Have discussion of what students predict the book might be about.

Have students research juvenile detention centers in our state. Investigate the purpose of a juvenile detention center.

What words are the most difficult to pronounce in the story? (List words and look for similarities)

What do you do when you come to a difficult word to pronounce when you are reading? (Share strategies for word identification, such as structural analysis).

What strategy do you use to help you understand what you are reading? (Look for context clues).

Present questions for comprehension.

Discuss characters, setting, and theme of story, relating ideas to personal experiences of students.

Discuss belonging: Stanley is overweight and considered a misfit by the boys in his school and neighborhood. Ask students to discuss why Stanley is an easy target for bullies. At what point in the novel does Stanley begin feeling that he is a part of the group? Who is the leader? How do the other boys view Stanley at the end of the novel? How might Stanley be considered a hero? Involve the class in a discussion of how Stanley’s heroic status might change the way his classmates view him when he returns to school in the fall.

Discuss friendship: Stanley never had a friend before arriving at Camp Green Lake. Ask students to trace the development of Stanley’s friendship with Zero. What are each boy’s contributions to the friendship? When Stanley finds out that Zero is the person who stole the Clyde Livingston sneakers, he feels glad that Zero put the sneakers on the parked car. Explore why.

Explore the traits of the characters in the novel. (Stanley; Mrs. Bell; Stanley Yelnats III, Mr. Sir; Mr. Pendanksi; Barfbag; X-ray; Squid; Magnet; Zigzag; Zero; Warden; Twitch; Attorney General; Ms. Morengo; Clyde "Sweet Feet" Livingston.

Compare and contrast characters.

Discuss how a character is like or unlike a person you know.

Describe an experience you’ve had that was like the experience of a character in the book.

Explain why you would like to have one of the characters as a friend.

Explain how a character in the book changed from the beginning to the end.