Flat Joe visits Chicago, Illinois

Hello class!

Yesterday, Flat Joe and I went to Chicago, which is a big city in Illinois. Can you find it on the map? I’ll give you a hint, it’s next to a really big lake!

Chicago is a very neat city, but it is a little scary because the buildings are so big! In fact, the tallest building in the country is in Chicago, and it is called the Sears Tower. We could see the Sears Tower was taller than all the other buildings as we drove in towards the city. But even though the Sears Tower is the tallest, a lot of the other buildings were huge too!

Do you know what Chicago’s nickname is? It’s the Windy City, and I bet you can guess why! The whole time Flat Joe and I were there, it was cold and VERY windy. I had to hold on tight to Flat Joe so he wouldn’t blow away!

There are a lot of cool things to see in Chicago, and they have a lot of sports teams too. Chicago is also famous for their pizza, so guess what Flat Joe and I had for dinner! It was so yummy, I really want to go back and have some more! What do you like on your pizza? I like pepperoni, black olives, and mushrooms, but Flat Joe likes anchovies, pickles, and peanut butter on his pizza—gross!
We had a lot of fun in the Windy City, and we decided if we go back, we will go to the top of the Sears Tower and look around, while we eat our pizza!
Be good,
Joe and Flat Joe

Meet the Real Joe

Over Thanksgiving Break Ms. Lipsky visited with her friend Joe, and Flat Joe. Here's a photo from that visit. We're all happy because we're full of turkey and mashed potatoes!

Flat Joe visits Macon, Georgia

Hi, Ms. Lipsky’s class!

Yesterday, Flat Joe and I went to Macon, Georgia! Macon is actually not too far from Gainesville, about a four-hour drive. Flat Joe and I both really wanted to come down to visit you all, but we didn’t have time in our schedule, sorry!

Macon is a great town, and the weather was beautiful! Unfortunately, I was sick during this trip, but Flat Joe made me take him around the town, at least a little bit. We saw their cool downtown area, and Macon City Hall. City Hall is where the town or city takes care of all the work that goes in to running itself. Every city has one, but Macon’s is an especially nice building. Do you know where the Gainesville City Hall is? Can you name some of the work that gets taken care of at a City Hall?

After a while, I had to go drink a lot of orange juice and take a nap, because that is the best way to make yourself feel better when you are sick. While I was sleeping, Flat Joe got into some mischief—he took my walkie-talkie and started calling people on it! Flat Joe can be so silly sometimes.

Even though I was sick, Flat Joe and I still had a good time in Macon. You should visit it sometime too!

Best wishes,

Joe and Flat Joe

Flat Joe visit Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Hey class!

Today, Flat Joe and I went all the way up to New Hampshire! We visited a nice little town called Portsmouth. Portsmouth is a town that’s next to a river, and on the other side of the river is the state of Maine. Can you find New Hampshire and Maine on the map?

New Hampshire and Maine are part of what is called “New England”. Way back in time, even before George Washington was around, the English came to this part of the country and settled it. That’s why they called it New England. Because it is so old, the buildings are really old too, much older than most of the buildings in Gainesville.

Anyway, it gets cold in New Hampshire! Flat Joe and I walked around to see all the old buildings and look at the water, it was all very pretty. But then it got cold, so we went back inside and warmed up.

It was fun visiting New Hampshire, but Flat Joe and I decided if we ever go back, it will be during the summer!

Take care,

Joe and Flat Joe

Flat Joe in New York City

Hi class!

Flat Joe and I just got back from New York City! It’s a very cool city, and we made the best of the little time we had.

Because the weather was bad, our flight got cancelled, so Flat Joe and I hopped on the train. The train goes slower than the airplane, but rain doesn’t slow it down. Plus, Flat Joe got to look out the window and see things as we passed by them!

Did you know New York City has more people living in it than any other city in the United States? It is a very big and very busy city, and what makes it so much fun is that all sorts of different people live there. And those people come from different countries, speak different languages, and make different food. Flat Joe and I ate at a Thai restaurant, which makes Asian food. And guess who we ran into? My friend Eric, who is a kindergarten teacher in New York City, and a big Gator fan!

We only had a little bit of time, but Flat Joe and I managed to get to see Times Square, the busiest part of the city. It has buildings that are 100 stories tall, like the Empire State Building, bright signs, and so many people! We got back to our hotel on the subway, which is an underground train that goes all over the city. Grand Central Station is one of the busiest, most crowded places in the world, and we were there!

The weather was not very good, but we had a fun time in New York City. Hopefully it will be sunny at the next place we go!

--Joe and Flat Joe

Flat Joe in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Hi Ms. Lipsky’s class! Today Flat Joe and I went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for another adventure! The weather wasn’t great, but we still made sure to get out and around town. While I was working, Flat Joe checked out our hotel. When I finished I met him in the lobby and we went out exploring.

Neither of us knew much about Milwaukee, so we just walked around looking for cool things. We saw a big, funny looking building so we went to check it out. It’s the Milwaukee Museum of Art, where they put all the paintings and sculptures. Who in the class is good at art? If they get REALLY good, they might put their stuff up at the museum so everyone can see it!

When we flew in, I noticed that we were close to a big lake, but I didn’t know what it was called or how big it was. I found out it’s called Lake Michigan, and it is one of the Great Lakes! There are five of them total, can you name the rest of them? So we walked around until we found the lake, it didn’t take long. And guess what we found? An old sailing ship! I hope there are not any pirates around!

Flat Joe sure knows how to find cool places! He found a place called Discovery World, another museum where students just like you go and play with science experiments and stuff like that! We didn’t have time to go inside, but Flat Joe wanted me to get a picture of him with the cool spinning tops outside. Then he found the Milwaukee County Court House, which is very old and, as you can see, very big. Do you know who works at a court house and what they do there?

After a little while it was getting late and we had to come back to Washington, DC, but we had a really fun time in Milwaukee. Both Flat Joe and I hope we get to go back there someday! Take care and be good, class!

--Joe and Flat Joe

Flat Joe- Seattle, Washington

Hello from Seattle, class!

Flat Joe and I got to Seattle yesterday after a very long flight. After checking into our hotel, Flat Joe wanted to see what Seattle was all about.

Seattle is in the state of Washington, can you find it on a map? Seattle is a very cool city, and we are having fun exploring it! First we went to the Space Needle, which as you can see is very tall. There’s a restaurant at the top that spins very slowly so you can see all of Seattle!

Then we wandered down to the Pike Place fish market. It’s where they bring the fish in straight from the ocean and sell them right there! There are also shops and restaurants with great views of the harbor. Flat Joe really likes fish and seafood!

Do you know what famous coffee company started in Seattle? It’s Starbucks, where I went to get some coffee. Flat Joe is too young for coffee, but when I wasn’t looking, he drank some! Then he was bouncing off the walls of the hotel room—coffee makes you hyper!

The next day, I had to do some work, and Flat Joe stayed at the hotel. He made himself very comfortable, lying around in a robe watching TV—it was a real vacation for Flat Joe! Seattle is known for being a very rainy city, but it only rained on one day while we were there. Still, you can see from the pictures how gray and dreary the weather is.


Seattle is a great city, and we have both had a lot of fun, but we have to go back to Washington, D.C. tomorrow. Who knows where our next adventure will take us?

--Joe and Flat Joe

Main Idea and Supporting Details

Read the "Flat Joe Goes to Washington, DC" post below. When you have finished come back to this post and keep reading.

The main idea of that post is that Flat Joe enjoyed visiting Washington, DC. Comment with TWO supporting details that show the reader that Flat Joe enjoyed visiting Washington, DC.

Flat Joe Goes to Washington, D.C.

Hey class, this is Joe! First of all, thank you all for your letters, they were very nice! My new buddy, Flat Joe, told me he wanted to keep in touch with you guys, so I’ll be using your class blog to tell you about our adventures!

When Flat Joe got to my apartment, he was eager to stretch his legs, so we went walking around Washington, D.C. First, we went to the Executive Office Building, where a lot of President Obama’s workers work. Flat Joe said it looks like a castle!

Flat Joe said he wanted to see where President Obama lived, so we walked next door to the White House. Did you know the White House has 132 rooms? And 35 bathrooms! That’s a big house…

Then, Flat Joe saw a big pointy thing, so we walked to it. It was the Washington Monument, which is 125 years old! It is also 555 feet tall, which is bigger than 3 of the UF Century Towers stacked on top of each other! Can you guess who the Washington Monument is named after?

After seeing a few more sights, we had to get to bed before our big trip to Seattle. Flat Joe was so tired from our adventure, I had to wake him up in the morning so we didn’t miss our airplane!

Flat Joe slid into my folder for the trip, he said it was nice and cozy. Even though he really liked Washington, D.C., Flat Joe and I were both looking forward to our next adventure in Seattle!

Flat Joe and I will send our next post from Seattle, Washington. Talk to you guys later!

-Joe and Flat Joe

Flat Joe

Our class is reading Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. Flat Stanley is the story of a boy who is flattened by his bulletin board in his sleep. Fortunately, Stanley is fine, but is now completely flat! He soon discovers that being flat has its advantages. He can slide under closed doors and be mailed in envelopes to visit friends who live faraway.

Our class made a "Flat Joe" who is on an airplane right now headed to Washington, D.C. to stay with my friend Joe for the school year. Joe's job requires him to travel A LOT and he has offered to act as Flat Joe's chaperone and take him all over the country. We will be able to follow Flat Joe's adventures through this blog.

I took some pictures of Flat Joe before he left. He enjoyed spending time in our classroom reading a book from the Flat Stanley series on our comfortable bean bag chair. Then he spent some time looking at our wall map and contemplating where he might like to visit. At the post office he wanted a picture in front of the sign and I took one more before I helped him slide into his Overnight Envelope. You can tell he was a little nervous at this point, but he had sweet letters written by the students to accompany him.

Oh and I did laminate him before he left. He said he didn't mind since he was already flat and that he actually preferred it because now he's waterproof and didn't need to pack his raincoat!