Maxfield as a literature and STEM classroom unit. A huge shout out to the Reading Rangers after-school enrichment club at Hope Partnership for Education!
A group of amazing students — the Reading Rangers at Hope Partnership for Education — volunteered to be Beta readers for Maxfield Mouse, Inventor. Not only did they read and analyze the text and illustrations, they tried out the mouse inventions, and then designed an entire carnival unit at the end! For teachers, homeschoolers, and anyone else, we have lesson plans and notes below. The STEM activities can be downloaded on the Parents & Teachers page.
Let us know if you use the plans, and what you think!!
Reading Rangers Club Report – Week One – October 7, 2025
Leaders: Mrs. Quint & Mrs. Eastman
We started our first week with everyone introducing themselves and their favorite books. We will be reading a chapter book together, Maxfield Mouse, Inventor. The book was published last month, with illustrations from Mrs. Quint and text from Mrs. Eastman. The students will test-read the book and give feedback to make it better! They will also test out the STEM activities connected with the book to see how they work with a group.
Book Discussion after reading chapters 1& 2
Q: From what we read, what are Maxfield’s character traits?
Student responses:
o Kind, sharingo Came from outsideo Very intelligento Funnyo Smarto Hard-workingo Good mindsetQ: What did you like or not like about the book? What did you think about it?
Student responses:
o Chapters should be longer
o Likes the book, likes the pictures
o Maxfield and Sky are like Tom and Jerry
o Likes the different settings
o Need more pictures (catapult device at the end of chapter 2)
o Maxfield is similar to Stuart Little
Q: What do you think could happen next? (Note: Maxfield has been separated from his farm family, ended up in a townhouse, and made friends with the dog Sky.)
Student ideas (these are great!):
o Add some drama. The humans see the mouse and shriek. Show how Maxfield has to sneak past the humans.
o A stray cat tries to attack Maxfield, and Sky defends Maxfield. The cat surrenders and becomes a member of their group.
o Sky makes a home for Maxfield in the back garden. Sky pretends to bury a bone, and digs a hole that Maxfield can live in.
o Maxfield rides on Sky’s back to find his farm family.
These ideas could all go together to create a whole new book!
STEM Activity
(In the story, Maxfield made a catapult so he could toss treats to Sky.)
The students passed out materials and directions, and each made a catapult from popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and spoons. They used their catapults to aim small pom-poms into a cardboard box. We talked about catapults as levers, and the six simple machines.
Next week, students will work in pairs to make a rescue pulley from the next section of the book.
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Reading Rangers Club Report – Week Two – October 14, 2025
Introduction
We started our second week with a quick review of last week’s book discussion and the catapult activity.
Book Discussion after reading chapters 3 & 4 & 5 of Maxfield Mouse, Inventor
Q: What did you think about the illustrations?
Students would like more illustrations. Some specifics:
o Maxfield riding in Sky’s treat pouch
o The location of the bush next to the birdbath
o The village mice pulling Maxfield out of the birdbath with their pulley
Q: What are Sky’s character traits?
o Nice, kind, growth mindset
o Greedy for food
o Helpful
o Clumsy, wild
o Cares for Maxfield and is protective
o Loyal to Maxfield
Good details, and close reading.
Q: What do you think could happen next?
Students initiated a discussion about whether Maxfield should stay in the townhouse with Sky, or move to the mouse village. Their position for staying in the townhouse was that Maxfield had his home set up, and was friends with Sky, and could still visit the village. Their position for moving in with the other mice is that Maxfield would be less lonely, that he would fit in better with the mice, and that Sky was busy with her humans.
STEM Activity - Pulleys
(In the story, the mice made a pulley to rescue Maxfield from a birdbath.)
This week’s activity was to make a mouse-sized rescue pulley, using a paper towel roll (tree trunk), chopstick (tree branch), spool, twine, and a cup.
The first challenge was to find an object that would fit into the cup and was about the weight of a mouse (one ounce). The students tried a variety of small objects from the room, and their backpacks, weighing them on a postal scale. They ended up using a small tube of lotion, a small padlock, and erasers.
The students worked in pairs on this project. They collected materials and directions, and each pair made their own rescue pulley. The pulleys required some experimenting and revising. They all were designed differently, and they all worked! Maxfield-object-in-a-cup was pulled up and lowered down to safety!
Students worked cooperatively with their partners. Great pulley engineering!
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Reading Rangers Club Report – Week Three – October 21, 2025
Introduction
We started our third week with a quick review of last week’s book discussion and the pulley activity.
Book Discussion after reading chapters 6 & 7 & 8 of Maxfield Mouse, Inventor
Q: What are Maxfield’s worries?
o The carnival rides won’t turn out the way he planned
o There is too much to get done in time.
o The other mice will be disappointed.
Q: What would you change?
o Explain and illustrate how Sky places his paw next to Maxfield.
o Make Maxfield’s appearance more distinctive.
Q: What could happen next?
o Sky could come to the park and accidentally knock over the rides.
o Rosie and Maxfield could fall in love.
Activity – Draw a map
(In the story, Maxfield begins planning the carnival by drawing a map.)
This week’s activity was for each student draw the map of a carnival. The students looked over three different examples, and then used large sketch paper to draw their own ideas.
The Reading Rangers’ ideas and drawings will lead to additional building and art projects! As a group, we will research and discuss how they can be constructed, and what materials will be needed. Some of these new ideas include a roller coaster ride, food stands, a dance (ballerina) stage, and a racetrack. Very exciting!!!
The activity for next week is to make a working sailboat that could carry at least two mice.
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Reading Rangers Club Report – Week Four – October 28, 2025
Introduction
We started our fourth with a quick review of last week’s book discussion and the carnival plans.
Q: What rides, activities, booths would you have in a mouse carnival?
Rides:
o Roller Coaster
o Ferris Wheel
o Drop Tower
o Water Slide
o Hamster Wheel
Activities:
o Racetrack
o Dance
o Games
o Balancing
o Splash Pool
o Seesaw
o Swings
o Maze
o Escape Room
Booths:
o Nuts
o Cheese
Students updated their name cards with their favorite ideas for the carnival.
Book Discussion after reading chapters 9 & 10 of Maxfield Mouse, Inventor
Q: This section of the book raises several questions and problems. What are they, and which ones get solved?
o What is Toby hiding?
o Who is taking the prize treats?
o How can the mice repair the Ferris Wheel?
o Should Maxfield move to the mouse village?
Q: What did you like/not like/suggest to change?
o Liked the way Sky showed Maxfield how to choose both options.
o Maybe Maxfield did not get lost at the start of the book, but instead ran away from a problem situation.
o Add a table of contents
o Illustration to show how the Ferris Wheel looked when it was breaking down.
Q: What could happen next?
o The carnival might turn out well or it might be a disaster.
o Toby might sabotage the rides or he might build new ones.
Activity – Make a boat that can hold the weight of two mice
(In the story, Toby complains that the youngest mice can float of the duck boats, but he weighs too much. Maxfield tells him to try making and testing a boat from aluminum foil.)
This week’s activity was for each to take a 9 inch square of aluminum foil and fold it into a boat that holds two ounces (two mouse weights). Checking on a postal scale, a walnut in its shell weighs about ½ ounce, so the goal is to make a boat that holds at least four ounces. The boats were tested in a bin with water.
All the students successfully made boats that held four walnuts. One student used a second piece of foil to reinforce his boat, and his held an amazing 18 walnuts! We tried adding a sail to a couple of boats by gluing a stick along the bottom, then a spool holding a stick, and a post-in note sail. The boats were too damp for the glue to stick and set, so we may try that part of the project on another day.
Next session (after two weeks off for Election Day and Veterans Day), we will be making a box trap to catch the treat thief, and adding to the carnival plans.
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Reading Rangers Club Report – Week Five – November 18, 2025
Introduction
We started our session with a quick review of last week’s book discussion and the carnival plans.
Q: What were the favorite carnival ideas?
We tallied the votes for the carnival, and came up with their top nine:
Seesaw, Slide, Roller Coaster, Drop Tower, Car Race, Ferris Wheel, Splash Pool, Boat Ride, Zip Line, and Booths
Students brainstormed what materials we might need to make each ride and booth.
Book Discussion after reading the final chapter of Maxfield Mouse, Inventor
Q: What did you think of the ending? How would you have written the ending?
Q: For the next book in the series, what would you prefer as the plot? That he teaches the mice in the village how to fix up the barn? Or that he finds a bike path to go back and find his farm family?
Students discussed the options, and added their own plot twists.
Activity– Make a box trap to catch the treat thief. See what set-up works best.
Art activity - Camouflage the traps.
At the end of the session, students signed up for the carnival project that they wanted to construct. Next session (not meeting during Thanksgiving week), will be all about constructing the carnival, decorating booths, and making clay mice.
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Reading Rangers Club Report – Weeks Six and Seven – December 2nd and 9th
CARNIVAL TIME! The students designed the mouse carnival over these two weeks. The after-school fall semester ended with their carnival exhibit for the school, and snacks and certificates for the students.
