Book Club: Sign of the Beaver

Book Club Experience: The Sign of the Beaver

Join us this summer for an immersive book club featuring The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare.

More than a traditional discussion class, this course invites students into the world of frontier survival and cross-cultural friendship. As we read together, students will explore courage, responsibility, and cultural understanding through interactive and collaborative experiences inspired by the novel.

Students will:

Read and discuss key passages together

Participate in survival-themed challenges such as designing a model shelter from simple materials, learning the basics of animal track identification, practicing map-reading and navigation skills, and exploring wilderness problem-solving scenarios

Create frontier survival journal entries from Matt’s perspective

Re-enact key scenes, debate character decisions, and collaborate on group challenges that require teamwork and strategy

This course offers a shared summer experience for students who enjoy historical adventure, hands-on creativity, and thoughtful discussion beyond the page.

Required Materials:
Books and supplies are not included in the purchase of the course. These resources are listed to help inform your decision-making as you make course selections and build your course schedule. Please reach out to the instructor if you have any questions about materials.

The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare

Mrs. Melissa Browne

[email protected]

Melissa Browne holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, and is certified TESL Instructor. She taught privately as an English teacher in China, Taiwan, and in Peru for 10 years where she also studied Waldorf pedagogy. She is currently a brick-and-mortar Classical Elementary school teacher in Peterborough, Ontario where she teaches grade 3/4 with Classical Academic Press' Latin, Writing, and Grammar curriculum. In the afternoons, she tutors students in Latin, writing, grammar, spelling, Spanish, Singapore Math, and literature studies. Melissa also teaches Sunday school at her local church and periodically teaches ESL with the local college and university. Her students, both online and in-person, are an incredible encouragement and blessing.

Long Canadian winters find her enjoying board games and books, while summers are spent swimming at the beach and tending her garden. Hospitality and shared meals are a year-round joy. Melissa lives in Lakefield, Ontario, with her husband and two children, and makes occasional trips to Peru. She enjoys traveling, reading, and cooking, and delights in serving the body of Christ alongside her husband while watching their boys grow into godly young men.

Computer: You will need a stable, reliable computer, running with a processor with a speed of 1 GHz or better on one of the following operating systems: Mac OS X with Mac OS 10.7 or later; Windows 8, 7, Vista (with SP1 or later), or XP (with SP3 or later). We do not recommend using an iPad or other tablet for joining classes. An inexpensive laptop or netbook would be much better solutions, as they enable you to plug an Ethernet cable directly into your computer. Please note that Chromebooks are allowed but not preferred, as they do not support certain features of the Zoom video conference software such as breakout sessions and annotation, which may be used by our teachers for class activities.

High-Speed Internet Connection: You will also need access to high-speed Internet, preferably accessible via Ethernet cable right into your computer. Using Wi-Fi may work, but will not guarantee you the optimal use of your bandwidth. The faster your Internet, the better. We recommend using a connection with a download/upload speed of 5/1 Mbps or better. You can test your Internet connection here.

Webcam: You may use an external webcam or one that is built in to the computer. Webcam Recommendations: Good (PC only) | Best (Mac and PC)

Headset: We recommend using a headset rather than a built-in microphone and speakers. Using a headset reduces the level of background noise heard by the entire class. Headset Recommendations: USB | 3.5mm

Zoom: We use a web conferencing software called Zoom for our classes, which enables students and teachers to gather from around the globe face to face in real time. Zoom is free to download and easy to use. To download Zoom:

Visit zoom.us/download.
Click to download the first option listed, Zoom Client for Meetings.
Open and run the installer on your computer.
In August, students will be provided with instructions and a link for joining their particular class.

Scanner: In this class, students frequently submit homework assignments by scanning pages from their workbooks. Students and/or their parents should have easy access to a scanner and the ability to use it.

Z

Step 1

Z

Step 2

Z

Step 3

Z

Step 4

Explore our courses!

First, read the available course descriptions, noting prerequisites, target grades, and course objectives. If you think your student is prepared for the course, go ahead and register. After registration, a placement assessment may be provided to students, depending on the course and the student's previous enrollment with Scholé Academy. Registration is finalized when the student's placement assessment has been returned by the course instructor with placement confirmation.

All Courses | By Grade

Read the Student-Parent Handbook.

Please take careful note of our teaching philosophy, our technology requirements, our school policies, the parent agreement, and the distinctions between our grade levels.

Double-check the course section dates and times.

Make sure they don't conflict with other activities in your schedule or other courses you are purchasing. Our system will not catch double-bookings!

You're ready to add course selections to your cart!

Our Assistant to the Principal will be in touch with you after your enrollment to help you with next steps, including any placement evaluations that may be required for your course selections.

This registration will be finalized when the student's placement assessment has been returned by the course instructor with placement confirmation.