Whisper (Phonic) Phones

I have found that many of my students like using whisper phones when they read.  And they are a great tool for kids working on phonics.  I like that kids can whisper read into the phone and it sounds pretty loud in their ear, but keeps them nice and quiet while others are reading.

Here's my version of this invaluable tool.  My hubby was so kind to help me out on this project (he did all the measuring and sawing) and super sweet to help out a few of my teacher friends who wanted these after they saw what I had. 



Animal Print Whisper Phone
 

Parts of the Whisper Phone

These are made out of 1 inch diameter PVC pipe and some of that cute colorful duct tape (wild animal theme for me!) and costs about $1 or less a phone to make.  Each phone consists of:

• 3 - PVC elbows
• 1 - 6 inch length of pipe
• 1 - 1 1/2 inch length of pipe
• colorful duct tape (for fun!)

• Attach an elbow to each end of the 6 inch pipe
• Use the 1 1/2 inch pipe to attach the last elbow to one of the end elbows
• Wrap colorful duct tape around the part of the 6 inch pipe that is exposed

Ta Da!  Super easy and super cheap!  I use a sharpie to number each phone, so my kids keep the same phone all school year.  They carry it in their book basket, so it travels with them wherever they go to read.  At the end of the year, I just run them through the dishwasher and they are ready to go for the next class.