Charlotte’s Web
Setting
Objective: Students will be able to take information from text to complete a drawing of the
setting.
In a grand conversation, have students discuss where the story is taken place.
-
Arable’s farm
Zuckerman’s farm
fairgrounds
These all make up the setting of the book.
If students draw one or both of the farms, the drawing should include:
-
a barn (if students draw the inside of the barn, straw/hay, manure, animals, fences, etc.)
possibly silos
animals
fenced in areas
houses
If students draw the fairgrounds, the drawing should include:
-
Midway
the animal enclosures
judges’ arena
rides
Students will complete a drawing of the setting to show comprehension. The drawing may be of
only one farm, or it could be a map of sorts.
Charlotte’s Web
Character Study: Poems
Objective: Students will be able to write poems discussing different characters showing that they
understand the characters.
Since we have discussed the different characters, we know a lot about each character. We know
what kind of person they are, how they feel, what they think about, etc. We are going to pick one
or two characters and write what we know about them in a poem.
Show students examples of the different kinds of poems we will be doing (see attached pages).
Students are able to pick one of the two poem structures and write it in the reading logs.
Separate students into groups and have them choose a style of poem to create about the
character(s) of their choosing. For the first “I Am” poem, only require students to write one or
two stanzas. Once students have been given some time to begin writing, visit each group to
ensure they are on the right track and suggest or encourage ideas where necessary.
When complete, students can share poems with the class.
Rubric:
Criteria
Follows poem
structure
Uses proper
grammar &
punctuation
Character’s
description is
true to book
Time and effort
was put in
Exceeds
Expectation
10
Meets
Expectation
8-9
Acceptable
6-7
Below
Expectation
0-5
Diamante Poem – follows a very specific format – there are seven lines, and each line must have
a specific number and type of words. When you're finished, the poem will be in the shape of a
diamond! Look at the format and example below, and then try writing your own diamante poem.
Line 1= Topic (noun)
Line 2 = Two describing words (adjectives)
Line 3 = Three action words (-ing verbs)
Line 4 = Four words: Two words about the topic and two
words that are opposite of those in line 2
Line 5 = Three action words for the ending noun (-ing verbs)
Line 6 = Two words to describe ending noun (adjectives)
Line 7 = Ending noun (opposite of Line 1)
Character or “I Am” Poems – are about one specific person or character. They follow a specific
format that describes the person in many different ways. You can use the "I Am" poem format to
pretend you are a character in the book.
Here is the format for an "I Am" Poem:
FIRST STANZA
I am_________________ (two characteristics you have)
I wonder ___________(something you're curious about)
I hear ______________________(an imaginary sound)
I see ________________________(an imaginary sight)
I want _______________________(an actual desire)
I am ____________(the first line of the poem repeated)
SECOND STANZA
I pretend ____________ (something you pretend to do)
I feel _________(a feeling about something imaginary)
I touch ______________________(an imaginary touch)
I worry _______________(something that bothers you)
I cry _______________(something that makes you sad)
I am ____________(the first line of the poem repeated)
THIRD STANZA
I understand ___________(something you know is true)
I say ___________________(something you believe in)
I dream ______________(something you dream about)
I try ___________(something you make an effort about)
I hope ___________________(something you hope for)
I am ____________(the first line of the poem repeated)
Here's another version of a Character Poem:
Line 1: Name of character _____________________
Line 2: Describing words _____________________
Line 3: Who loves
______________________
Line 4: Who feels __________ about ______________
Line 5: Who needs
______________________
Line 6: Who shares
______________________
Line 7: Who fears
______________________
Line 8: Who'd like to see ______________________
Line 9: Who dreams of
______________________
Line 10: Who ends up
______________________
(emotion or situation at end of book)
Charlotte’s Web
Grammar MiniLesson: Personal Pronouns
Objective: Students will be able to identify and use personal pronouns in writing.
Introduce the Topic
Previously you have learned that pronouns take the place of nouns. Subject pronouns can
include: I, you, she, he, it, they, and we. Object pronouns include: me, you, him, her, them, and
us.
Share Examples
Show and read aloud the excerpt from The Librarian from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler
(Thaler, M. (1997). The Librarian from the Black Lagoon. NY: Scholastic, Inc.).
Provide Information
Ask the students to identify the personal pronouns in each line, and then highlight or underline
each pronoun. (Either print off sheets for each child, or use projector and do it as a class). Ask
the students to find other nouns where pronouns could be substituted. Re-read the selection
substituting pronouns for found nouns and then discuss why we must state nouns initially in our
writings before we came name them with a pronoun and how this might affect the meaning of
the story.
Supervise Practice
Have students write a paragraph called “The Classroom from Outer Space” about a teacher and
classmates using personal pronouns.
Assess Learning
Students will then need to pick pages to read over in Charlotte’s Web with a partner to find at
least 15 personal pronouns. Students will write the 15 personal pronouns in their reading logs.
The Librarian from the Black Lagoon
By Mike Thaler
Today our class is going to the library.
Mrs. Beamster is the librarian. The kids call her “The
Laminator”.
They say she laminates you if you talk in the library. She also
has a library assistant named IGOR.
They say you’re allowed to stay in the library as long as you can
hold your breath.
Also, they say, the shelves are electrified.
She also has rubber stamps on the soles of her shoes. And,
wherever she steps… it says OVERDUE!
Charlotte’s Web
Grammar MiniLesson: Adjectives
Objective: Students will be able to identify adjectives in literature.
Introduce the Topic
In English class we have been learning about the different parts of speech, and today we will be
learning about adjectives. Does anyone know what adjectives are? Adjectives describe or modify
nouns or pronouns.
Share Examples
Can we think of any examples from our book of adjectives?
Pg. 15: Fern sits quietly during the long afternoons…
Pg. 41: Charlotte is fierce, brutal, scheming, bloodthirsty – everything I don’t like. How can
I learn to like her, even though she is pretty, and of course, clever?
Pg. 97: Here, in a small clearing hidden by young alders and wild raspberry bushes, was an
astonishing pile of old bottles and empty tin cans and dirty rags and bits of metal and broken
bottles and broken hinges and broken springs …
Provide Information
Webster:any member of a class of words that modifynouns and pronouns, primarily by describin
g a particular qualityof the word they are modifying, as wise in a wise grandmother, or perfect i
n a perfect score, or handsome in He is extremelyhandsome. Other terms, as numbers (one cup;
twelve months ),certain demonstrative pronouns (this magazine; those questions ), and terms
that impose limits ( each person; no mercy ) canalso function adjectivally, as can some nouns
that are foundchiefly in fixed phrases where they immediately precede the noun they modify, as
bottle in bottle cap and bus in bus station.
Read Many Luscious Lollipops: A Book about Adjectives by Ruth Heller. Using the page below
on a projector, have students identify the adjectives. Discuss why the words are adjectives and
what it does to the story. (Adds detail, makes it interesting).
Supervise Practice
Individually students will pick several pages to go through and identify the adjectives. See
worksheet below.
Assess Learning
Students will complete worksheet with an 80% accuracy of identifying the adjective and what it
is describing.
Chapter 9: Wilbur’s Boast, page 55
“A spider’s web is stronger than it looks. Although it is made of thin,
delicate strands, the web is not easily broken. However, a web gets torn every day
by the insects that kick around in it, and a spider must rebuild it when it gets full of
holes. Charlotte liked to do her weaving during the late afternoon, and Fern liked
to sit nearby and watch. One afternoon she heard a most interesting conversation
and witnessed a strange event.
‘You have awfully hairy legs, Charlotte,’ said Wilbur, as the spider busily
worked at her task.
‘My legs are hairy for a good reason,’ replied Charlotte. ‘Furthermore, each
leg of mine has seven sections – the coxa, the trochanter, the femur, the patella, the
tibia, the metatarsus, and the tarsus.’
Wilbur sat bolt upright. ‘You’re kidding,’ he said.
‘No, I’m not, either.’
‘Say those names again, I didn’t catch them the first time.’”
Charlotte’s Web: Adjectives
Name ______________________
Directions: Choose 5 pages to use, write down the page numbers you are using, and then identify
the adjective(s) in the first column. In the second column, write down the word the adjective is
describing.
Pages ___________________
Example:
Pg. 107 thick
comfortable
beard
chair
Charlotte’s Web
Charlotte: Spiders!
Objective: Students will be able to identify two new facts learned about spiders in quickwrite.
We first learn about Charlotte in Chapter 5.
“Stretched across the upper part of the doorway was a big spiderweb, and hanging from
the top of the web, head down, was a large grey spider. She was about the size of a
gumdrop. She had eight legs, and she was waving one of them at Wilbur in a friendly
greeting. ‘See me now?’ she asked.”
“‘Well, I am pretty,’ replied Charlotte. ‘There’s no denying that. Almost all spiders are
rather nice-looking. I’m not as flashy as some, but I’ll do. I wish I could see you, Wilbur,
as clearly as you can see me.’
‘Why can’t you?’ asked the pig. ‘I’m right here.’
‘Yes, but I’m near-sighted,’ replied Charlotte. ‘I’ve always been dreadfully near-sighted.
It’s good in some ways, not so good in others. Watch me wrap up this fly.’”
The first things we read about her are that she is grey, about the size of a gumdrop, and has 8
legs. Wilbur thinks she is pretty, and she tells us that she is near sighted.
Do you think that all spiders are like Charlotte? Well, we are going to read this book to find out!
Inform students that there will be a quickwrite afterwards, so they need to listen attentively. Read
book. Have students use a sheet of paper to write two new facts learned about spiders. Collect.
Bailey, Donna. Spiders: Animal World. Austin: Steck-Vaughn Company, 1991.