Flat Stanley Project
Posted by: luv2teach77
I love doing the Flat Stanley project with my 2nd grade students each year. I always coordinate this unit close to our spring break. Each student makes a "flat" version of themselves. I have them color a body pattern decorating the shirt, pants, and shoes to look like their own clothes. Then I take digital pictures of each student and attach their heads to the decorated bodies. I laminate them so they are nice and sturdy.
I also make a little "sleeping bag" for their flat characters using a library card pocket. Their flat people slide in just right. On the outside of the "sleeping bag" I type out and glue down a little piece of paper that reads "Here's a safe place for me when I'm not on an adventure ZZZZzzzzzzzz" The kids love these!
I send their flat people home right before spring break starts with a letter explaining the project and some writing paper for each student to write about the adventures they take with their flat person. I encourage pictures or anything to make the project more creative, but don't require it. We don't send our flat people off on an adventure like most (although I've done it this way as well). I just find that my students REALLY enjoy spending their spring break doing fun things with their flat characters.
When they return from spring break, each student reads their adventure to the class and shares any pictures or trinkets they've returned with. Depending on the amount of parent involvement, I've seen anything from a whole scrapbook filled with pictures of the adventure to just a simple adventure written out by the student.
Other activities I do to extend the story include:
*writing about what it would be like to be flat
*creating a stamp collection book after reading the chapter where Stanley gets mailed to his friend's house in CA...the postmaster at our local post office donated TONS of old stamps that my students absolutely LOVE sorting through and gluing down to make their own collection.
I hope this gives others some ideas!
flat stanley
Posted by: karen
Why don't you have each child send their flat stanley to someone who lives far away? Each child can make their own FLAT MATT or FLAT HALEY, etc. and mail them to a family member or friend afar. Send a letter explaining to the host what is expected and ask them to send them to the child by a certain day and have the child present it by a certain date. This would be great for a school-wide event. You could compare who compare near or far, this would be a great geography lesson. Put the ball in your students hands, I think they'll run with it!
Flat Stanley
Posted by: Kelli
Basically what we do in the project is this. In my class we read Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown and each student creates individual flat stanleys. They choose where they want their stanley to go and we mail them there. Along with stanley, we send a journal, an info sheet about our school and a list of questions we want stanley to ask his class. When we recieve a stanely to host, we take him around our school and community, (like the beach, park, etc. ) we take pictures and then send stanley back with pictures and other souvenrs of his trip. there are many things that you could do with the information that you recieve when your stanleys come back, like calculate miles traveled, create a scrapbook of souvenirs, etc. Chekc out flatstanleyproject.com for more info. (My class has pictures on the site in the photo gallery, Kelli Ramirez's fourth grade.)If you have more questions just let me know.
Flat Stanley Start
Posted by: Cheryl
The way we got started was just by reading the book and getting to know Stanley. When we got to the part where Stanley gets mailed to his friends house, I had my principal come down to our class with a special delivery! It was a huge envelope! Inside was a Flat Stanley that we had made using the overhead (about 4 feet tall!) I wrote a letter that introduced Stanley as if he was talking. It said that I had invited him to visit the class, and that he was very excited to be here with us. It also had Stanley's idea that we would make Flat Friends to keep him company. The students then created there own Flat Friends and named them. We sent the flat friends home to learn about their parent's occupations. They are now almost all returned and ready to go out on their next adventure. It has been fun and exciting so far!
flat stanley
Posted by: KT
After reading the stories I have my class make life size versions of themselves and send them to friends or relatives. We display the returned "people" with souvenirs at Open House. It is a big hit. They get sent all over and return with heartfelt letters, postcards, photos, and once we got back a lifesize Flat Grandma ! It is always a fun surprise. Be prepared for some kids with no one to send to. I have had my own family and friends help out. This is a very worthwhile project.
FS activities
Posted by: jana
DEB,
This is my 1st year with the project, but this is what we've done. Each of my students began by making their Flat Stanley, myself included, these were laminated and sent to various classrooms across the US. (I got the OK from teachers prior to sending them.) We included a journal with our FS, and a short questionaire. As we get them back, we read the info, plot the location with a tac on the map (we can discuss this in detail, how far away it was from us, which direction, weather, etc.) I've been keeping all of our info and memorabilia alphabetically in 2 binders. I've got enough adresses for each FS to go on 2 trips-- so then the child chooses his/her next 'ticket,' and we compare their 2nd destination to their first by looking at the map also.
I have visiting Stanleys from other states as well. My students take turns taking them home, they write about their adventures in a journal, and bring them back the next day. They really love this!
My 2nd graders love it!!
Posted by: cmorgan
I read the book to them first. It takes a few days. Right after we start the book, I send a note and envelope home asking parents to write an address of a friend or relative who lives outside our area and would be willing to participate in our project. I tell them the farther the better. I also explain the project in the letter.
Then, we discuss the project as a class and make our Flat Stanleys. I usually call them "Flat Carrie" or whatever their name is. They trace a body onto oak tag and then decorate it with crayons, markers, yarn, scrap paper, etc. to look like themselves.
We then write a letter as a class as to what we want to say to our friends and relatives. They then will copy the letter inserting the proper names. I also include my own little letter in the envelope to add a few more details and of course when to have Flat Stanley back to us and where to send him.
When a Flat Stanley returns, the student gets to be the teacher. He sits up front and shows us his Flat Stanley, reads the letter, and shows any souveniors. We often get pictures, postcards, photo albums, pencils, or stickers. I actually got a Yankee Candle this year! Some responses are very creative and some are not.
After sharing all their stuff, we put Flat Stanley along with 1-2 items up on a bulletin board. We locate where he visited and put a pushpin in to mark the spot. Then I use string to connect the pushpin to the corresponding FS.
Hope this helps. Good Luck!
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Flat Stanley
Posted by: MsPropel
I just inherited a class set of Flat Stanley books from a teacher who won't need them anymore. In the past I have read the book aloud and been on the receiving end of the Flat Stanley project. This year, I'd like to be on the sending end. When my sister did this project in school her teacher had the students send to family or friends who lived far away. Unfortunately, with our population, I'm not thinking we would have many families participate. Because of this, I'm looking for about 20 classrooms to host our Flat Stanleys. I will have each child make their own Stanley and write an introduction letter. Stanley will come with this introduction letter from the student, an instruction letter from me, and a journal for Stanley to write about his adventures in.
When I hosted in the past, I sent home a letter asking parents if they'd like to participate by hosting Flat Stanley for a night. Then I assigned nights for those students. We would take him on our field trips and I'd have the students write in Stanley's journal about each adventure he went on. I also took him around our hometown and took pictures of Stanley. The class that sent Stanley to us last year was from Louisiana and I assumed it usually gets a little colder here in Pennsylvania. Because it was January/February, I printed out a hat, gloves, and a scarf and taped them onto Stanley so he would stay warm! I also sent him back with some momentos from our town and school.
I'd like to get all of the Stanleys sent out by the holidays. Then, we'd like him returned by the end of March to be sure you have plenty of time!
I've attached the letter I sent home to the parents and a few pictures of Flat Stanley around our town and hanging out in our class so you get an idea.
If you are interested, please PM me with your school address.
Thank you for your help!
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Flat Stanley
Posted by: laurathy
I'm doing a Flat Stanley this year for the first time and the kids LOVE it. The attachment has our journal that I send out and the letter to the host. I had the kids send it out on their own and bring it back to school when they got it back. Each child has a different color pin, and we put pins on a map on our bulletin board to show where our Flat Friends have gone. Many of my students' parents travel a lot for work and mentioned that they liked how this gave them something special to do for their kids. As far as the Stanleys, my kids just made flat characters of themselves.
Let me know if you have any questions,
Laura
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Flat Stanley Clothing
Posted by: Angela Forquer
I recieved a really neat idea this year with my flat stanley's. We recieved one that came with a blackline master of a shirt and pants so that when we sent Stanley back we could dress him according to our dress styles. My students really liked the idea of creating him an outfit.
