Introduction
The inspiration and action for this project stems from years of noticing and grading my students, reflection on my own teaching, and countless conversations with my ELA colleagues. I have been teaching writing, reading, and visual arts to middle school students for 9 years at Allegheny Traditional Academy 6-8 in the Pittsburgh Public School District. Prior to this, I taught all subjects in elementary classrooms in mostly suburban settings.
The 2025/2026 school year will be my first school year in 9 years that I will not be teaching art in addition to ELA. What I have learned as a teacher in a visual arts classroom, I am also able to apply in my ELA classroom. First, it should be noted that art has enabled me to allow my students to complete hands-on projects, be creative, and live in a judgement-free zone. In addition, my experience teaching elementary school has also given me the chance to teach math and science. In math, I used manipulatives to teach fractions and counting. Although it was at an elementary level, the notion of hands-on learning continues to enter my brain.
Our school is surrounded by parks, The Children’s Museum, an aviary, pickleball and basketball courts, a world-class hospital, busy streets, and lots of bike lanes. Leafy trees line the streets in the spring and seeing their white flowers bloom is something I look forward to every year. The Pittsburgh Pirates stadium is a quick 10-minute walk from school. Our school shares two buildings with an elementary school of the same name. The school campus is built in with surrounding city buildings and is not a stand-alone campus that you may find more suburban and rural schools a part of. Although a part of the Pittsburgh Public School District, Allegheny Traditional is a magnet school that requires an application for admission. Students must adhere to a standard for attendance and behavior to continue attendance at our school. Students wear uniforms in the colors of white, navy blue, khaki and sky blue. We are the home of the Astros! The Pennsylvania State Assessment, or PSSA for the year 2024 had 31% of our 7th grade students score proficient or advanced in English Language Arts, while 7% scored at that same level for Math. 87% of our students are economically disadvantaged and 24% of students have an IEP. African American or black students make up 75% of our student population, 3% identify themselves as Hispanic, 6% Asian, 7% multi-ethnic and white students make up 9% of our school population.
“Pittsburgh 412 and Beyond: The Map Files,” will demonstrate how the use of hands-on materials, manipulatives, and physical maps will help guide students in their thinking and writing through investigation, inquiry, problem solving, and evidence gathering. This unit will have 3 phases. In phase 1, students will begin with a discussion of preselected maps to build background knowledge. Next, students will use clues, evidence, and maps to determine the location of a crime and what was stolen (or in this case kidnapped). Lastly, students will write a text-dependent analysis essay (TDA) justifying where the crime was committed and by whom using the evidence they gathered. It is important to note that many different types of projects can be added into Phase 2 of this project. You do not need to do Phase 2 exactly as I have done it. Think of it like a recipe and add your own little spin to it too. I encourage you to make this project local to you. I’ll talk more about this later.
I have done a project slightly like this in the past with my students. Each small group of students gets one envelope, and within that envelope are 7 suspects and 7 crime scene photos. Students must use evidence from the suspects and crime scene photos to determine which suspect should be charged with the crime. Students loved taking the role of a detective and trying to figure out who committed the crime. One of the biggest takeaways from this project is the engagement, excitement, and joy of the students while they are completing it. This joy is what encouraged me to plan a crime scene investigation unit while adding the component of using and making maps. In addition to making a map and writing a TDA, skills being worked on in this project include communication, teamwork, deductive reasoning, inferencing, how to work through disagreements when they arise, analysis, evaluation and decision making. To summarize, if you want a project that includes robust discussion, is hands on, fosters teamwork, promotes higher order thinking and writing skills, and keeps students engaged, this will be the project to try.
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