The Metropolitan Museum

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City at Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street was opened in 1880.It is the largest art museum in the United States and contains more than three million works of art.The museum has a 700-seat auditorium, a museum shop, and a restaurant with eight life-sized sculptures displayed in a fountain.The museum's highlights include and original Egyptian tomb dated about 2460 B.C.; jade from Indian, Japan, and China; arms and armor from the Middle Ages; American rooms that contain furniture from 1640 to the early 1800s; the Costume Institute collection with over 15, 000 articles of clothing covering 400 years of world history and five continents.

Look at the maps of the Metropolitan Museum in chapter 4.Read the names of the rooms and discuss what kinds of things you might find there.

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

Write a sentence describing the characters and setting

Characters:

Claudia Kincaid--

Jamie Kincaid—

Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

SaxonbergSetting:

Greenwich,Connecticut--The Metropolitan Museum of Art--

Farmington,Connecticut--SUMMARY:

Eleven-year-oldis bored with simply being a "straight-A's Claudia Kincaid" from Greenwich, Connecticut.She decides to find a new place to live and to talke along her brother .Claudia has already planned where they will live: There they find a sixteenth-century canopied to sleep in, restrooms to in while the guards open and close the 

, and even coins in the museum to add to their funds.They spend most of their time exploring the itself, learning everything they can from the exhibits.

Then they see ,a statue that museum officials think-but cannot prove-was sculpted by .Claudia is determined to solve the myster, and finally the children decide to visit 

, the eighty-two-year-old original owner of the .They guess that Mrs. Frankweiler know the answer to the mystery.She tells the children they can have the -if they can find it in her huge bank of mixed-up files.

The children find the file and agree to keep the secret as long as Mrs. Frankweiler lives.Knowing the makes Claudia feel "different" enough to go 

.As they ride back to Greenwich in Mrs. Frankweiler's chauffered , Jamie and Claudia agree to adopt their new friend as their CHAPTER 1 Pages 3-18

Claudia feels bored and unappreciated in her family's busy household, so she plans the "greatest adventure of her life."She decides to go to the Metroploitan Museum of Art in New York City with her brother, Jamie.She chooses Jamie because he has the money to subsidize the excursion.

E. L. Konigsburg uses Mrs. Frankweiler to narrate this story.Do you like this technique?Does it get in your way of understanding the book?Why or Why not?Do Claudia or Jamie remind you of anyone you know?Think about that person, then write a few paraagraphs telling how the person is the same as or different from Claudia or Jamie.

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

Chapter 2Pages 19-27

Claudia and Jamie put their plan into action.With belongings packed in their book bags and instrument cases, they hid in the school bus until it is parked for the day.Then they board a train bound for New York City.

Claudia invite3d Jamie on her adventure because he had money.Write about whether you think Jamie will add anything else to the experience besides his cash.

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. FrankweilerChapter 2 Pages 19-27

Sequence the chapter.

-----Claudia had instructed Jamie to pull his feet up and crouch his head down so that Herbert, the drive, couldn't see him.

-----They peeked out of the window of the bus, and saw that the coast was clear.

-----Perspiration was causing her cheek to stick to the plastic seat

-----They arrived at the Greenwich station in time to catch the 10:42 local.

-----Claudia felt that having Jamie there was important.

-----The bus came to a stop.

-----On Tuesday night Jamie found his list of instructions under his pillow pinned to his pajamas.

-----Claudia pretended that she was blind and had to depend upon here senses of hearing, touch, and smell.

-----"The Metropolitan Musem of Art! Boloney!" he exclaimed.

-----On the way to the train station Claudia mailed two letters.

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

Chapter 3 Pages 28-42

Fill in the boxes and start a character analysis of Claudia, Jamie, and Mrs. Frankweiler.Add to the model what you learned about each character and how their attitudes about each other changed.
 

Claudia Kincaid ------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------

Jamie Kincaid ---------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- -------------------------------

Mrs. Frankweiler -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- ------------------------------- ------------------------------- ------------------------------- ------------------------------- ------------------------------- -------------------------------

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

Chapter 3Pages 28-42

Claudia and Jamie finally arrive at the museum.Claudia figurs out how they can remain in the museum after it closes, they they choose a place to sleep for the night.As they talk through their plans, their relationship begins to change.They become a team, as Mrs. Frankweiler, the narrator, explains.

****RECORD THE PROBLEMS THAT CLAUDIA AND JAMIE FACE AND THEIR SOLUTIONS AS YOU COME TO THEM.

PROBLEM:SOLUTION:********************************

PROBLEM:SOLUTION:PROBLEM:sOLUTION:PROBLEM:SOLUTION:PAGE 35—

What is inconspicuous mean?

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Frankweiler

Chapter 4 Pages 43-66

What does Claudia suggest that they should learn?How did they manage to stay in the museum after it closed?Claudia and Jamie's relationship began to change in this chapter.They became a team, as Mrs. Frankweiler, the narrator, explains.

On the lines below list several

situations from this chapter showing how they worked as a team.

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

Chapter 5 Pages 67-87

**Claudia and Jamie research Michelangelo and his work at the public library.What did they find out about Michelangelo?

Where did they take their baths?

Do you think it was wrong of Jamie and Claudia to take the money from the fountain?

Why or Why not?

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

Chapter 5 Pages 67-87

Sequence the Chapter

-----Once there, they asked the lady at the information boother where they could find books on Michelangelo.

-----As they were walking up the steps, Jamie spied a Hershey's almond bar still in its wrapper lying in the corner of the landing.

-----The men left, turning off the lights as they did so. Jamie heard the door close before he melted. Legs first.

-----They had been gone from home for three days now.

-----Jamie said, " Let's go to the TV deparment of Bloomingdale's and watch TV."

-----Claudia assigned to Jamie the task of looking through the books of photographs of Michelangelo's work to find picture of Angel.

-----They were moving Angel.

-----Together they collected $2.87.

-----They went to sleep then.Michelangelo, Angel, and the entire Italian Renaissance waited for them until morning.

-----She suggested they play in Central Park for a while.

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

Chapter 6pages 88-101

Claudia and Jamie discover a clue to the mystery.What is the clue?They compose a letter.To whom do they plan to send this letter containing the clue?List four other ways besides renting a post-office box that Claudia and Jamie could inform the museum curator of their important discovery without letting them know where they are.

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

Chapter 8Pages 110-123

On a visit to the United Nations, Claudia thinks about things she might do to be "different" What did she think about?After touring the U.N., she and Jamie go to the post office to check their mailbox.There they find a disappointing reply from the museum.What was their reply?What did they decide to do after receiving the reply?Why might Mrs. Frankweiler agree to see Claudia and Jamie?Chapter 9 Pages 124-154********

In this chapter Claudia and Jamie meet Mrs. Frankweiler.She knows them.How does she know them?The three make a deal. Why was making a deal necessary for Claudia?Chapter 9 continued pages 124-154

Explain the details of the deal?

How do you think Claudia and Jamie feel about Mrs. Basil E. 

Frankweiler?

How do you think she feels about them?

Chapter 10Pages 155-162

How did Claudia and Jamie finally get home?What is the connection between the children, Saxonberg, and Mrs. Frankweiler?What does Mrs. Frankweiler plan to leave in her will?

What do you think of the book's ending?

Did it end the way you thought it would?

Were you surprised by anything?

Do you have any unanswered questions about the story or any

comments for the author?Create your own art museum.Find some pictures of artist's paintings or a statue.Write a summary of the artist's life, other important works, and specific information about the chosen work.