By Mr Hull's Movie Guides
Watch the Trailer
Why Watch This Movie With Your Students
Here's what your students naturally take away from the movie, whether through themes, values, ideas, or perspectives.
🕸️ A friendship built on being different. Wilbur and Charlotte are both outsiders among the barn's other animals when they meet. Their bond forms precisely because they are willing to see past each other's differences, giving students a clear, concrete example of empathy and acceptance in action.
🐷 A story about loyalty and standing by someone. Once Charlotte learns of Wilbur's fate, she dedicates herself to saving him, even though nothing obligates her to help. Her determination gives students a model of loyalty and selflessness that plays out across the whole movie rather than in a single scene.
📖 A faithful adaptation of a classic novel. The movie stays close to E.B. White's original story, making it a strong companion to a novel study. Students who have read the book can compare how the movie handles key scenes and characters.
😢 An honest handling of loss. The story does not shy away from Charlotte's death, but it treats the moment with care, followed by mourning and eventual acceptance from her friends. It gives students a gentle but genuine entry point into talking about loss.
🎭 A cast of distinct barnyard characters. From the anxious sheep to the self-interested rat Templeton, the movie fills its barn with animals who each have their own personality and role in the story, giving students plenty to observe and discuss about character and motivation.
Age Suitability and Content
This movie is rated G.
⚠️ Things to be aware of:
- A main character dies partway through the story, shown gently and followed by mourning from her friends.
- Brief scenes of animals being chased or startled, including crows pursuing a rat.
- No sexual content, strong language, or substance use.
How My Movie Guide Helps You Teach It
📚 English Language Arts Teachers. Charlotte's Web is a strong fit for ELA classes studying character, friendship, and book to movie comparisons, especially for students who have read E.B. White's novel. The guide covers a range of writing tasks, from letter-based sentence writing to a creative newspaper article assignment, alongside three sets of differentiated comprehension questions with answer keys included.
🗣️ ESL and ELL Teachers. The 30 question multiple choice set works well with ESL and ELL students, giving them a structured way to follow the story in chronological order without the demands of open-ended writing.
🎬 Substitute Teachers and Cover Lessons. With comprehension questions, writing tasks, and a word search all included, this guide works well as a ready to go sub plan when a substitute teacher needs a self-contained lesson.
🏠 Homeschool Parents. The mix of comprehension questions, creative writing, and word search activities makes this guide easy to adapt for a homeschool setting, whether used alongside the novel or on its own.
💙 SEL Teachers. Charlotte's Web offers a natural entry point into conversations about friendship, loyalty, and coping with loss. The guide does not include dedicated SEL activities, but the comprehension questions keep students engaged with these moments as the story unfolds.
🌟 Supporting All Learners Movie guides can be a wonderfully calm fit for students with autism, learning difficulties, and mild to severe disabilities. The structured format gives every student a clear purpose during viewing, easing uncertainty and allowing them to engage at their own pace. If you teach in a special education or learning support setting, you may find this guide a gentle and practical resource. Find out more about why movies work for diverse learners.
What's Inside the Guide
This is a 14-page classroom-ready resource.
Part 1. Comprehension Questions
Three differentiated sets of questions in chronological order: a 40 question set, a 30 question set with 10 questions removed from the full set, and a 30 question multiple choice set. Answer keys are included.
Part 2. Writing
Students write sentences using each letter from the word Charlotte, then reflect on moments in the movie where they felt sad, happy, or excited. A second task asks students to imagine themselves as reporters and write a newspaper article about Wilbur being entered into the county fair.
Part 3. Word Search Fun
A 20 word search puzzle, with 5 of the words requiring students to answer a clue before they can find them.
“This is a wonderful resource to use when watching the movie after reading the book. It keeps the students engaged and looking for similarities and differences!”
— Lynn P.
“The differentiated assessments were awesome!!”
— LaRonda S.
What Makes This Guide Different
This guide is built around chronological, differentiated question sets rather than a single one size fits all worksheet, giving teachers an easy way to match the material to different reading levels in the same classroom. The multiple choice set in particular gives ESL and ELL students a way to engage with the story that does not depend on open-ended writing.
The writing tasks push beyond comprehension alone, asking students to reflect on the emotional beats of the story and then apply their understanding creatively through a newspaper article assignment. Combined with the word search and full answer keys, the guide gives teachers several distinct activities to draw from rather than a single repeated format.
Mr Hull's Movie Guides has been creating classroom-ready movie resources since 2017. Browse 390+ guides covering movies for every grade level, subject, and occasion at the Mr Hull's Movie Guides TPT Store.
