Flat Stanley and Snail Mail Pen Pals

I have enjoyed doing this project almost every year with my students.  It's a great way to integrate writing, reading and geography.

Flat Stanley is a young boy who is accidentally flattened when a bulletin board falls on him while he is asleep. Stanley is very, very flat but otherwise fine. Stanley’s family did not have enough money to send him on a train or plane to visit a friend in California, so they decided to fold him up and put him in a large envelope and mail him. Our class will do the same with our “Flat Stanleys.”

Stanley's trip to Africa - Click here to see my trip to Africa with Stanley.  I am so excited that he will be going with me to a NCCAT seminar at Ocracoke very soon! I am sure we will both learn and see a lot :).

Flat Stanley template - 2 to a page

Flat Stanley Parent Letter

Flat Stanley Letter to Friend / Family Member


If you're looking for another letter writing project....

Snail Mail Pen Pals   -  My goal is for each student to write to one other student in a different state once a month. We go through the entire writing process before letters are mailed.  They get very excited when mail comes!  This year we will be writing to another second grade class in Iowa.

Happy Thought Rocks - Journal Writing Idea

This is an idea I found on Laura Candler's website (look on her Odds N Ends page).   I am hoping these little guys will inspire some positive thinking and writing!  This idea is similar to a gratitude journal.  Rocks are fed by writing positive thoughts in a journal.

Phonics Phones

This summer I found a great article on phonics phones.  This article tells you how to make them and gives many reasons why you should!  Instead of spray painting them, I decided to decorate them with duct tape. 
Article :  http://www.righttrackreading.com/phonicsphones.html