LS 521 Journal Entry for 02/06/07

Flat Stanley

Above is a picture of Stanley with a member of Blue Man Group!

Here is an excerpt from a letter sent by teachers about the Flat Stanley Project:

Currently there are over 1000 classes around the world participating in Flat Stanley projects. In the original book by Jeff Brown, Stanley Lambchop is squashed flat by a falling bulletin board. One of the advantages to being flat is that his parents can put him in a large envelope and mail him for a visit to his friends in California.

In our school project, students make paper Flat Stanleys and mail them to other schools or prominent people. We hope that the recipient will treat Stanley like a guest, complete the daily journal, then mail him back after a few weeks.
For many young students, these letters that they write to other students or to politicians and celebrities are the first meaningful opportunities they have had to use writing as a communication tool. It therefore motivates them to produce their best work and they eagerly look forward to responses. Photographs or souvenirs accompanying returning Stanleys add to the experience for these young people.
You were chosen as a recipient because of the interest and admiration that a student has for you. We hope you will consider participating in the Flat Stanley Project by making a few entries in the enclosed journal and returning it to the sender at the school’s address.

I am not sure of when I first heard of Flat Stanley. But he has come into my life a couple of times recently.

This past Thanksgiving my brother began telling me about a school project he had to do (He is a College Senior in Elementary Ed/Special Ed) involving Flat Stanley. Well the version of Stanley that he created became a student at Baldwin Wallace and had a schedule and attended classes etc.. So he took pictures of Stanley in front of all the various buildings and places all over campus that he would be. My brother then went on to use Flat Stanley for certain subjects while in the classroom.

We then get home and who arrives in the mail but - FLAT STANLEY. This time from the other side of my family my Mom's niece who is in the 3rd grade. Well we took Stanley right out and showed him our town. We took him to the Library, to see the Chief Cornplanter statue by the river. We then traveled by car to Titusville, PA and visited Drake Well the world's first Oil Well and the Oil Creek & Titusville Railroad.

I can't tell you what a fantastic idea I think Stanley is. It encourages kids to read as well as write and communicate with others via regular mail or e-mail and teaches them about faraway places different from their own home towns.

More recently when I went to the Tuscaloosa Public Library I saw a Frog version of Stanley. Think a frog on a stick with directions on the back to post pictures of where Stick's sticky tongue gets him stuck.

This is STICK ~ He is a creation of Steve Breen.

To download him for you or a friend go HERE and scroll down to the bottom right of the page.

According to the Penguin Group website the book about STICK is coming out soon!

Bye for now & Happy Reading :)