The Mouse and the Motorcycle Book Club

Last week we started the classic novel, The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. This small group will be partaking in a PBL unit that connects to the book. We will be working on ELA and Social Studies Standards.

Project Overview:

The book describes how Keith, one of the main characters, and his family travel across the country for a vacation.  The author hints at the possible route they took. Students will be looking at maps and using text clues to determine possible ways that Keith’s family could have traveled from Ohio to the foothills of California.  They’ll explore landmarks along the way and look at physical and human characteristics of different areas of the country. Students will be showing their route and information on a poster or mural.  

Once students have become familiar with navigating and looking at maps they will be creating their own map of Franklin school.  We’ll be touring the building and noting important landmarks. They will create their maps and these will be available for families in the office so that they can find different classrooms and important places.  

Driving Question:

How can we, as cartographers, create a map that could be used by visitors to our school?

On Wednesday we re-read Chapter 1 with the goal of identifying locations the author mentioned. Students heard Ohio, California, Nevada, dessert, plains, and mountains. Students used a US Map to show possible routes from Ohio to California (Kieth's route). We will dig deeper into this next week. We also looked at a road map and made observations. Students noticed the many lines, the legend, and the symbols.