The Flat Stanley Project

Are you familiar with Flat Stanley?  I wasn't until my daughter, a fourth grade language arts teacher, told me about the Flat Stanley project her class would be doing this month.  I thought it was just a local thing; after a Google search I was amazed!  Wikipedia gives a good explanation:

Flat Stanley is a 1964 children's book written by Jeff Brown, featuring Stanley Lambchop.  Stanley is given a big bulletin board which is hung over his bed.  During the night the board falls off the wall and flattens Stanley.  Having survived, he can now slide under locked doors, be used as a kite, and be mailed in an envelope to his friends.  The Flat Stanley Project, started in 1995 by Dale Hubert, is a way to teach letter-writing to students by documenting where Flat Stanley has gone with them.

Each student made a Flat Stanley and the assignment was to mail him to someone, who would spend a day or two with him, and document his experiences with photos and writing.  Now this just grabbed my attention immediately!!  I've always loved to pretend, so when Andrea (teacher/daughter) told me about the project I hoped some student would send Stanley to me.  A few days later, she brought her rendition of Flat Stanley to me

 and I was off on adventures with him.  This is Stanley's adventure with me, written from his point of view: 

Flat Stanley Visits a Farm

I visited a farm this week.  The farmer was a woman who worked with chickens, cows and kittens.  Work on the farm started early in the morning.  The first chore was work in the chicken houses, where we made sure the chickens had feed, water, and fresh air.

Next, the woman took me to feed the kittens.  They live in the barn where they eat and sleep between the big round bales of hay.  They are safe and warm here.

The woman raked some leaves and let me play in them before lunchtime.

While we waited until time to do the afternoon chores, the woman let me stand right in the very middle of the quilt blocks she was sewing!

Late in the afternoon it was time to feed the cows.  The farmer let me ride at the front of the tractor so I could watch the hungry cows as they came to eat.

At the end of the day I was very, very tired.  I was happy to have a nice little bed to sleep in and a warm quilt to cover me.

I dreamed during the night of the farm and how much fun I had helping with the chores.  And, best of all, the farm woman said I could come back any time I wanted to!

Of course I know Flat Stanley's time spent with me pales in comparison with being photographed with the president or traveling with a solider on a war field.  If you're interested enough to read more, Google "Flat Stanley".  The students won't be graded on this assignment; chances are that some who are sent the letter will not respond which isn't the child's fault.  I thought it was fun; almost like playing paper dolls again!

Charlotte