Man, I know you're kidding (at least a bit), but in the past few weeks I've had so many conversations with students who have told me that they've been learning nothing until I broke it down into an (extensively) itemized format. So many students expect to feel like they know that they've learned something by the end of their designated learning period-- and rightly so, but all too often, people are just black holes of consumption and (TRIGGER WARNING [you fuck faces]) mental retardation. "He didn't give me Enlightenment and Perfect English. Bro, this guy sucks, Bro" (rough translation, of course). Anyway, it is totally possible that you could learn more than grades 1-5 from a book, movie or whatever, but a teacher really has no control beyond a certain point of what a given student will take away from the learning experience. It would be awesome if it were like IT. "Update Adobe Reader, Y/N?"
I wasn't kidding. I mean, yeah, I get you, but for the record I wasn't kidding. My Side of the Mountain was the first book I read that defined freedom in any way that a child could grasp. Incredible lesson, possibly the most important I've ever learned. On the flip side, I did learn a little bit in grade school, but most of it was about interacting with people I loathed. Also meaningful, but not on the same level. EDIT: ditto this, which is also about runaways, though less so and without the realistic and thus amazing nature angle.