Flat Stanley flies again
Jeanie Lieberenz’s second grade class poses outside Buffalo Ridge Elementary with their Flat Stanley paper cutouts before the Stanleys were mailed for far-flung adventures.
Buffalo Ridge Elementary (BRE) students practiced literacy as they read Jeff Brown’s book Flat Stanley, then colored their own Flat Stanley paper cutouts and mailed him to friends and family around the country and the world. Students ask Stanley to be returned with photos and tales of his far-flung adventures.
This annual project is a favorite of students and teachers alike. Recipients took Stanley on local adventures and documented his explorations through stories, journals and photographs. Two recipients even returned books Stanley had “authored” about his experiences.
The curriculum encompasses a wide range of topics including geography, letter writing and world cultures. In addition to many U.S. states, this year Stanley traveled to Ghana, England, Norway, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland. He climbed the Eiffel Tower and visited perfumeries in Paris; viewed the Swiss Alps, shopped for fine watches and learned a new language in Switzerland; visited museums, castles and cheese tasting in Amsterdam; brought chocolates home from Hawaii; and attended a Dua Lipa concert. Flat Stanley creates “such a great activity for our kids to learn about places from around the world,” said second-grade teacher Taryn Lindfors.
Students waited in anticipation for their Stanleys to return to BRE via mail. Once returned, the Stanleys, along with travel documentation and photos, were posted on the school hall wall for all to see. Strings connected individual Stanleys to the state or country he visited, creating a visual geography lesson.
Three decades ago, Dale Hubert, a third-grade teacher from London, Ontario, Canada, launched the Flat Stanley Project which became a worldwide literacy phenomenon. Flat Stanley is the main character in Jeff Brown’s book by the same name, released in 1964. Stanley is a regular boy who wakes up one morning to discover he is flat as a pancake after a bulletin board fell on him. With no other injuries, Stanley embraces and leverages his flatness by mailing himself to visit friends in California for the price of postage.
Stanley’s postal adventure inspired Hubert to turn Stanley into a “paper ambassador for learning,” said Kelli Chastain, second grade teacher.
By Celeste McNeil; photo courtesy of Buffalo Ridge Elementary
