Audio - all audio related to E.B. White

 My favorite essay by one of my favorite writers - E.B. White.  This is also the story that I pass out more to friends, students, and family than any other.  We read it in class before we read White's Stuart Little.  It's the story of a man seeing a therapist - and he ends up discovering that the thing that he really wants - more than anything else - is neither attainable nor material - but it is that desire that makes his life fulfilling and worthwhile.  We read the story in class and discuss it.

We discuss - in fact, we read the story aloud and stop along the way with our comments and questions, E.B. White's story about a man who sees a therapist, only to realize that the things he wants, like "the second tree from the corner," are the things that are unattainable and that keep him going from day to day.

At the end of the year we read, in World Literature, E.B. White's Stuart Little. The book sums up much of what we do - and though they may not understand why we are reading it - when we look at the first part (Chapters 1-8); they will by the ending. In this lesson we also read Robert Fulghum's "Everything that I needed to learn in life, I learned in kindergarten." This is the 6th period discussion.

Our last class discussion and it is a fitting one.  I begin by asking the students if they have figured out yet why we are reading and finishing the year with this particular book - about 1/3 to 1/2 of the students do.  We then go through the chapters  - Stuart's narrow brush with death, his turn as a teacher substitute, his meeting with the Ames girl - and finally the crossroads he reaches at the end of the story as he tries to find Margalo.

At the end of the year, my students read Stuart Little by E.B. White and we spend a couple of days talking about it.  In many ways, they will not know why we read this book (at this time of the year) until they read the last page - however in this discussion we talk about what makes for a good children's book - and we go over the life lessons that we can learn from Stuart.  We also talk a little about the plot - especially the Sail Boat Race - to top everything off - there is a minature 5 minutes for Friday at the end. 

 At the end of the year we read, in World Literature, E.B. White's Stuart Little.  The book sums up much of what we do - and though they may not understand why we are reading it - when we look at the first part (Chapters 1-8); they will by the ending.  In this lesson we also read Robert Fulghum's "Everything that I needed to learn in life, I learned in kindergarten."  

If you want to know why I teach E.B. White's story of a mouse-like boy born (note - not adopted) into a human family to a bunch of mostly seniors about to leave school for the great beyond -- this is the discussion to listen to.