Lesson: Flat Stanley: All Families Matter

Grade Levels/ Groups- K-3

Topic/Content- Social Studies/Civics

Introduction: This lesson will allow students to learn about each other familial life. Each

student will get the chance to investigate how many siblings each other has as well as whether

they come from a home with both parents or if they have other family members living with them.

The students will work with their family at home for a month bringing their flat person with

them on their daily adventures. They will keep a journal of their time outlining who was there

and what they did. This lesson will target students in Elementary school in grades 2-4. This is

for all students and will engage them in understanding that not everyone has the same home life

or dynamic as them. They will also be able to see that based on race there are often things that

look different as well as the same. My goal with this lesson is for students to be culturally aware

of their friends and inviting or open minded of differences they learn about.

 Objectives- The students will be able to understand the dynamic of other’s families as

well as the differences between every home. (i.e. what their ethnicity is and their families

members.)

 Materials- Paper, colored pencils, crayons, pencil, scissors

 Procedures –

o 1. The students will each create a version of Flat Stanley that looks like them.

o 2. They will cut out their flat person after the teacher has laminated it.

o 3. The students will take their flat person home with them with instructions to

read with their guardians.

  The instructions will outline what they should do with their flat person and

what to document. (this will include pictures or drawings in a journal, and

written explanations of the images)

o 4. The student will keep a journal of activities done with their flat person for one

month.

o 5. The flat person and their journal will be presented in class.

o 6. The student will pick two journal passages to share.

o 7. When everyone has finished sharing the teacher will encourage students to talk

to each other about the differences they noticed in each other’s entries.

o 8. The teacher will guide the students and ask them questions about what they

learned about each other and their families as well as what they did during the

month.

 Assessment – The students will complete an exit ticket at the end of the day outlining

something they learned from their Flat Stanley project. They will need to write 2-6

sentences depending on the grade level being assessed.