Monday, July 16, 2012

Monday Made It: Whisper Phones

Happy Monday! I had a great weekend, and I hope you did too!
This week, I finished a project that I started last year - DIY whisper phones!
I was inspired by Mrs. Saoud's tutorial, but I made a few tweaks along the way!
  • When you pick out your 1/2" PVC pipe at the store, you'll want to ask a worker to cut it into 4.5" pieces unless you have someone at home who can do this. When I asked the Home Depot guy, he literally laughed in my face and said he'd only cut it into 2 pieces. However, I did not give up! I persisted, he got his manager, and his manager happily cut the PVC pipe! Lesson to you - perservere! :)
  • I bought 1/2" elbows and I was just able to shove them onto the pipe. Just make sure you buy 1/2" PVC elbows - they will be white, not beige. No gluing necessary!  That PVC glue smells really bad, so you're welcome. 
  • I spray-painted them with special spray paint for plastic stuff. It's Rust-Oleum Plastic spray paint. I don't know if this was really necessary... but it worked for me.
You can use these whisper phones during Read to Self for Daily Five, or for independent reading regardless of your classroom. You will have to teach them how to use them appropriately, otherwise they will scream into them or make them into a long telephone game..... not that this happened to me or anything. :)

My class last year loved these things. It really helped them focus on their reading and block out the outside distractions. It can be hard in my class to focus when I'm teaching half of the class and half are engaged in independent activities. So this was a big help! And the kids would ask to use them, which was great!

Also - if you want to save some money, you don't need to spray paint. I didn't paint mine last year and no one seemed to mind. :)
If you've been thinking of buying commercially-made whisper phones, this DIY alternative will save you a TON of money! And they are super durable!

8 comments:

  1. Love your whisper phones. My kids love them too.

    ✣ Miss Nelson✣
    Miss Nelson’s Blog

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  2. I love whisper phones. My students are completely obsessed with them. It is the best way to get them to actually reread their writing. Hehe.

    Amanda
    The Teaching Thief

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  3. I definitely love my whisper phones! Mine are PVC pipe too.. definitely could use some jazzing up! Wish I had taken them home this summer.. currently they are stuck in a closet and I cannot get to them. Love how yours turned out! :)

    Amanda
    Reaching for the TOP!

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  4. Whisper phones are wonderful!! My students love using them. :) Your whisper phones came out great!
    Lisa
    Learning Is Something to Treasure

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  5. Hi Jill!
    Your reading phones came out great! Love the tips. I used to have a class set and then Tanner got a hold of them and he turned them all into an elaborate sprinkler toy at home. They never made it back to school!
    How is your Summer going? When do you go back?

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  6. Whisper phones are awesome. I love using them at my reading table.
    ஐRikki
    The Hive

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  7. We used the heck out of them and when they were lost, I was not sad! =D

    ~Cheryl

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  8. Love your whisper phones and so will your kiddos! Thanks for linking up;))

    4th Grade Frolics

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