Where in the World is Flat Stanley?

Designed by: Lori B. Douroux       School:  Caughman Road Elementary

Grade Level:   2nd     Subject: Language Arts

Core Curriculum Objective(s):  Engage in sustained writing of various types of compositions (journals, letters, reports, poetry, stories) (2WA3)

Overview: Students will learn the proper form of a friendly letter. The students will send flat Stanley letters all over the United States.

Focus/Essential Question(s): How can we write Flat Stanley Letters?

Time Frame: Five one-hour class periods. The correspondence part should/could carry throughout the year.

Resources/Materials: 
* Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown 
* Paper 
* Pencils 
* Computer lab 
* Alphasmarts 
* Digital camera 
* Over head 
* Flat Stanley print out this can be downloaded from the following web site        
http://members.xoom.com/FlatStanley/fs.html 
* Sseagraves@yahoo.com 
* Envelopes 
* Postage 
* Addresses
 * Transparencies 
* Map of the United States

Culminating Assessment: Students will submit their completed letters to the teacher. The teacher will assess the students understanding by using the following rubric.

Flat Stanley Rubric:

Teacher Preparation: 
Preview the book Flat Stanley By Jeff Brown. The teacher should also visit the web site, http://members.xoom.com/FlatStanley/fs.html, to print out the Flat Stanley reproducible. The teacher should make a Flat Stanley copy for each student in the class. Background: Stanley is a young boy who has the misfortune to have a bulletin board fall on him and thus becomes Flat Stanley must adjust to life as a pancake. He finds life being 'flat' full of adventures like being folded comfortably in to an envelope and being mailed to the west coast.

Instructional Activities: 
Activity One: The teacher will read the book Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. The class will discuss all the things Stanley could do when he was flat. The teacher will explain that they will be making a Flat Stanley. Flat Stanley will be mailed to someone the student knows in another state. The students will each get a copy of Flat Stanley to color and cut out. After the students complete Stanley the teacher will take a picture of each students with their Flat Stanley using the digital camera.

Teacher preparation: The teacher should send a note home to parents asking them to send in a valid address to send Stanley. The teacher should also print the pictures from the digital camera for tomorrow's activity.

Activity Two: The teacher will hand to each student a Flat Stanley journal made from a few pieces of paper stapled together. She will explain that this journal will travel with Flat Stanley. The students will take their Picture with Flat Stanley and paste it on the front. On the first page they will tell a little bit about themselves and Flat Stanley's story.

Activity Three: The teacher will review the Flat Stanley Project. The teacher will explain that they must write a letter to travel with Stanley. The teacher will spark prior knowledge by asking the students if they remember writing friendly letters from a previous lesson. They will review the parts of a friendly letter. They will discuss specific things that should be in this letter to ensure that the people we are sending Stanley to understand what to do. The students will get out a piece of paper. The teacher will begin with the salutation. She will discuss the capitalization and the comma. Have the students write their salutations while the teacher monitors and helps any students requiring additional information. The teacher will model how to skip a line and indent the paragraph. Talk about the body of the letter; what are some import things that we must add. A sample body the teacher may want to model is as follows: My class is involved in a very fun and exciting project based on the book Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. In the book, Stanley is perfectly normal until he has the misfortune to have a bulletin board fall on him and thus become Flat Stanley. He discovers that being 'flat' is full of adventures. He slides under closed doors and gets sent to California in an envelope. While Flat Stanley is visiting you, please take him around your community, take pictures of him in different places, write in the journal about his adventures and mail him back to me. Our goal is to learn about as many different places as possible. Thank you for participating. Have the students begin the body of their letters as the teacher circulates around and monitors, giving assistance as needed.

Next the teacher will model how to write the closing. Brainstorm a list of different closings. Write the closings on a piece of chart paper and post it in the room, this is great for future reference. Some examples may include From, Sincerely, Yours truly, etc. The teacher will discuss the capitalization and the comma. Have the students close their letter by choosing the proper closing and signing their name.

Activity Four: The teacher will model the editing process by using her letter from yesterday on the overhead. Have the students take out their letters from yesterday. Tell students to go back and reread their letter looking for any spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors. The teacher will circulate around the room helping individual students edit. Also tell them to make sure their letter makes sense. The teacher will stress that it is very important that the recipient can understand the letter. Have students exchange papers with a friend to peer edit. The teacher will sit in on groups to help out where needed.

Activity Five: Students will use their rough drafts to type their letter on the computer. If computers are limited you may use alpha smarts. The teacher will monitor and assist as needed. Have the students print out 2 copies of their letter. One copy will be turned into the teacher and the other will be mailed with Flat Stanley. The teacher will assess the students understanding by using the scoring rubric.

Follow up: As Flat Stanley gets returned the students will locate and graph on the United States map all the places he's visited. Allow time for each student to read Stanley's journal when it arrives. When the Flat Stanley's get returned the students may bring in another address and send him out again. After a few weeks the class may want to do a presentation of Flat Stanley's travels to another class or parents. The activity is meant to be ongoing throughout the year.

Online internet projects: You can make this activity totally internet based. Simply Email Sseagraves@yahoo.com and her class will send your Flat Stanley.

Send Flat Stanley home with each child and let their parents record things they do together as a family