Flat Nathaniel

 

This month, Nathaniel’s kindergarten class read the story, “Flat Stanley”. Basically it’s about a little boy who is flattened, and then mailed in an envelope on an adventure.

If you have never been involved in a Flat Stanley project, it can be quite an adventure for the child who get’s to mail a “flat self” out of state, for the class who gets to see all the adventures their flat selves went on, and for the teacher who gets to do the geography lesson at the end.

I think the person who gets the honor of hosting the child’s flat cutout gets to have fun too! Afterwards, the child and their class get to see all the adventures their flat selves went on that they normally wouldn’t get to do in their own state.

Nathaniel chose to send his flat self to our friend Michael. Flat Nathaniel went inside the envelope, a postage stamp was attached, and off he went all the way from Washington state to Mississippi.

When Flat Nathaniel arrived in Mississippi, the adventures started right away. David and Becky, Michael’s parents, decided to show Flat Nathaniel the Vicksburg National Military Park where the American Civil War Battle of Vicksburg waged from May 18 to July 4, 1863. There are many monuments and interesting things to learn about our history in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

After that, Flat Nathaniel decided that he would like to explore one thing that Mississippi is known for, and that is the music. For that, Flat Nathaniel was mailed to the right person.

 

Flat Nathaniel learned that Country Music and The Blues originated in Mississippi.

Then he listened to Michael’s favorite music while he was there, Bluegrass Music!

Flat Nathaniel learns how to play the Banjo!

Flat Nathaniel learns how to play the Guitar!

Flat Nathaniel learns how to play the Mandolin!

Flat Nathaniel learns to play the Fiddle!

After Flat Nathaniel learned how to play all those instruments, he decided he wanted to see some more of Mississippi.

There are many things to see in Mississippi. There is the Mississippi River, which is the largest river system in North America.

This is the Old Vicksburg Bridge over the Mississippi River, which now stands by the Vicksburg Bridge.

During his visit, Michael and Flat Nathaniel went on a trip to see some of the beautiful scenery, nature, and state parks of Mississippi.

They started at the state capital of Jackson, Mississippi and drove towards Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Along the way, they saw many deer. Halfway between those two cities is the city of Magee, Mississippi. There, they stopped at the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) Post and saw an Army tank and a Huey helicopter.

They also stopped and looked at Simpson County Lake. Flat Nathaniel learned that Mississippi has lots of rivers, streams, and lakes to go fishing in. Lots of people catch Bass and Catfish at the lake.

Time for lunch. Reese’s peanut butter cup Blizzards are Flat Nathaniel’s favorite!

After lunch, Michael and Flat Nathaniel were off to the Gulf Coast to see the Gulf of Mexico!

They went to the beach in Biloxi, Mississippi.

They saw the tallest building in Mississippi, the Beau Rivage. Hurricane Katrina caused a lot of damage and destruction to this part of Mississippi.

Hurricane Katrina was a terrible disaster that happened in the year 2005. 

The Biloxi Light is a lighthouse in Biloxi, Mississippi that has been through the Civil War and lots of hurricanes, but remains a beacon of hope to Mississippi.

After their day at the coast, Flat Nathaniel was tired, so they went back to Michael’s house to relax.

Nathaniel’s teacher said that Flat Nathaniel needed to bring back some new clothes as a souvenir, so Michael made him an Ole Miss shirt and a new pair of jeans, to remember their favorite football team!

Nathaniel’s one wish was to play Legos in Mississippi, so on Flat Nathaniel’s last night in Mississippi, Michael and Flat Nathaniel played Legos and built a castle.

Then after a good night’s sleep, Flat Nathaniel went back inside his envelope and travelled back to Washington State.

Do you think you can find all the places on the map where Flat Nathaniel went? What an adventure it was!

Photo credits:
Red tree: by Becky
Nathaniel at school: by Marie
Mississippi state map: http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/usstates/msmaps.htm 
Vicksburg National Military Park: http://www.battlefieldinnms.com/#2 
Flat Nathaniel by the cannons: by David
Mississippi Music: http://www.msmusic.org/ 
Banjo A, B, Guitar, Mandolin, and Fiddle: by Becky
Mississippi River Map: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mississippi_watershed_map_1.jpg 
Old Vicksburg Bridge: http://www.phototour.com/echtml/vburgoldbridge.html 
VFW Post tank and Huey: by Michael
Simpson County Lake Water and Trees: by Michael
Lunch: by Michael
Biloxi Dock, Beach, Beau Rivage, and Lighthouse: by Michael
Old Miss and Legos: by Becky