Charlottes Web Novel Study

About this resource

Teaching Charlotte's Web and writing the questions the night before? This novel study for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade does that work. It is made for use with the novel by E.B. White (the book is not included; students need their own copy, any edition). The story is divided into six parts by what happens. For every pair of parts: a page of ten words to look up, a fill-in page with a word box and ten sentences, and a true or false page where students fix the false ones. For every part: a question page with five questions on ruled lines, four short answers and one Think Deeper. Around them: a tracker for Wilbur, a page for six characters, a Somebody-Wanted-But-So summary, a making-connections page, the four words Charlotte writes in her web, four themes, an extension page with four choices, sentence starters, an essay planner with three prompts, and a book check with ten multiple-choice questions and three written answers. Every page that has an answer has an answer key.

EVERYTHING INSIDE (50 pages)

• 29 student pages, every one with a name line, one short instruction, and ruled lines, boxes or table cells with room to write
• Before You Read: 5 statements to agree or disagree with, revisited at the end
• 6 question pages, one per part: 30 questions in all, 3 ruled lines under a short answer, 5 under each of the 6 Think Deeper questions
• 3 word pages: 30 words to look up, 10 per pair of parts, with columns for the page found, the student's own meaning and their own sentence
• 3 fill-in pages: 30 sentences, 10 per pair of parts, each with a word box
• 3 true or false pages: 30 statements, 10 per pair of parts (12 of them false), with a line to fix each false one
• Wilbur, Part by Part: a tracker with a row for each part
• The People in Wilbur's Story: Wilbur, Charlotte, Fern, Templeton, Mr. Zuckerman and Lurvy (6 entries)
• Somebody, Wanted, But, So: a summary row for each of the 6 parts, plus a three-sentence summary of the whole book
• Making Connections: text to self, text to text and text to world, 5 ruled lines each
• Web Words, 2 pages: SOME PIG, TERRIFIC, RADIANT and HUMBLE (where, what it means, why it matters)
• Themes: 4 themes defined, the student chooses 2 and finds evidence for each
• Extension: 4 choices (a letter, a new web word, five questions for Fern, three spider facts) with a plan box and 9 ruled lines
• Sentence Starters: 13 starters for claims, evidence, explanation, then-and-now and endings
• Essay Planner with 3 prompts (claim, three pieces of evidence, so what, ending) and an Essay Draft page
• Book Check, 2 pages: 10 multiple-choice questions and 3 written answers
• 9 answer keys: every question (three parts per page, two pages), the web words, the people and themes, the tracker and Before You Read pages, the 30 words, the fill-in and true or false pages, the book check, and the summary, connections and extension pages
• A Reading Plan: one-line synopsis of each part, its study pages, and a blank for the chapters in your edition and your dates
• 1 reading log (one row per page or pair of pages, 19 rows), 1 class grid (15 students), 1 filled example for an invented student
• 1 family page with a discussion question per pair of parts, 1 phrase bank of 16 feedback and conference starters
• 1 binder cover and 6 divider tabs with a spine label to cut out
• Start Here and terms of use

How To Use It

1. Hand out Before You Read (page 5) before anyone opens the book, and fill in the Reading Plan with the chapters and dates in your edition.

2. Read a part, then give the pair's word, fill-in and true or false pages and the question page for that part.

3. As the class reads, students add to the Wilbur tracker, the people page, and the Somebody-Wanted-But-So summary.

4. After the last part: connections, web words, themes, the extension, sentence starters, the essay planner and draft, and the book check.

5. Check with the answer keys, log each page, roll the class up on the grid, and send the family page home.

Built For Grades 3 To 5

No mascots and no clip art. Clean pages with a name line and one short instruction, question text at 12 point, a numbered question and ruled lines under it, and a True or False or circle-the-letter format that younger readers can finish on their own. The direction on every question page is the same: write in full sentences and tell one detail from the story. The word pages ask students to look each word up and use it, and to write the page where they met it. The book is gentle but sad in places, including the death of a main character near the end; preview it for your class.

Type In, Or Print

The name and date lines, every ruled line, the word and character tables, the answer lines on the fill-in and book-check pages, the reading log, class grid and family page are type-in fields in any PDF reader. Every page prints clean in black and white. This is a fillable PDF; it is not a Google Slides or PowerPoint file.

Who This Is For

Elementary ELA, resource rooms and co-taught classes, homeschool families and tutors reading this novel in any month. Several questions are open; the key gives a sample answer and says what a good answer does, so check the notes against the edition in your room before you grade.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

A complete novel study with the record-keeping around it. There is no rubric or point value printed on any student page; the log has a blank for your own wording. It is not a reading-level screener or a clinical tool, and it makes no claim about any student's grade level or rate of progress. The novel itself is not included and none of its text is reproduced.

This resource is not affiliated with or endorsed by E.B. White, his publisher, or the owners of Charlotte's Web.