Flat Stanley

I have a wonderful student teacher this semester.  She put together a unit "Me and My World" which incorporated learning about ourselves, our community, and our place in the world.  She used a Montessori activity "Me on the Map" which truly engaged the children and helped them understand the idea of how big our world really is.  (I found a freebie at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Where-in-the-World-are-We-FREEBIE .) She also incorporated map skills using a classroom treasure hunt in which children had clues to collect "treasure" - pieces of a map of our classroom which they had to read and follow to find the real treasure. She then used the book Flat Stanley to kick off an adventure for our own Flat Stanley visiting each of the other kindergarten classrooms in our school.  The kiddos just love Flat Stanley.  Through their letter writing they learned so much about asking questions to get more information, including important information, and the excitement of a returned message. The unit has worked so well that I am extending it throughout the year by sending Flat Stanley on adventures to other towns in our state, three other states, and at least one other country.  This is such a great opportunity to incorporate geography, math, literacy, and technology skills in the classroom. I have already found three online map units to use as jumping off points to continue geography and global studies. (I've included the links below.) As we continue our adventure, we are going to use Google Earth to follow Flat Stanley's journey.  We are also going to continue using the map wall that the student teacher created to post state, U. S., and world maps to track Flat Stanley during his travels.  As he ventures out of our school, we are going to include information about our state and some souvenirs for his hosts. I am thinking about creating flats of my students to send like penpals. If anyone is interested in hosting a Flat Friend, please let me know!

http://sc.jeffco.k12.co.us/education/page/download.php?fileinfo=SmVmZmVyc29uX0NvdW50eV9LaW5kZXJnYXJ0ZW5fTWFwcGluZ19Vbml0LnBkZjo6Oi93d3cvc2Nob29scy9zYy9yZW1vdGUvaW1hZ2VzL2RvY21nci8yMjQzNGZpbGUxMzQ2OTkucGRm,

http://www.personal.psu.edu/ras5424/Maps/Introduction.html

http://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/teachers-packets/mapadventures/index.html