Final Reflection
Jenni Jacobson
Lesley University
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND UTILIZATION OF LEARNING THEORIES
In this lesson, students will get to travel the world with Flat Stanley. In our school
district, many students have a very low SES (socioeconomic status) and have never left Twin
Falls, ID. Getting the chance to virtually interact with other students of the same age from
different parts of our country will enable each child to broaden their cultural and personal
horizons, thus incorporating the Social Reconstructionism learning theory. Existentialism is
used throughout this project as I explain and demonstrate how to create and publish our own
alphabet book; use Voicethread to create a story board; introduce/review our alphabet letters; and
introduce/review kindergarten sight words. Because one of the key components to any lesson is
making it fun, this lesson also makes use of Progressivism. Students use cooperative learning to
tell why knowing and learning the alphabet is so important for our everyday life. An intrinsic
value is added when students get to choose where to send Flat Stanley for an Alphabet
“adventure”.
MOTIVATION
As an introduction to this lesson, students will watch a short video about Flat Stanley.
This will give students a brief background of the Flat Stanley concept and show them what kinds
of things Flat Stanley can do. It will also be used to build background knowledge. Students will
make and decorate their very own Flat Stanley doll that they will be able to take home at the end
of the year, creating autonomy in our learning.
Throughout this lesson, students will get to choose a place from our Map to send their
Flat Stanley for an alphabet adventure. We will utilize Skype to visit with the Flat Stanley hosts,
enabling students to converse with students from across the world while sitting in our classroom.
There are no worksheets involved in this lesson. It is project based, as we will be creating a class
alphabet book that incorporates all of Flat Stanley’s adventures for our final assessment.
INTEGRATION
This project integrates a multitude of items. It incorporates letter recognition, writing,
and reading with real world places and explorations. Students must think about how their
alphabet letter could connect with Flat Stanley’s adventure. Is there a place that you went with
your family that Flat Stanley would want to go? Would Flat Stanley want to come to your house
for his alphabet adventure? Why? It could be as simple as sending Flat Stanley to Hawaii for the
letter “Hh”. Or, students could send Flat Stanley to Mexico for the letter “Ss” because the native
language is Spanish. The opportunities to elicit higher level thinking are limitless.
It is my vision that students will be able to converse with the hosts of their Flat Stanley
to learn about his adventures first hand. Students will be able to ask questions to gain more
knowledge about the culture, diversity, and activities of the area Flat Stanley is visiting. Some
students may choose to take Flat Stanley home with them, or to their grand-parents’ house. As a
whole class, we will compare and contrast each of Flat Stanley’s adventures as it relates to
students’ lives.
As a culmination of this project, students will help produce a storyboard showcasing Flat
Stanley’s adventures, our learning process, and student narratives. Parents will be invited to our
room to listen to a reading of our published alphabet book and to watch their child in our Flat
Stanley storyboard.
TECHNOLOGIES AND STANDARDS
In the table below, I have listed a few of the standards that this project addresses.
Common Core Standard for Literature
Foundational Skills: Print Concepts

K:1: Demonstrate understanding of the organization and
basic features of print.
o a: Follow words from left to right, top to
bottom, and page by page.
o b: Recognize that spoken words are represented
in written language by specific sequences of
letters.
o c: Understand what words are separated by
spaces in print.
o d: Recognize and name all upper and lowercase
letters of the alphabet.
Writing (Text Types and Purposes):

K:2: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and
writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in
which they name what they are writing about and supply
some information about the topic.
Specific Examples

Students will create a class alphabet book by connecting
each of Flat Stanley’s adventures to an alphabet letter.
Students will create their alphabet book page in a team,
using one of Flat Stanley’s adventures to create a picture
and write words/sentences describing their drawing.
Students will read their completed alphabet book to
parents and other peers.

Students will create their alphabet book page in a team,
using one of Flat Stanley’s adventures to create a picture
and write words/sentences describing their drawing.
NETS For Students
2. Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate
and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support
individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers,
experts, or others employing a variety of digital
environments and media
b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to
multiple audiences using a variety of media and
formats
c. Develop cultural understanding and global
awareness by engaging with learners of other
cultures
d. Contribute to project teams to produce original
works or solve problems
Specific Examples





Students will use Skype to communicate with Flat
Stanley’s “host” to find out about his adventures and the
people who are taking him on these adventures.
Students will help publish their Flat Stanley Adventure
Alphabet Book as a group, utilizing document cameras to
take pictures of finished alphabet book pages.
Students will use iPads to take pictures of Flat Stanley
and incorporate these pictures in our final narration.
Students will work together to create a storyboard of our
experiences with other students and classrooms around
the world using Voicethread. Students will be able to
record their own voices to complete narratives of their
experiences with this project.
Students will be able to present and share this final
storyboard to their parents and the end of the year.
REACTIONS TO LESSON PRESENTATION AND FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
I really enjoyed this class and am excited that I will be able to use most of these tools for
my personal life and for my own classroom. Presenting my Prezi over Skype was a bit nerve
racking. I found it difficult to talk to the computer screen! So, I may need to do a few more
before I am comfortable with it.
Prezi is such an awesome tool. I really wish that we would have gotten a chance to
explore it a bit more. For my next presentation, I will definitely be tossing out Power Point.
Prezi is the way to go. I think that my students would enjoy watching a Prezi presentation, too.
That is, if I can become proficient at it!
References
http://www.flatstanleybooks.com/kids.aspx
http://voicethread.com/?#q+flat+stanley
http://www.flatstanley.com/