Print at 100% scale on letter paper, with no added margins.
Charlotte's Web
Scouts · 1st–3rd
Mrs. Arable says she does not like what she cannot understand, and Dr. Dorian says he will not let it worry him. Which is the better way to face a thing you cannot explain?
The tension Mrs. Arable's wish to understand before she can feel easy, against Dr. Dorian's plain admission that he does not understand everything and does not intend to worry.
Notice what Mrs. Arable and Dr. Dorian each do when they meet something they do not understand.
On Saturday morning Fern tells her mother the fish story and the balloonist story, and Mrs. Arable scolds her but listens. Then Mrs. Arable drives to see Dr. Dorian about Fern. He talks about the web as a miracle, says he is ready to believe Fern, and tells her not to worry, and Mrs. Arable leaves feeling greatly relieved.
Start with Fern and her mother in the kitchen. Ask what Fern says, and what her mother says back.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the dishes, the fish story, the balloonist, the drive to Dr. Dorian, his questions about Fern, and Mrs. Arable leaving relieved.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences in the same pattern: what a person is supposed to do, then a sentence that starts with But and says what they do not do.
Debate Take sides on the big question: which is the better way to face a thing you cannot explain, to want to understand it, or to not let it worry you? Each side must use one line from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why a story might let a doctor admit that he does not understand everything.
Easier Read the doctor's talk about the web aloud together and talk through discussion questions 1 and 4 only.
On level Talk through all five discussion questions, then have the student answer one critical-thinking question aloud with two reasons from the chapter.
Harder Ask the student to say what Mrs. Arable might answer when the doctor says he will not let it worry him, using her own words from the chapter.
1. Mrs. Arable says Fern is making things up, but then asks, "What finally happened?" What does that tell you about her?Character
What it asks It asks what Mrs. Arable's question shows about her, when she has just said that Fern's story cannot be true.
Her curiosity is stronger than her scolding: she wants to hear the end of the story.
What finally happened?
whose curiosity began to get the better of her
She does not want Fern to be right, so she keeps saying it cannot happen.
You know it couldn't happen. You're making this up.
Stop inventing these wild tales!
A strong answer Mrs. Arable says it cannot happen and tells Fern to stop inventing, so she seems to want things to stay ordinary. But the chapter says her curiosity began to get the better of her, and she asks what finally happened. A strong answer says which is stronger in her and uses one thing she says.
2. Dr. Dorian says he is ready to believe Fern about the talking animals. Is that wise? Why or why not?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks whether it is wise to believe something you have never seen yourself, when someone you trust tells you.
Wise: he may simply have missed what the animals said.
It is quite possible that an animal has spoken civilly to me and that I didn't catch the remark because I wasn't paying attention.
If Fern says that the animals in Zuckerman's barn talk, I'm quite ready to believe her.
Not so wise: he has never heard an animal speak himself.
I never heard one say anything,
But that proves nothing.
A strong answer One answer is that he is wise to stay open: he says he never heard an animal speak, but that proves nothing, because he may not have been paying attention. The other is that he is believing something he has never heard himself. A strong answer takes a side and says what the other side would answer.
3. Dr. Dorian says, "How enchanting!" when he hears about the barn. Does he sound serious, or does he sound amused? What tells you?Tone
What it asks It asks the student to hear the doctor's voice and decide whether he is making fun or truly pleased.
Amused: he leans back, closes his eyes, and says Remarkable about Henry Fussy.
Dr. Dorian leaned back and closed his eyes.
Hmm. Remarkable.
Serious and kind: he asks careful questions and gives her real advice.
Does she look well?
Then don't worry,
A strong answer He can sound amused, because he leans back with his eyes closed and says Remarkable about Henry Fussy. But he also asks real questions about Fern and tells Mrs. Arable plainly not to worry, so he takes her seriously. A strong answer reads one line aloud and says whether the voice sounds amused, serious, or both.
4. Dr. Dorian says the web itself is a miracle. Do you agree? What makes you think so?Theme
What it asks It asks whether an ordinary web is as wonderful as the words in it, and what Mrs. Arable and the doctor each notice.
Yes: nobody taught a spider, yet a young spider can spin a web.
Well, who taught a spider?
A young spider knows how to spin a web without any instructions from anybody.
No: it is just a web, and the words are the strange part.
I don't see why you say a web is a miracle - it's just a web.
I don't understand how those words got into the web.
A strong answer The doctor has a point: Mrs. Arable learned to knit from her mother, but nobody taught a young spider how to spin a web. Mrs. Arable can say it is just a web, though she does admit she never looked at it that way. A strong answer takes a side and uses one thing the doctor says.
5. Dr. Dorian asks whether Fern looks well, eats well, and sleeps well, then says, "Then don't worry." Why might the author write the scene that way?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what the doctor's short questions do in the scene, and why the author has him check Fern before he reassures her mother.
They give Mrs. Arable plain, simple facts to hold on to, so the advice feels reasonable.
Appetite good?
Sleep well at night?
They are a little funny: the doctor asks ordinary questions about a girl who talks with a spider.
Oh, yes, she's always hungry.
Do you think she'll ever start thinking about something besides pigs and sheep and geese and spiders?
A strong answer The short questions give the doctor and Mrs. Arable something plain to look at: Fern looks well, is always hungry and sleeps well. That makes his advice, Then don't worry, easy to accept. They can also be funny, because they are very ordinary questions after a talk about spiders and miracles. A strong answer says what the reader feels and why the author may have written it that way.
1. Mrs. Arable begins by scolding, but ends up agreeing with Fern twice. What does Fern say that wins her over? Give two reasons.
What it asks It asks what Fern does in the kitchen that makes her mother listen and agree.
She tells plain facts, without fuss, so her mother has little to argue with.
Spiders have to eat, the same as the rest of us.
I'm not inventing,
She asks her mother to picture it and to think about what she herself would love.
Can't you just see the web, sagging dangerously under the weight of the fish?
Mother, wouldn't you simply love to do that?
A strong answer Fern gives her mother a plain fact, that spiders have to eat the same as the rest of us, and her mother says yes, she supposes they do. Then she asks her mother to picture the balloonist and wonder if she would love it, and her mother says yes, come to think of it. A strong answer gives two pieces of evidence and says which seems to move Mrs. Arable more.
2. Fern says she is not alone in the barn, and her mother says she spends too much time there alone. Who is right? Give two reasons.
What it asks It asks what Fern's days in the barn are really like, from what she says and what her mother says.
Mrs. Arable is right: Fern sits by herself, hour after hour.
She sits on a milk stool in a corner of the barn cellar, near the pigpen, and watches animals, hour after hour.
it isn't good for you to be alone so much
Fern is right: her friends are there and it does not feel lonely to her.
My best friends are in the barn cellar. It is a very sociable place.
Let Fern associate with her friends in the barn if she wants to.
A strong answer Mrs. Arable is right that Fern sits by herself on a stool for hours. But Fern says her best friends are in the barn cellar and that it is a very sociable place, and the doctor says to let her be with them. A strong answer gives two pieces of evidence and says whether alone and lonely mean the same thing.
3. Dr. Dorian says Fern will always love animals but may not spend her whole life in the barn. What does that show about him? Give two reasons.
What it asks It asks what the doctor's guess about Fern's future shows about how he sees her.
He respects what she loves: he does not try to talk her out of it.
I think she will always love animals.
spiders and pigs were fully as interesting as Henry Fussy
He expects her to grow and to be interested in other things.
But I doubt that she spends her entire life in Homer Zuckerman's barn cellar.
I predict that the day will come when even Henry will drop some chance remark that catches Fern's attention.
A strong answer The doctor respects what Fern loves: he thinks she will always love animals and says spiders and pigs are fully as interesting as Henry Fussy. He also expects her to grow, because he doubts she will spend her entire life in the barn cellar. A strong answer gives two pieces of evidence and says what that shows about him.