I have a free Charlotte’s Web homeschool unit study today with fun hands-on ideas. Also grab more ideas on my best homeschool unit studies page.
Charlotte’s Web is not only a wonderful story for reading aloud or independent reading time, but it also lends itself beautifully to a wide-open list of topics to study beyond just the title.
Here is a free Charlotte’s Web Unit Study with a bushel of ideas for you whether you want to spend a week or a whole month learning about Wilbur, Fern, and Charlotte.
Charlotte’s Web will keep you busy with new vocabulary, learning about things like characters, plot, setting, and point of view.
And of course, it is a wonderful setting to learn all about farm life including the animals that live there.
To make the book more than just a read you will have to get creative by pulling something from the theme of the book for each of your main subjects.
Facts about Charlotte’s Web Book
I have a few ideas ready to get you going as well as some interesting facts to share with your farmhands.
- The E.B. in E.B. White, the author, stands for Elwyn Brooks
- Zuckerman’s farm in Charlotte’s Web was real. E.B. White based it on the farm he grew up on in Maine.
- Fern did not become a character of the book until the last draft of it was written.
- Garth Williams, who illustrated Charlotte’s Web is also well known for his illustrations for the entire Little House on The Prairie Series.
- Wilbur was inspired by a sick pig that White had tried to nurse back to health. Unfortunately, the pig died.
- Charlotte’s full name is Charlotte A. Cavatica which is a clever reference to her species class, Araneus Cavaticus or the common barn spider.
- E.B. White won a special Pulitzer Prize in 1978 for all his writings and works.
More Charlotte’s Web Resources and Activities
Moreover, grab some of these books to enhance your unit study.
Charlotte's Web Unit Study Resources
Add some of these books to flesh out your unit study if you're studying about farm animals, geography of Main or spiders.
E. B. White's Newbery Honor Book is a tender novel of friendship, love, life, and death that will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come. It contains illustrations by Garth Williams, the acclaimed illustrator of E. B. White's Stuart Little and Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series, among many other books.
This handsome box set provides hours of enlightening entertainment for those curious about farm life, the natural world, and food. Best-selling author and illustrator Julia Rothman presents Farm Anatomy, Nature Anatomy, and Food Anatomy in a specially designed slipcase with 10 framable prints. Rothman’s popular line drawings offer a whimsical and educational guide to life on a farm, nature’s hidden wonders, and delectable tidbits from kitchens and pantries around the globe.
With a mix of fantastic photographs and beautiful illustrations, Insects and Spiders takes you through everything you need to know about these bewildering bugs. Learn what termites build their nests from, how an earwig looks after her eggs, and why wasps have black and yellow stripes.
With clear, simple text and bright, well-labeled watercolors, Gail Gibbons explores the truth about pigs. Digging up truffles, competing in county fairs, grunting and squealing to communicate-- these flat-snouted farm animals are complex and surprisingly talented.
A Day on the Farm is a beautifully designed reader all about a day in the life of a farm, with eggs hatching, milking time for the cows, sheep shearing and lots of hungry baby animals!
I’m Trying to Love Spiders will help you see these amazing arachnids in a whole new light, from heir awesomely excessive eight eyes, to the seventy-five pounds of bugs a spider can eat in a single year! And you’re sure to feel better knowing you have a better chance of being struck by lightning than being fatally bit by a spider. Comforting, right? No? Either way, there’s heaps more information in here to help you forget your fears .
You don’t have to look far to see a spider’s web—in the corner of the window, on a fence, or in a bush—spiders make their homes everywhere. And there are so many kinds of spiders! Some red, some blue, yellow, and more…all fascinating. Amazing photography and easy-to-understand text make Spiders a hit in this National Geographic Kids series.
Teach your child about the different farm animals and the sounds they make; Set up an interactive playtime to collaborate with your child to count and sort the animals.
But Farmer Brown's problems REALLY begin when his cows start leaving him notes.... Doreen ronin's understated text and Betsy Lewin's expressive illustrations make the most of this hilarious situation. Come join the fun as a bunch of literate cows turn Farmer Brown's farm upside down.
From the bull to the barn cat to the wild bunny, the farmyard bustles with life. The rooster crows, the rams clash, the bees buzz, and over there in the garden, a snake — silent and alone — winds and
watches. David Elliott’s graceful, simple verse and Holly Meade’s exquisite woodcut and watercolor illustrations capture a world that is at once timeless yet disappearing from view — the world of the family farm.
First, here are some fun resources.
- YouTube Charlotte’s Web (Full Audiobook)
Next, look at some unit study science ideas.
Unit Study Science Ideas for Charlotte’s Web
One of the most enticing things about a unit study is being able to tie a lot of subjects to one theme. Look below at ideas for each topic.
Farm Theme Ideas
Choose one of the main character animals like pigs, spiders, rats, geese, or sheep to study. Your child can
- Watch videos.
- Write a report.
- Create a diorama.
- Paint a picture.
- Make their animal out of clay.
- Read books about various animals on the farm.
A great reference book to research farm life, as well as farm animals, is Julia Rothman Farm Anatomy with its beautiful illustrations and great information snippets on a lot of topics.
Also, add some fun farm math.
Math Ideas
Use manipulatives to make math hands-on.
- Use plastic animals as counters for simple addition and subtraction, skip counting, or sorting for the littlest of hands.
- Measure plastic farm animals, take a poll on everyone’s favorite farm animals, and graph it.
- Older kids can map out a farm on graph paper and figure out the scale, area, and perimeter.
- Give simple math a twist by giving farm-themed math problems like “If I had 100 pounds of pig feed and each of my 3 pigs eats 5 pounds per day, how long will it last?” If Zuckerman’s truck had to go 40 miles to the fair and they traveled at 22 mph how long would it take to get there?
Moreover, add some fun hands-on geography.
Geography Ideas
- The story of Charlotte’s Web takes place in Maine, take this time to learn a little about the state.
- Practice map skills and have your child draw a map of the farm where Wilbur lived including the farmhouse, barn, trees, and any other places they feel are significant.
Language Arts
- Grab a list of spelling words for the story from Vocabulary.com to practice vocabulary and spelling by using words in sentences, flashcards, and other ways.
- Draw a spider web with white crayon on white paper, weaving words throughout the lines, and give your child watercolors to reveal the words. As they appear, have them say the word and spell it out loud.
- Have your child write their own short story about a farm by hand or on the computer.
- Use farm-themed prompts for journaling- For example, “One morning I woke up and ran outside to the barn to find…”.
Below I have another fun and simple spelling activity.
Free Charlotte’s Web Homeschool Unit Study Spelling Web Activity
You will need:
- Black cardstock
- White chalk or a white paint marker
- Hairspray
- Letter tiles or beads
- Spelling words list
Grab a piece of black cardstock or construction paper and draw a circle in the center with chalk.
Next, draw lines coming out from the circle all the way to the edges of the paper.
You can make it any size you like, depending on the child.
Draw a line straight across the middle for spelling words and then a few more lines all the way across from edge to edge.
To get the webbed effect you want to slightly arch your small lines in between the big lines, going all the way around.
Finally, if you use chalk, set it so that it doesn’t smudge by spraying it with hairspray and allowing it to dry fully.
Set out your web, spelling words, and the letter tiles-scrabble tiles, letter beads, or lacing letters.
