The Sign of the Beaver Education Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

"A. A for arm." […]

"White man's book foolish," he scoffed. "Write arm, arm, arm all over paper."

Puzzled at first, Matt saw his own mistake. "Hundreds of other words begin with A," he explained. "Or have A in them. And there are twenty-five more letters." (7.10,15-16)

Matt knew that teaching would be hard, but teaching Attean is especially difficult. Why? Reason number one: Attean's super smart. Reason number two: He does not want to be there. We're looking at a pretty tricky situation, especially for a brand-spankin' newbie teacher.

Quote #5

"How long Attean learn signs in book?"

"It will take some time," Matt said. "There are a lot of long words in this book."

"One moon?"

"One month? Of course not. It might take a year."

With one swift jerk of his arm, Attean knocked the book from the table. Before Matt could speak, he was out of the cabin and gone. (7.19-23)

Whoa, Attean—tell us how you really feel, why don't you? Ouch.

Quote #6

Matt decided to skip B for bone. In the night he had thought of a better way.

"This book isn't a treaty," he began. "It's a story. It's about a man who gets shipwrecked on a desert island. I'll read some of it out loud to show you." (8.3-4)

Matt realizes that the best teaching involves some creativity. He may not be able to blow things up in a science lab, but he can make words come alive through a story. Yay for thinking outside the box, Matty Boy.