Brief Description

At the end of our unit on the novel From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, students will be taken to the computer lab to complete the TrackStar. This novel is about a brother and sister who temporarily live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and get involved in an art mystery concerning Michelangelo.  In this TrackStar, they will use Yahoo!maps to find directions and use the written directions to map both the path taken by the novel’s main characters and the path suggested by the map site on a map of Manhattan. They will make comparisons between the Metropolitan Museums floor plan from 1968 and the current floor plan, accessed from the Metropolitan’s official web site. They will map out the areas within the museum mentioned in the book using the museum’s web site. They will solve an art mystery using deductive reasoning. Finally, they will look at a variety of Michelangelo’s works and choose one to write a paragraph about, using Microsoft Word.

Standards and Frameworks

Technology Standards

• 5T-E1 Locate information from electronic resources
PO1 Identify electronic research sources
• 5T-E2 Evaluate the accuracy, relevance, appropriateness, comprehensiveness
PO2 Gather research from a variety of electronic sources

Language Arts Standard 3 - Listening and Speaking

•  LS-E3 Prepare and deliver an oral report in a content area and effectively convey the information through verbal and nonverbal communications with a specific audience

•  W-E3 Writing a summary
•  W-E8 Research skills

Academic

• Students will use a real-life activity (reading maps and directions).
• Students will use higher level thinking skills, including comparisons, deductive reasoning, and evaluation.
• Students will write a paragraph summarizing their evaluation of one of Michelangelo’s works.

• Students will learn to gather electronic information to extend their learning.
• Students will use Microsoft Word to type their paragraph about a work of Michelangelo.

• Accessing a web address
• Keyboarding
• Use of Microsoft Word

• TrackStar address http://trackstar.hprtec.org/main/display.php3?track_id=196062
• paper
• pencil
• copy of a map of Manhattan
• red pencil
• blue pencil
• copy of the current floor plan of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

• SEI students will pair up to work with English-fluent students to work together.
• Special Education students will be given additional time to complete the TrackStar during Seminar time and, if necessary, will be paired with Regular Education students.
• Gifted students will be able to complete a project of their choosing using information gained through the lesson.

1. Students will bring all of their materials (paper, pencils, maps) to the computer lab.
2. They will then access the TrackStar created. (http://trackstar.hprtec.org/main/display.php3?track_id=196062)
3. Students will progress through the TrackStar activities, following the directions presented at each site.
4. At the last site, on Michelangelo, students are to choose one of his works to write about. They will identify the one they like most, describe it, and explain why they chose it.
5. After writing a pencil and paper paragraph about it, students will then use Microsoft Word to type the paragraph, print it, and turn it in.

Students will use the information gathered to correctly trace the two paths on their maps of Manhattan. They will correctly identify areas of the Metropolitan on a floor plan map of the museum. They will solve the art mystery presented. They will write a paragraph about their reaction to and a description of one of Michelangelo’s works, including a topic sentence, relevant details, and a conclusion.

Teacher Name: Phyllis Newton
Site: La Cima Middle School
Date Submitted: March 9, 2004