Conessia Gipson

Dr. Waterworth
English 308
Final Option: Two
May, 20, 2009
Charlottes Web a Teaching Tool
E.B. Whites Charlottes Web was the first novel that I ever read. In my third
grade class my teacher assigned it for the whole class for silent reading time. I loved
reading this book, it fostered in me a love for reading that never left me. Charlottes Web
in my opinion would be the most indispensable story in text as far as teaching children. If
I were to teach it I would think third grade would be the level to teach it to. I dont really
feel that it would pose any problem as far as Demographic makeup for anyone. There are
a lot of social issues in the book that I can pull from to spark some conversation and
possibly mold the children into socially aware and responsible citizens. There are many
different lessons that may be taught from Charlottes web including; literary analysis,
history and life science. In this paper I will point out some elements of this book that I
would find useful in teaching a class and why.
The main reason that I would choose third grade to teach some lessons from
Charlottes Web is because this book is at their reading level. It is also may be interesting
to them because the major social themes such as; friendship and loyalty will be good and
relevant lessons for them to learn. The plot element being that Wilburs life was in
constant jeopardy makes the book a page turner. This is an age were it takes a lot to keep
a child interested in reading. In light of that fact I think Charlottes Web has a lot to offer.
The characters are very animated and most of them are animals. Children are very
interested in animals. There is also a wide variation in the personalities of the characters

which makes the story dialouge very vibrant. Another big plus is that this book has been
adapted into a movie. Children who have seen the movie would be very likely to be
interested in the book. Those who have not seen the movie will enjoy seeing the movie as
a culminating event after reading the book. I am an advocate of television as a teaching
tool and in moderation I believe it is very affective. A book may have a thousand words,
but as the saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words. In one minute of television
you are really looking a thousands of pictures, if youre watching something of good
content you can really learn a lot.
I believe that Charlottes Web is a safe choice as far as demographics go. There are
really any gender bias, religious references, and inappropriate material evident to me in
this book. I would choose a third grade class as mentioned earlier. I think this would be
the perfect age because as far as the social elements go children are just starting to
questions social concepts. Take friendship and death for instance. Both friendship and
death are major themes in this book. Third graders have problems and questions on both
of these issues. A couple of very positive examples of the bonds, challenges, and rewards
of friendship are represented in the plot of Charlottes web. Fern reaches out to save
Wilburs life which is very compassionate. After all hes a pig, she really could have
cared less. She loves him unconditionally and even takes responsibility for him. Children
can learn to be compassionate, caring and helpful from Fern and Wilburs relationship.
They may also learn that loyalty is rewarded because Wilbur in return loves fern. When
their friendship is challenge and Wilbur has to move away Fern still visits him, although
she accepts that their relationship has changed. Children that have been distanced from a
important relationship in their life can relate to that. They may possibly realize that they

can still have a different type of relationship with that person. This concept may be useful
for children of divorce. Most importantly Charlotte puts forth a lot of effort to help
Wilbur and expects nothing in return. I think children can benefits from lessons in acts of
selfless kindness. As far as death goes the story explains that death is a part of life.
Charlotte after saving Wilburs life dies herself and Wilbur accepts it. He also has a way
to cope because he has her eggs to look after. Children are good at making relations and
relating death as a regular part of life will be healing and comforting to them.
There were a lot of benefits to the wide variety of vocabulary used in Charlottes
web this will encourage the children to be interested in vocabulary. I would definitely use
this as a teaching tool as we go along I would assign certain words as spelling and
vocabulary words for the kids. A nice thing about that is that the words will be all related
in some way. The book also has many examples of similes and metaphors used in ways
that are easy for children to understand. History and Social Context can also be lessons
that can be taken from this book because its setting is a 1950 farm. Children will be
interested to learn what life was like in this time, and also that agriculture is how the
Arable family earned a living. In our times this is a valuable lesson because in contrast
our families earn a living in many different ways, but or nation started off with
agricultural families.
Charlottes Web is filled with references to the life sciences. The relationship of
the animals to the families is important. The families live and work with the animals their
lives are intertwined and they use them for food and resources . The different lives of the
animals and their usefulness on the farm and to humans are also presented. Charlotte
even refers to herself in her scientific name. I would use this part of the story to spark a

lesson and discussion of different classifications of animals. There are also the seasons I
think every season is represented in this story, and activities specific to the season are
mentioned. The Arables go the fair in the summer and the goslings are born in the spring.
Lastly because Charlotte dies after laying an egg sac a lesson in the life cycle can be
devised from this event.
In conclusion I feel that Charlottes Web is an excellent teaching tool for the third
grade. The book is on the reading level of third graders and because of the vocabulary
used it will challenge and embrace them. There are many social lessons that can be taught
from the story because of the well structured relationships that are introduced. The setting
of the book being a 1950s farm provides an excellent means for a lesson in history an
economics. I love science and life science in particular and Charlottes Web is jammed
packed with references to science, which is even evident in the title itself. On an overall
basis I love the book and I feel like it would be indispensable teaching tool. I still believe
the most important thing that Charlottes Web may teach is a love for reading.