Charlotte’s Web, written by E. B. White, is a novel that tells the enchanting story of a young girl named Fern who proves that you’re never too young to stand up for what you believe in by saving a runty pig from an untimely death. This event marks the beginning of Fern and Wilbur’s inseparable friendship and the many trials that they face together. As the novel unfolds, Fern and Wilbur become friends with many of the other animals on Zuckerman’s farm, including the exceptional Charlotte. Charlotte formulates a plan to try to save Wilbur from the usual fate of a pig.
My first exposure to Charlotte’s Web came from my Year Two teacher reading a chapter aloud to the class every day after lunch when I was seven-years-old. The class was allowed to spread out and lay on the floor anywhere in the room. The summer heat made a spot under a ceiling fan prime real estate. This also allowed eyes to be closed as vivid imaginations ran wild at the sound of our teacher’s voice describing the magical events of the novel.
In the many years since Charlotte’s Web was read to me, I have gone on to read it myself more times than I have any other novel. I have also taken pleasure in reading it to my younger brothers and sisters who have then gone on to read it themselves as they grew older. While it is wonderful to see children continue to enjoy this timeless classic, what I have only come to learn almost twenty years later is the theoretical significance of this cherished memory.
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This memory is an example of the development of my personal literacies. This was the first time I had been exposed to a novel. The pedagogical practices that the teacher utilised ensured that this was a positive experience for me that helped foster my love of reading and being read to. I believe this experience was so powerful because it was authentic. The teacher read to the class like a parent reading to their children. We didn’t have to sit at our desks or complete comprehension questions at the end of each chapter. It was reading for the sake of reading and being read to. Through this authentic literacy experience, I found a love for novels that I had previously believed to be too hard or too boring. In hindsight, I now believe this love that was instilled in me then was the beginning of the journey that would ultimately lead me to decide to become an English teacher. Without this positive experience, my personal literacies could have developed quite differently. Thank you Mr Lollback.
