Flat Ruthie
Flat Stanley is a 1964 children's book written by Jeff Brown, illustrated originally by Tomi Ungerer. It is the first of many in a series of books featuring Flat Stanley's adventures.
The Flat Stanley Project was started in 1995 by Dale Hubert, a third grade schoolteacher and was derived by the book series. The project is meant to facilitate letter writting from schoolchildren as they document where Flat Stanley has gone with them and have grown into a fun way to learn geography and study new cultures. The Flat Stanley Project has become an international phenomenom with its own iphone Ap (which tracks people's Flat Stanley characters and their travels).
During last year's trip to Haiti, my daughter's class was doing a Flat Stanley unit and she came home with her own Flat Stanley characted named Flat Sara (complete with "I love Sycamore Elementary"). Flat Sara then accompanied me on my trip, much to the delight of my team. We had fun documenting Sara's adventures, but what was surprising to me was how much people enjoyed seeing the Flat Sara Scrapbook I made. It became a easily portable way to showcase what we did on our trip and in turn, educating others about life in Haiti.
This year, it was suggested I make my Flat Stanley character more interactive between Haiti and Georgia. (Thanks, Julie!) Her name came from a dear friend and team member who could not make the trip. I was determined to take her along with us, thus, Flat Ruthie was born. To further the relationship between the Georgia students and the Pele, Haiti students, I took photos of Flat Ruthie around Sugar Hill and Suwanee and made a mini scrapbook (complete with translations) to leave with the children at The Good Shepherd School in Pele, Haiti.
Once again, a little scrapbook proved to be a great learning tool, conversation starter and cultural bridge.
Enjoy Flat Ruthie's September 2011 escapades!
