The Adventures of Flat Stanley

Early in the Autumn term I received an e-mail from my brother in New Hampshire enquiring whether I would be prepared to become involved in a creative writing project with his son, my nephew and namesake, Greg.

The note from his teacher to the parents explained the project:

Dear Parents,

I am writing to inform you about a writing activity that our class is about to undertake. I need your assistance in helping your child to pick a friend or relative from far away who would be willing to assist our class in the following way.

We are going to spend time on letter and story writing that will include an interesting activity needing help from relatives or friends. Last week I introduced this project to the children and read a whimsical story to the class entitled Flat Stanley. This story is about a boy who has a mishap with a bulletin board. He is flattened when the board falls on top of him. The story takes Stanley on many adventures in which he learns that being flat has its advantages (as well as disadvantages)! The story is delightful and the children loved it. The children have designed their own "Flat Stanley" and are writing their own story about how Stanley became flat. When the story is completed, the children will be asked to write a letter to a friend or relative explaining Stanley's plight. The friend or relative will be asked to take Stanley on several adventures for a few days (in a pocket or purse). We would then like Flat Stanley to be sent back to our class at school, with a letter of explanation about the adventures they shared and photographs if at all possible.

This Flat Stanley project will also help with geographical studies as we see how much of the United States (or farther) Stanley manages to travel. We will be sharing both our stories and the letters that we receive with the class.

Please help your child choose someone far away that you feel will be receptive and animated enough to join the fun. Please send in an address within the week.

Thank you for your assistance with this project.

Sincerely,

Sharon Poulin


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