E-BCFN26 – Charlotte’s Web – Chapter 15

How do FreeNode lessons work?

FreeNodes are instructor-led schooling lessons with a unique approach, granting you the freedom to independently teach using a personalized lesson plan. This autonomy enables you to tailor your lessons to suit students’ individual needs, learning styles, and interests.

To use a FreeNode, read the provided class outline & follow the formatting provided for each class. Make sure to touch on the Theocratic Connection in each class. Follow the outline closely so it is aligned with our main at-home curriculum.

How Do I Use the FreeNode?

Read this lesson plan before class to familiarize yourself with the ideas and concepts you’ll be teaching the students. You may print this page out if you need to use it as a reference point during live classes.

This lesson is a guide, but feel free to expand on the content or decrease/increase what you teach depending on the learning levels of the students in your class or the amount of time you have to cover the material.

Can I show videos in FN classes?

Yes, feel free to include additional material to supplement the class lesson material. Videos, Physical Objects, Games, Activities, etc. are okay to share in live classes.

Videos should have no advertisements or logos and should be viewed by you before showing them to the students to ensure no offensive or questionable content is included.

The video should make up only 1-3 minutes of the live class and should not take the place of instructor-led instruction. Videos should be supplementary only.

How do bookmarks work?

Bookmarks help you keep track of lessons you’re going to teach in future live classes. The bookmarks you see are for all your bookmarked lessons across all grades.

You can bookmark a lesson by visiting the lesson you want to bookmark and clicking the “bookmark” button in the bookmark section.

You can remove a single bookmark by visiting a lesson you’ve bookmarked and clicking the “bookmark” button again to unbookmark it.

You can clear all of your bookmarks by clicking the “clear all bookmarks” button. Be careful, this will erase all of your bookmarks.

Log in to save bookmarks.

Class Lesson Plan

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.

Video Links:

  • Why Crickets Just Won’t Shut Up – Part 1:

  • Why Crickets Just Won’t Shut Up – Part 2:

  • Why Crickets Just Won’t Shut Up – Part 3:

Theocratic Connections:

Since this part of the chapter explores crickets encourage students to consider the following article on crickets after class:

Activity 1 – Reading Chapter 15 (15 minutes):

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

Activity 2 – Discussion (10 minutes):

Ask students the following questions:

  • “Why do the crickets sing their song in this chapter?”
  • “How do the humans react to the crickets singing? How do the animals react?”
  • “How has fame affected Wilbur? What is the most important thing in his life?”
  • “Do you think the cricket song in the story is symbolic? What might it represent?”
  • Based on the events in this chapter, what do you think will happen next? How do the changes in the season affect the characters?”
  • “Can you think of a time when a change in season brought about significant changes in your life? How did you feel about it?”

Activity 3 –Watch and Discuss: Cricket Song Science Video (5 minutes):

After watching the video, ask students the following Questions:

  • “What is the file?” (Answer: The file is a little line of tiny microscopic teeth located on the underside of the cricket’s wings.)
  • “What is the scraper?” (Answer: The scraper is the hard edge on the cricket’s wings that the cricket uses to make sounds by rubbing against the file.)
  • “How does the cricket use its file and scraper to make sounds?” (Answer: The cricket rubs the scraper on its bottom wing across the file on its top wing, creating a chirping sound through a process called stridulation.)
  • “Do they only chirp for females?” (Answer: No, male crickets also chirp when they encounter another male, producing an angry-sounding rivalry call to establish territory.)
  • “Can females chirp?” (Answer: No, female crickets cannot chirp because their wings do not have the file and scraper needed to make the sound.)
  • “Where is the crickets’s ear located?” (Answer: The cricket’s ear, called a tympanum, is located on its front legs.)

 

(Optional) Bonus Activity: If students are creating a “Charlotte’s Words” dictionary, remind them to add “versatile” and any other new words from this chapter.

Assessment:

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