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--I read Flat Stanley, by Jeff Brown, to the class. (I also had extra copies and audio tapes for the children to take home on a rotating basis.)

--One afternoon I had parent volunteers come in to help. I put my 18 students into groups of 2. Each parent volunteer worked with 3 groups of children.

Click here to see a copy of the directions that I gave to each parent volunteer.

--I copied the Flat Stanley pattern found at

http://www.northcanton.sparcc.org/~orchard/flatstan/pattern.htm

onto 8 1/2 x 11" cardstock. (I am thinking about letting each child in the gruop make an identical Stanley this year -- one to send and one to keep in our classroom -- just so that each child has a Stanley to take home at the end of the year.): You can have children create their own Stanleys or even have them make Flat Sarah or Flat Joey or whatever their own names are. Again, this is up to you.

--I gave each group the Flat Stanley pattern and a journal. The front cover of the journal was the same Flat Stanley as the pattern copied onto a piece of regular copy paper. At the top of the journal cover it said Flat Stanley's Visit to __________. At the bottom it said From Mrs. Golubic's First Grade Class in Boardman, Ohio. The groups of children had to decide how they were going to color Stanley. He had to look the same on the pattern and on the journal cover. They took turns coloring.

--On the first page of the journal I copied a simple US map on the top half of the paper. Under the map I put a little empty square to serve as the map key. Next to the square it said: This is our state.

The children chose a color to color the square and then colored our state of Ohio the same color on the map. Parent volunteers helped the children find Ohio. They talked about directions, Lake Erie, where we are located, etc. They also located the state that their Stanley would be going to and talked about it.

On the bottom half of the same paper it said: This is a little about us. Parent volunteers wrote what the children in each pair said about themselves--about their families, pets, what they like to do, what they like about school, etc.

The next page of the journal was the directions for the class receiving the journal.

Click here to see the page of directions to include in the journal.

I included 4 or 5 blank pieces of paper in the journal.

--On the back of each Flat Stanley I wrote: Hi! I'm Flat Stanley. I came from Mrs. Golubic's First Grade Class. This is my address: Market Street School/ 5555 Market Street/ Youngstown, OH 44512. My email address is boar_njg@access-k12.org

--I laminated and cut out each Stanley.

--I took a digital picture of each group with its Stanley. I put the picture in the journal also.

--All the Stanleys were ready to mail out, but keep in mind that only 2 or 3 of them were mailed each trimester, according to the rotation schedule.

 

Responsibilities When Receiving a Visiting Flat Stanley

--Email the class that sent Stanley so that the teacher and children know that he has arrived safely.

--You choose how you want to record in Stanley's journal. I did this on the computer at the end of each week. I wrote about what the weather was like, what we were doing in class, any special activities, etc. You decide whether or not you want to send the Stanleys home with your students. (This year I tried sending our first three Stanleys home with a journal and a disposable camera. Luckily I did get the Stanleys back, but I don't think I'm going to do that again. It was too much extra work for me. I had to copy the pictures and the journal to send home with all three Stanleys.)

I took lots of digital pictures of the visiting Stanleys participating in activities with my class. I made a little photo album for each Stanley.

--Collect brochures (I went to AAA), postcards, information about your state, souvenirs, etc. to send back with Stanley.

Please realize that some teachers will be able to afford to do more than others. The important thing is that we get back every one of our Stanleys.

--Try to stick to the rotation schedule. When you mail a visiting Stanley back, email the teacher and class to let them know that he is on his way. (And when you receive one of your Stanleys back, email the teacher to let her know that he has arrived home safely!)

--Let your Group Leader know if there are any problems.

--Check out the site of the official Flat Stanley project:

--Make a full-size Flat Stanley for your classroom.

--Do Family Stanleys in addition to our group Stanleys: (In my room, this is optional for those families who wish to participate.)

I send home a Stanley on cardstock (just like the group Stanleys), a journal, a big envelope, and instructions to any family that wants to send a Family Stanley to a friend or relative. Each family can send out as many Family Stanleys as they wish. Some send one Stanley to more than one destination; others send a different Stanley to each destination. When Stanleys return, the children bring in all the things to share with the class. I post any pictures on my web site. Sometimes I make a big poster of the pictures, postcards, etc. and put them up in the hall.These Family Stanleys are usually wonderful!

My Family Stanley has been on the go for two full years. He has been to Allentown, Pennsylvania; Boston, Massachusetts; Allentown, Pennsylvania; Charlotte and Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina; Daytona, Florida; the Cleveland Zoo, a Four Blocks workshop in Cleveland with Cheryl Sigmon; Williamsburg, Virginia; and the Great Wall of China! This summer he will be going to Toronto, Canada, to see The Lion King and to Las Vegas, Nevada! He has traveled with me, with my parents and sisters, and with various students of mine.

Click here for sample directions for a Family Stanley

--Send a few Flat Stanleys to famous people.

--Flat Stanley Museum (from Maureen Kowal): We went into the cafeteria one morning. I put 2-3 kids at each cafeteria table. They spread out their returned Stanleys (which could be Family Stanleys or Group Stanleys). The children then acted as museum guides. They stayed with their Stanleys. The parents browsed through and asked each child questions, like where the Stanley went, what he brought back, what the weather was like, etc.

--Judy Gibson sends the visiting Stanleys home with individual students.She sends home a 3-pronged folder with a parent page, a student page, and several blank lined pages. This is an example of the parent letter she sends.

Dear Parents:

Your child, __________, has brought home several visiting Flat Stanleys. Please help your child be careful with the Stanleys as we need to return all of them to the classes they came from. Have your child record any adventures he may have while the Flat Stanleys are visiting. Return them and the journal by __________ so the Stanleys can go home with another student.

I have sent a one-time camera with your child. You may let your child take three pictures with the camera. You can either take a picture with each Flat Stanlely or you can take them all in one picture and take three different pictures. Please help your child be responsible, as we would like to send these pictures to the classes that sent the Stanleys to us. We are also sending the class souvenirs from Louisiana. If you have anything you would like to donate to send back with the Stanleys, I would appreciate it.

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