Introduction
By Stacey Scott
A literary adventure of the wilderness of Maine's pre-statehood based on the novel"The Sign of the Beaver" written by Elizabeth George Speare.
INTRODUCTION
This year, 2020, marks Maine's 200th birthday , but what was life like in Maine before becoming a state? Imagine that you were living in the wilderness of Maine in the year 1768. Imagine that you and your dad travel into the wilderness to build your new home, and get things ready for the arrival of your mom and sibling. When the cabin was built, you are left behind so that your father travels back to Massachusetts for the rest of your family. A trip that will leave you by yourself for seven weeks. You must tend the corn and keep an eye on the cabin. You expect him back in late August, plenty of time before the long , cold winter sets in.
In this quest you will travel to another time, imagining that you are the main character, Matt, at the age of 13. Along the way you will connect with a new culture: the tribe of the Penobscot Indians. Could you make it and adapt to your new life in the wilderness?
Task
TASK
You will have several "tasks" to complete before your adventure is complete.
The first task is to learn about what Maine was like more than 200 years ago. You may have to learn some survival skills before you head out on the adventure.
The next few tasks will be keeping your father updated on how you are doing and what is happening. You will write your father a few letters to let him know what is going on and that you miss him. To help, you will be keeping a character scrapbook page in your journal.
The last task will be completed once we are through with the book. At the end of the story, Matt is faced with a choice. When we finish the story, you will write a new ending, where you make a different choice
Process
PROCESS
Before we begin, lets learn a little about the lady who wrote the book, Elizabeth George Speare:
When Ms Speare was a child, she wanted to be. writer. She grew up in New England, where most of her stories take place. She has a special interest in Colonial history. Read more about her here:
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/authors/elizabeth-george-speare/
Lets learn about the setting of the story
The story setting is the colonial days of Maine when it was first being settled. Visit Ducksters.com to learn about the state of Maine:
https://www.ducksters.com/geography/state.php?State=Maine
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Listen to chapters 1 & 2 of The Sign of the Beaver, and then complete this task:
You will be learning what life was like for a boy of 13 years living in the 1700's. You will chose one particular skill Matt needed to in his new life in the Maine wilderness.. Here are some resources to help you complete your task:
Wilderness Survival:
Edible plants: https://mainehuts.org/discover/blog/wild-edibles-what-eat-and-where-forage-woods-maine
What to do if you meet a bear:https://www.dirtinmyshoes.com/bear-safety-101-what-if-you-see-bear/
Life as a colonial settler:
Colonial life: https://www.ducksters.com/history/colonial_america/food.php
How to build a log cabin:
Complete ONE of the activities in order to show that you are ready to go on with your wilderness adventure.
- Make a video( using your camera) presentation of one of the survival techniques that you learned, to help a fellow classmate to survive a journey. For example; what do you do if you meet a bear, how to build a trap to catch a small animal, or how to identify edible plants and which ones to avoid eating.
- Design a log cabin. make a video(using you camera) explaining how you designed it, what was the process in your construction, and any special things you needed to consider when building a real log cabin before the use of power tools.
- Write a recipe for a traditional dish that was eaten during the 1700's. Explain how the early settlers of Maine would have made the dish, without being able to go to the store every time they needed an ingredient.
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The next tasks will be completed as we read through the book The Sign of the Beaver. You will miss your father a lot while he is away. There is no post office in the Maine wilderness, but you find yourself writing to him to tell him how you have spent the days waiting for his return. He will be able to read the letters upon his return. You should write him four letters to tell him of the adventures you have had since he has left. Talk about your feelings, fears or hopes you have had. Follow proper letter writing, spelling, and punctuation rules. REMEMBER it is 1768, before electricity and video games.
Write your first letter after you listen to chapters 1-6 (You will get the link for the chapters in Google Classroom):
Before you begin you start, read the rules for writing a letter. Here are a few resources to help you. Remember to write the letters as if you are were Matt writing to his father. Use the "VOICE" of a boy speaking to his father.
http://naturemappingfoundation.org/natmap/facts/honey_bee_k6.html
Complete the following tasks after reading chapter 12: ( I will post links for read alouds in Google classroom)
- Matt and Attean have spent have spent a lot of time together, they come from very different cultures. Create a scrapbook, make a scrapbook page for each character. Use the link to make the scrapbook page: http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/scrapbook/
- After creating the scrapbook pages , write another letter to your father.
After reading chapter 18, writer your next letter: (I will post the links to the read alouds in the Google Classroom)
How has Matt changed since his father left? Talk about some of the things that he has learned in that time. Pretend you are Matt, Matt is teaching Attean to read, and Attean is teaching Matt survival skills. How would you teach someone a new skill? Being a good reader, how would you teach someone to read? Matt has been waiting for his family to join him for a long time. How would you feel if you were him?
http://www.bigorrin.org/penobscot_kids.htm
After listening to chapter 22, write your last letter: (I will post links to the read alouds in Google classroom):
The Native Americans have left and Matt is left alone once again. Winter is coming. Write a letter to tell your dad about the decision you have made to stay in the cabin. Write the letter as if you are Matt. Tell you dad about what has happened since your last letter.
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You will complete you final chore after we have finished the book :
Matt has an important decision to make at the end of the story. After hearing how he decides, you are to pretend that you would have chose differently than Matt. Write a different ending where Matt makes a different choice. Here are some research sites to learn about how Native American lived:
Penobscot Indians
http://www.bigorrin.org/penobscot_kids.htm
Eastern Woodland Indians
https://online.kidsdiscover.com/unit/eastern-woodland-indians
Learn about Native Americans
https://www.ducksters.com/history/native_americans.php
Evaluation
Evaluation
| 3 accomplished | Learner has presented thoughtful presentations that were organized, interesting to read, and demonstrates knowledge on the subject. | I can show that I have knowledge on the subject. I can write a properly written letter. I can explain how settlers lived in 1700's Maine. | |
|
2 developing |
Learner presents few interesting details. The presentations were not organized, but were interesting and showed some knowledge on the subject. | ||
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1 Beginning |
Surviving in the wilderness-Just completes the tasks. |
Conclusion
Congratulations
I am proud of you. You have survived living in the Maine Wilderness! I hope that you learned about yourself along the way. I hope you have learned about the Native American Culture. How it is the same yet different from Matt's, and your own life.
Credits
Credits
I did follow other Webquests on this bookto get the ideas for my own. It can be seen here questgarden.com/84/77/7/091007063349
I found the photos in Google searches
Teacher Page
by Stacey Scott, CRCS Dimensions Academy, Maine (March 2020)
A literary adventure following the book " The Sign of the Beaver" written by Elizabeth George Speare
Teacher Introduction
This book started as a read aloud before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Webquest was written to meet learners as the began the idea of remote learning. 2020is the 200th birthday of Maine's statehood, the book was chosen to teach Maine learners how life was like in the days before statehood. It was also chosen as a unit to compare historical fiction to a nonfictional time period.