From+the+Mixed+up+Files+of+Mrs.+Basil+E.+Frankweiler

This book tells the story of Claudia Kincaid, a precocious 11-year-old girl who feels underappreciated by her parents. She decides to run away from home just long enough to show her family what they would be missing without her. Unfortunately, she doesn't enjoy hardship or discomfort, which rules out the traditional 'running away'. To solve this problem, Claudia decides to stay at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. She persuades her younger brother Jamie to accompany her: he's quiet, but most importantly, he has a secret stash of cash, as well as a transit radio he's accumulated by cheating at card games with his best friend, Bruce Lansing. Much of the early part of the novel details how Claudia and Jamie settle in at the museum: blending in with school groups on field trips during the day to learn more about the museum's exhibits, hiding in the bathroom at closing time, and emerging after the staff has gone. At night they bathe in the fountain and sleep on antique beds. During their stay, they become fascinated with the newest exhibit: a beautiful statue of an angel, suspected to have been crafted by Michelangelo. They research the statue, and discover that it was donated to the museum by a Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, who lives in Farmington, Connecticut. They spend the last of their dwindling money to travel to Mrs. Frankweiler's house, where they discover the angel's secret, hidden somewhere in her voluminous and erratically organized files in Mrs. Frankweiler's office. (Afterwards, she sends them home in her Rolls-Royce and then they return home safely to their worried parents and siblings.) taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_the_Mixed-Up_Files_of_Mrs._Basil_E._Frankweiler || = = = Introduction Activity: Review of Names = Each person must give their name followed by a rhyming word. Then the next person does the same but must repeat every person’s name and rhyme that comes before them. Eg. Polly Golly Mary Dairy Louise Bouise Right left Story- Search the internet for "right left game" and you will get quite a few stories with the words right and left in them.
 * ** Book: From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler **
 * Ice-Breaker **

//All participants stand in a circle with a prize in their hands. The leader will stand in the middle and will orally read the right left story. Each time the leader says the word "right", all participants will pass their gift to the person on their right. Each time the leader says the word "left", all participants will pass their item to the person on their left. After the story is finished, each participant gets to keep what is in their hands.//

Hot-fudge sundaes, a treat mentioned in the book.
 * Discussion: **
 * 1) Claudia is bored with being “Straight A Claudia Kincaid”. Why? Have you ever been labeled or felt like you had to meet other people’s expectations?
 * 2) Why does Claudia want to run away from home? Have you ever felt like running away?
 * 3) Do they miss their parents? Do their parents miss them?
 * 4) Why does Claudia want Jamie as her partner? How do you feel about your brother or sister?
 * 5) Would it be fun to spend a night alone in the museum?
 * 6) What is your favourite part in the book? Were there funny parts?
 * 7) How were the children resourceful?
 * 8) Why is the statue in the museum so important to Claudia?
 * 9) What role does Mrs. Frankweiler play in this book?
 * Snack **

=Craft: Charcoal Drawings= Materials : large paper and charcoal, black and white copies of sculptures / statues Go online and search for statues/sculptures and print them off in grayscale. You may also find books in your library with old statues in them. Mothers and Daughters each pick a picture that they are going to enlarge and replicate using charcoal. Most will probably be unfamiliar with this medium. They can look at the different shades or gray and use tissue to smudge if necessary.



Wrap-up and introduction of the next book: