Peak Charter Academy teachers Amber Edwards, Susan Arana, and Lauren Alves collaborated to engage their scholars with literacy, character education, and hands-on learning. They followed that up with a one-of-a-kind celebration.
“‘Charlotte’s Web’ felt like the perfect story to explore friendship, kindness, and the idea of belonging,” Edwards said. “As a team, we brainstormed ways to go beyond just reading the book and landed on creating our own mini ‘county fair’ to celebrate the story’s ending and let the kids experience it for themselves.”
Students explored the unique personalities and traits of each animal in the story and learned to describe the characters with supporting evidence from the text.
“We discussed how those traits, like Charlotte’s kindness, Wilbur’s perseverance, and Templeton’s honesty, even if it’s grumpy, could apply to their own friendships and choices. Then we tied these traits into morning meetings, writing prompts, and art activities to make the connections meaningful.”
Arana said students were also prompted to notice changes in the characters throughout the story, and how they might experience that in real life as their environment or experiences change them.
“Throughout the story each character developed, which allowed students to self-reflect on how they would be described and how they have developed throughout the year. For example, Templeton is regarded as selfish in the beginning and painted in a negative light. As we get to know Templeton, we see that he is more of an anti-hero and does help the main characters.”
Reading the story out loud also played a part in the students’ development, Alves said.
“When reading the story, we could see how engaged the students were with the development of the plot. It was exciting to use inflection when reading to aid the scholars in developing a picture of the story in their mind. This also made them more engaged in the story.”
At the end of the book, students did research on their favorite barnyard animals and created 3D models of them.
“Before the fair, scholars presented their animal to the class and shared what they made and how they made it,” Arana said. “It was exciting to see each student be creative, and all the animals were so unique. After this, they were awarded a blue ribbon for their hard work.”
Students celebrated their achievements with games and prizes at the county fair, held inside the school.
Great work inspiring young readers, Peak!
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About Peak Charter Academy
Peak Charter Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Apex, North Carolina, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies (NHA®) network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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