Half a Hundred Acre Wood

Christian homeschooling integrating Classical and Charlotte Mason principles

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Included here is a simple list of activities that our book club group did (or was hoping to do) while we met to discuss Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare.  But our activities were limited because of time and location, and our schedule was interrupted by scheduling conflicts during the last half of our meeting dates.  If I had the chance to do this again, I would include group nature walks and campfires and incorporate more biology into our activities.  I include those ideas in hopes that I might get to experience this with another one of my children. 

Overall Resources

  • Download Sign of the Beaver Unit Study from Homeschoolshare, which contains several wonderful ideas for incorporating social studies, language arts, science, and math into the reading of this book.  The download also includes notebooking pages, lapbook components, vocabulary lists, and discussion questions you can use during book club meetings.
  • With two main characters, this book lends itself to writing a character analysis.  You can divide a page down the middle for each chapter (or group of chapters) and list qualities and values of both Matt and Attean throughout the book.  By the end of the book, you will have taken enough notes to write a character analysis.  Though written for college students, this How to Write Character Analysis tutorial is useful for parents and teachers to guide their children through the writing of their first character analysis.  (Or try this easier-to-understand tutorial.)
  • Quizlet has several vocabulary word flashcards for Sign of the Beaver.
  • Some of our book club participants used the Total Language Plus Sign of the Beaver Workbook.
  • This book provides ample opportunity for a thorough study of nature and experiencing the great outdoors.  As you read through the book, you might take your group fishing, or go on some nature hikes (practice your tracking skills), or keep a botany book / journal (press leaves, make leaf rubbings, take photos, and/or classify the foliage in your area) and find out what is edible or poisonous.  You can also meet at a campsite or picnic area to enjoy campfires and hikes through the woods.

Week 1

Reading to be completed prior to meeting:  Chapters 1-4

Paper Model Longhouse

Week 2

Reading to be completed prior to meeting:  Chapters 5-9

  • Use questions for Chapters 5-9 from HSS Sign of the Beaver Unit Study, including:  What’s more important – learning to read or loving to read?  Why?  and When (if ever) would it be right for a person to be a slave to someone else?  Why or why not?  Students can write a paragraph on one of the issues presented in the book (like these two examples).
  • Review steps to writing a paragraph:  Pre-write (discuss out loud), Rough draft (write down ideas without worrying about mechanics), Revise (check mechanics – punctuation, capitalization, grammar, spelling and then rewrite), Proofread (read out loud, correct any additional mechanics, include dress-ups, decorations, sentence openers), Rewrite (final copy in nice handwriting or typed)
  • Review any Stylistic Techniques noted in this week’s reading.
    Simply choose words or phrases that you like the most.  Continue to use this sheet for the remainder of the book and share them in class.
  • Read portions of the New England Primer from this worksheet. You can download a copy of the New England Primer here.
  • Create a pictorial alphabet book for a younger sibling or friend.

Pictorial Alphabet Book

  • Taste saltless crackers vs. crackers topped with honey to get an idea of why Matt was so willing to disturb a bee hive.
  • Look at something written in a foreign language (Russian or Chinese) to experience what it may have been like for Attean to see a page of English words.
  • Go on a field trip to a honey farm / beekeeper
  • Walk with a crutch
  • Try to find the excerpts from Robinson Crusoe

Week 3

Reading to be completed prior to meeting: Chapters 10-13

Week 4

Reading to be completed prior to meeting: Chapters 14-17

  • Continue to identify stylistic techniques in Stylistic Techniques Chart and discuss questions from HSS Sign of Beaver Unit Study
  • Allow students to liven up some bland, non-descriptive sentences by adding stylistic techniques.
  • Review steps to writing a paragraph and note that there should be one main idea per paragraph and sentences should be in a logical sequence.
  • Write a paragraph about some issue presented in the book.  Ideas: 1) Do you like Attean or Matt best?  2) Matt’s family is late – what do you think Matt should do if they do not return?  3) Would you like Matt as a friend? Why/Why not? 4) Use an idea from the Sign of the Beaver Unit Study
  • Draw animals (squirrel, owl, etc.) and Native American scenes that complement the book.
  • Select a Bible story to illustrate, write about, and/or present.
  • Draw the Indian’s celebration: the story-telling, feasting, and dancing.
  • Illustrate the story in a series of cartoon strips – this would be good review of the Great Artists we’ve studied!
  • Research the animals we’ve encountered thus far:  fox, beaver, squirrel, porcupine, owl, loon, trout, rabbit, bees, bear

Week 5

Reading to be completed prior to meeting: Chapters 18-20

  • Continue to identify stylistic techniques in Stylistic Techniques Chart and discuss questions from HSS Sign of Beaver Unit Study
  • Illustrate the rescue of Attean’s dog in a cartoon strip.  OR illustrate the entire story up to this point. OR illustrate the Indian celebration. OR illustrate your favorite Bible story.
  • Finish your Pictorial Alphabet Book and bring it next week to show us!
  • Research or draw the animals we’ve encountered thus far:  fox, beaver, squirrel, porcupine, owl, loon, trout, rabbit, bees, bear, dog
  • Make corn cakes (although this is may not be an accurate representation of what Matt ate.)
  • Write 2-3 paragraphs about some issue presented in the book. Use the five steps we’ve discussed in class: Pre-write, Rough draft, Revise, Proofread, Rewrite.  Also be sure that each paragraph has only one main idea, is in a logical sequence and contains appropriate transitions.

Bring anything you have written, made, or drawn to class next week. Here’s your last opportunity to share it with everyone else!

Week 6

Reading to be completed prior to meeting: Chapters 21-25

  • Allow students to give their own oral review (impromptu speech) of Sign of the Beaver.
  • Finish off the book club with an opportunity for students to showcase their work.
  • Make gifts for your family.
  • A great end to the book club would be an overnight camping trip.
  • (And you might even read Robinson Crusoe together around the campfire.)

Other Resources

Sign of the Beaver Study Guide

We hope this unit study and/or book club guide is helpful to you! If you use it, please let us know by dropping down to the comments or posting about it on our Facebook page. Thank you!