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Copywork
About This Passage
E. B. White writes this scene the way a painter lays out a tableau: a woman in rubber boots, a paddle, a crowd of animals, and one very clean pig at the center. The passage lets the Trailblazer see how verbs ('climbed,' 'dipping,' 'rubbed,' 'gathered,' 'poked') carry almost the whole story, and why even a rat cannot help poking his head out to watch.
Mrs. Zuckerman wasted no time. She climbed in with Wilbur and went to work. Dipping her paddle in the buttermilk, she rubbed him all over. The geese gathered around to see the fun, and so did the shee...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell Chapter 16 in six or seven sentences, including the buttermilk bath, Charlotte's decision to come along, Templeton's persuasion, and Wilbur's fainting spell.
Discussion Questions
- What in the story shows that Charlotte changes her promise from 'if I possibly can' in Chapter 15 to a firm 'I shall go, too' in Chapter 16, and what does this tell you about Charlotte as a friend?
- How do you know the old sheep uses the right words to convince Templeton to come to the Fair? Use at least two details from her long speech.
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A short, flat tool used to stir, push, or move something.
Item 2
In a careful, watchful way to avoid danger.
Item 3
A single strand of silk a spider lets out to lower itself.
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Critical Thinking
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