ASHTABULA — A Flat Stanley who began his journey in Carla Robison’s second-grade classroom at Ss. John & Paul Elementary School last year inspired this year’s class to send their Flat Stanleys on far-flung adventures.
Robison says she uses the story of Flat Stanley to teach social studies to her students. Flat Stanley is the character in a series of books by the late Jeff Brown. Stanley gets flattened by a bulletin board and then has a series of adventures in his altered state, which allows him to mail himself to other places.
Robinson assigned students the task of making a Flat Stanley out of paper, then asked them to mail it to a friend or family member in another town or state. That person was to take Flat Stanley to a local landmark and photograph him there, then return the photos and story of Flat Stanley’s adventures to the student.
“It helps them learn about the landmarks, how far the states are from us,” Robison says of the project. Responses were recorded on a big map.
This year’s class sent their Flat Stanleys as far away as Florida and Nevada. But last year Ben Oatman sent his to the Queen of England.
“My mom knew somebody who knows the queen’s address,” Ben said, explaining how he happened to select royalty.
The response was slow to come, but after school was out last year, Ben received a note from the queen’s lady in waiting along with a packet of photos and information about the queen.
“I was really excited,” he says. “I didn’t think it would come back.”
Robinson used Ben’s story to inspire her students to follow through on their Flat Stanley projects this year. She says students look forward to that aspect of second grade and some have already decided where they are going to send Flat Stanley before they enter the classroom.
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Flat Stanley travels from Ss. John & Paul
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