Student Objectives:

  • Take turns reading pages or paragraphs in the book to practice their reading skills.
  • Identify who the main characters and settings of the story are.
  • Understand the moral lessons presented in the book.
  • Be able to summarize the story in their own words.

 

*NOTE: Instruct students to print out the Character Analysis chart and bring it to class because they will be filling it out during class. Also, tell them to bring the coloring page. (Younger students who can’t do the character chart can just color.)*

 

Coloring Page:

Video Links:

  • Charlotte’s Web Animated Trailer (1973):

  • Charlotte’s Web Live Action Trailer (2006):

Activity 1 – Introduction To Charlotte’s Web (7 minutes):

Show students the book cover and ask the following questions:

  • “Has anyone heard of this book before?”
  • “Has anyone read it?”

Show students the two movie trailers and ask the following questions:

  • What about the movies? Has anyone seen one or both of them?
  • If yes, what did you think? Did you like it?
  • If you read the book, do you think the movies are exactly the same as the book, or do you think they’re different from the book?

Theocratic Connections:

N/A

Activity 2 – Reading Chapter 1: Before Breakfast (11 minutes):

Open the story in the Bookclub bookcase and have students take turns reading. Assign character roles if appropriate.

(Note: In this chapter, it says “A queer look came over John Arable’s face.” Explain that in the past, the word queer was used to mean odd or strange. Students will see this word a lot in the book whenever the author is describing something as being strange, weird or odd.)

Activity 3 – Discussion (9 minutes):

Ask students the following questions:

  • “Which characters were we introduced to in this chapter?”
  • “Fern is very upset that her father is going to destroy Wilbur because he is a runt. She argues until he agrees to spare the pig. Her father says that Fern is ‘trying to rid the world of injustice.’ What does he mean by this?”
  • “What does Fern’s dad mean when he says ‘you’ll see what trouble a pig can be’?”
  • “Why do you think Fern’s dad decided to save the pig and give it to Fern?”
  • “If you had to tell someone what chapter 1 was about, what would you say?”
  • “What do you think will happen in the next chapter?”

Activity 4 – Character Chart: Fern (10 minutes):

Have students fill out the Character Analysis chart with information about the character Fern.

(Optional) Bonus Activity: Fern is learning the state capitals in school. Challenge your students to learn the 50 state capitals. Invite them to name them if they know them.

Assessment:

Assess student understanding of the story’s moral through participation in discussions, completion of reflection questions, and identification of key concepts presented.