion and modelling of a mind map to represent Sam's character traits. Students then create their own mind maps and share their insights, followed by completing and discussing 'Sam tables' to organise their thoughts systematically. For those who are ready for an additional challenge, an extension task is provided where students use their tables to write a paragraph about Sam, making sure to reference the text. The lesson concludes with a 10-minute plenary session, where students engage in peer and self-assessment, offering constructive criticism on the work completed during the lesson. Differentiation opportunities are available throughout, such as adapting the PowerPoint presentation, adjusting the level of scaffolding provided, and striking the right balance between teacher guidance and independent learning to cater to varying abilities.