From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Another File for Mrs. Frankweiler”

Students will design a file to be included in Mrs. Frankweiler’s collection, drawing on textual elements to justify their choice of topic.

Mrs. Frankweiler describes her large collection of files as a “hodgepodge” containing “a lifetime of secrets” (Chapter 9). When Claudia and Jamie arrive at her home, she threatens to turn them into the police unless they can tell her something interesting for her to add to her files; they go on to tell her about their stay at the museum. Suppose you are in Claudia and Jamie’s situation. What recent experiences from your life or current events do you think Mrs. Frankweiler would find interesting enough to add to her files? For this activity, select and create one document you think merits addition to Mrs. Frankweiler’s files.

• Start by brainstorming a topic, which could be an interesting experience you’ve had, or even something as simple as a list of items in your backpack, along with their significance.
• Second, decide on a format for your file. To capture Mrs. Frankweiler’s attention, you may want to include text and visual elements, such as a drawing or a photograph. Your finished product could be a poster, a slideshow, or even a short video.
• As you create your file, consider how and why Mrs. Frankweiler should be interested in the topic, based on what you know about her from the novel. After the file is complete, write an explanation of how your file connects with one of Mrs. Frankweiler’s interests, or to Claudia and Jamie’s experiences. (Since Mrs. Frankweiler found their experiences interesting, she’s more likely to find yours interesting as well if you can show how they are connected.) Perhaps you can show how your topic connects with one of the novel’s themes, such as Self-Discovery, Art, or Strength.
• When you are finished, share your project with a neighbor and explain why you think Mrs. Frankweiler should add it to her collection.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity could easily be expanded or reduced in terms of complexity and significance depending on preference. To make it a larger capstone project, consider providing students with the prompt a few days in advance, giving them time to prepare ideas and formats. For a shorter project during a single class period, consider splitting them into groups and assigning each group a general topic to address, shortening the brainstorming process; you could also provide newspaper clippings, evocative images, or other supplementary materials to jumpstart the process.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English-language learners, consider including an outline that features several sentence starters to focus their planning efforts. Examples include “Mrs. Frankweiler is likely to be interested in this topic because she is also interested in _____,” “This topic is similar to the time that Jamie and/or Claudia _____,” and “The most effective format to cover this topic is _____.”