Just a Little Flat

by Carrie Cannon 

I’ve mentioned before that I go to the World’s Best Co-op Evah…did I happen to mention Biology Dissection Lab? Well, it is co-op season again and we are midterm into this session of co-op. One of the classes I have done before, and am teaching again now, is a Flat Stanley Class. There are so many ways you can take a Flat Stanley Class, that I thought I would share a few of my ideas and maybe this would encourage you as well.

First, we begin with reading “Flat Stanley” out loud and making our Flats. We will make 3 to send out and one more for me to keep until the end of class for a surprise. I LOVE using the Cricut Everyday Paper Doll Cartridge (# 291042) for these. They really turned out CUTE! (Now, because it is just disturbing to me to have their little behinds all nake-y, I flip the paper over after I have cut one set of clothes and cut a second set for the back side so it all matches up…if you are ok with naked little backsides, by all means leave them bare.) I have planned two class periods for this.

The next week, we will ATTEMPT to work on addressing an envelope. Last time I did this, I thought, we would do this each week. Well, with 4 boys aged K-2, that QUICKLY got thrown out the window. This year, I have the same age group, but much more realistic expectations. We are still going to try to do this one time, but will talk more about the proper way to address it, where the stamp goes, and what happens next. You could work in a full Post Office/Mail unit study if you like. (Update: This went so much better than I could have expected this time! So glad we did it! Also emphasized that a STAMP is NOT a STICKER!)

After the third week, we will read portions of some of the remaining books. From these, I am planning for one food item and one activity for each book. Things I learned last time: Papier Mache piñatas MIGHT be the way to go. DO NOT TRY to create your own from cardboard and tape…unless you want to be VERY FRUSTRATED. WE have not yet done the Papier Mache, so I may scrap it entirely if that doesn’t work either. ALWAYS practice the origami project before attempting to teach it. We barely got a Ninja Star done last time. Have a wonderful helper who lives to fill in the gaps you leave by flying by the seat of her pants! I have had the best helpers ever and they totally save face for me before these kids as I can be a whirlwind type in this kind of a class…(UPDATE:  Ditch the pinatas...TRUST ME on this one!)

So, here are some ideas I am thinking over with the books and which weeks I am planning on using them. I am writing this article at the beginning of the class, and I have already told you I am a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl, so this MAY change AND since it is at the beginning, I have not yet had the opportunity to tell you what went well and what did not. I will try to post updates to my blog so you can keep up to speed on it if you are interested. (UPDATE:  That did not happen...but you can still check out my blog!  AND by this time, I THINK I will be most of the way through my third time with this class...so you just never know!!!)

Week 4: Mount Rushmore Calamity – I will be talking a bit about the History of Mount Rushmore and why the four presidents were chosen. We will take a look at the South Dakota and Mount Rushmore Quarters just for fun, try some beef jerky, and make a Mount Rushmore Card to take home. This week, we will also begin some light map work, coloring in the area we are talking about. I have glued a U.S. map and a World map into a file folder to keep these neat. I had a hard time deciding what to do this week. Many crafts for Mount Rushmore were rubbings of a Quarter, Nickel, Dime and Penny to create the mountain, but it bothered me that Franklin D. Roosevelt was used for Theodore Roosevelt. I got the card idea from a blog post I found on the Clearwater Public Library Family Connection site . My version is a tweak on what they did, but I was pleased to get the inspiration!  

(Update: This class time went very well…I forgot to get pictures of their cards, but I will try to explain as best as I can: We folded over a sheet of blue construction paper. On the front, we glued a color picture of Mount Rushmore. Inside, we glued a copy of the coloring page that is linked in the post above. Here it is just to keep life easy. For the back, I printed off the four presidents from some cards I found and cut around them. We glued them on and wrote what they represented: Washington represents birth, Jefferson growth, Roosevelt development, and Lincoln preservation.)
(ANOTHER UPDATE:  I could not get the pictures to load from the Library blog post...not sure what the issue is there...Big bummer!)

Week 5: Australian Boomerang Bonanza – I MAY try to see if I can find some Vegemite for the kids to try…I hear this is a BIG deal down under. If not, I know there are some cookies that are also very popular.  We will also be making boomerangs from foam core board and I will bring in origami boomerangs that actually SHOULD return to you when you throw them. I will make these at home though…I don’t think that my group can be this precise. (UPDATE:  I waited too long to find Vegemite...I think I found some Australian candy for them)

Week 6: The Amazing Mexican Secret – We will be making cheese quesadillas with the SECRET ingredient and making a piñata. The Piñata MAY take two weeks…if it does, we will not do the activity planned for week 12. (UPDATE: Just say no to the Pinata!!!  Get something like these instead if YOU HAVE TO DO THEM...and if the link is gone, just search mini pinatas on Amazon...PLEASE TRUST ME ON THIS!)

Week 7: Japanese Ninja Surprise-Origami – We will try a Ninja Star and I will send home some papers for them, with directions, to make a crane to make at home. We will have the children try Roasted Seaweed Sheets that you can get at Costco. We have MANY people at our co-op who love these, so MANY of the children enjoy them as well. I will have a back up treat if that fails…maybe pocky…(upate:  Have an Origami NINJA helper if this is not your gift!  We did the one project and sent the other home.  Did the seaweed and pocky)

Week 8: The Flying Chinese Wonders – I have not yet fully developed this one because I just received the book …but I have a fantastic picture of The Great Wall of China that my husband’s great aunt took when she was there and I will bring that in as well as some of those rice paper candy things you can get at the store. We used to get these from time to time in the Chinese Restaurant when we were little. The book mentions Chinese New Year, talks a little about determination and lists some Chinese Food. The book also covers quite a bit about acrobatics…maybe this will be a good time to do somersaults or cartwheels. Emperor Qin’s Terra Cotta Army is mentioned too and that would be a fabulous thing to show the students as well. We will either make a Chinese Dragon Puppet or a paper lantern. We will have fortune cookies and tea too!

Week 9: The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery – I will be making falafel and bringing in my good friend’s Persian dip. I have a pin on my Flat Stanley board for making mummies in a sarcophagus , or we can use hieroglyphics and make a Cartouche. I also have a pin for a death mask…so LOTS of ideas for this one.

Week 10: The Intrepid Canadian Expedition – For Canada, I am thinking of creating Northern Lights Art and serving up some poutine. If poutine isn’t in the cards, I may try to get my hands on some Canadian snack. Growing up in a hockey family, I may JUST HAVE to talk about the Stanley Cup too! (Update:  I had a friend who was going up into Canada close to when my class was and she brought back some candy.  I cannot even believe I was thinking about making poutine...)

Week 11: The U.S. Capital Commotion – For the U.S. Capital week, there are so many different directions to go, that I am having a hard time focusing.   I may try making a model of the Washington Monument, or we may make newspaper hats. Many D.C. attractions are mentioned and there will be no end of what we can talk about. I may give just an overview of them all. For a snack, I was thinking Apple Pie, because what is more American than that, but Nachos/Chips and Salsa are mentioned in the book so I may do that instead.  (Update:  I cannot even remember what we did here...it was week 11 for goodness sakes!  And actually, I think this ended up being week 12 because something took longer.)

Week 12: The African Safari Discovery -The African Safari book is my ace in the hole. I don’t think we will get to it, because I am pretty sure week six will be two weeks long. It is the book I am also having the most trouble pulling ideas from. I would LOVE your suggestions on what you would find interesting to do with this one. (Update: We did NOT end up doing this one!)

Check out some of the links I have used on my Flat Stanley Pinterest Board. I have not used all of these ideas, but some did spur on other ideas or are for future use too!

So, a couple of last thoughts:

In this class, I send out all the flats. I want to be sure they get sent and not set aside and forgotten.  I have notified all the parents that I will need three addresses before co-op starts, so they are prepared to have that for me either the second or third week. If my children can, I have them address the envelopes we are sending out. If not, then I do it and mail it with a letter for the person receiving it.

I chose to send out three flats, HOPING they would at least get one back. This time, I made a 4th flat for each child and I am HOPING to create a little book for each one. This might be a bit adventurous when push comes to shove, so we will see if it gets finished, but my thought was just in case someone did not get anything back.  (Update:  The book did not happen, but I had a friend make a cookie for them that looked like their flat...it was AMAZING!)

Have you ever done a class on Flat Stanley? If so, I’d love to hear your ideas! If not, I hope I’ve inspired you!

Originally Posted at Home and School Mosaics