Wilbur - A Favorite Learning Tool

Remember Wilbur of "Charlotte's Web" fame? 
Wilbur is a most versatile format and a favorite of young children.
Turn an old bleach bottle into a "funtastic" learning tool! 

Draw eyes and a mouth with permanent markers.
Add pink felt ears and a pipe cleaner tail.
Use egg carton sections for feet.
Decorate sides as desired.
Cut a slit about 1/4 inch wide across his head, just behind his ears.

These were the old instructions for making Wilbur and I have made many this way. But, like everything else, he got an update.  

This is the original very first Wilbur after his many face-lifts. This guy is around 30 years old. Looks pretty good for his age I think. The permanent marker needs a new paint job every few years to keep it bright. The tail has been replaced a few times and the ears have had to be reattached. 

The biggest improvement is his feet. There has been much trial and error with these. Egg cartons just glued like in the first picture was the start. Different glues were tried. Later, stones were added to give extra weight and help with balance. The stones are important, be sure to add some to each egg carton section. Finally,one day I just grabbed the good old duct tape and covered it all. Finally, a good solid base that has held up for a couple years. The next improvement will be to look for a color different than the yellow and make it more to my liking. But the key is that he now works, is stable, and has held up for some time. 

Here is Wilbur in action:  

With a stack of skill cards placed in the slot, Wilbur is ready to teach. For these cards, Charlotte counted the items and stated the number.

To view the answer, the child removes the bottle cap and peers inside.

Charlotte removed the cap and looked inside to see the answer revealed. If she is correct, she simply takes the card out and another is already in place. NOTE: Children enjoy removing the cap, so I suggest they put it back on before they change the card.

Here is what she saw when she looked inside. 

The cards should measure about 5 inches by 8 inches. 

Put the "skill" at the top edge of the card. 

The correct answer should be at the bottom center of the card.

Here are a few examples of the many possible skills that can be put on cards. 

Douglas was beginning to read and we made these card for him to recognize his name and the names of those most important to him.

Beginning letter sounds

Beginning blends and diagraphs

Fill in the missing vowel

Read the number words

Addition

Multiplication

States and Capitals - notice this set was written by one of the children. Having them make the cards is just another step for them to be learning the skill.

Questions to review a unit on bees.

Wilbur is enjoyed by ALL ages and I guarantee when you put him out with some cards, EVERYONE will have to remove the cap and take a look.

Hope Wilbur is loved at your house as much as he is at ours. 

States and Capitals Bowling

Need a way to encourage older children to drill a skill? BOWLING can be the way. 

Let's start with a story:

This is going back a number of years. I was visiting my sister and her family. My now-grown nephew was in 3rd grade. He came home from school and announced he had to memorize the state capitals. A game came to my mind and I quickly made it up for him....Bowling State Capitals. He and I played it and he tried hard, but I beat him every game as I do know my capitals. He took the challenge. The next morning when I got up he was already playing the game on his own. He was determined to eventually win and he knew the only way was to study or play the game. I told him that I could get a perfect score of 300 and that I knew he eventually would too. I returned to my home the next day and that very afternoon I received the call that he had scored 300! 

Grandson Douglas learning the capitals.

HOW TO MAKE: 

Draw a game board. It is simple. Make a grid with one block in the first row, 2 in the next, 3 in the 3rd row, and 4 in the bottom row. (See the blue sheet above). It is not necessary to add any decoration, but it always makes it seem more of a game. A few stickers can also be used to add some color.

Make the cards. They should be slightly smaller than the spaces on the grid. On one side write the names of the states. On the reverse write the capital.

The score sheet was found and printed from the Internet. It is a standard bowling score sheet. Placing it in a plastic sleeve makes it reusable. 

TO PLAY:  

Shuffle the cards and keeping state names up, place one card in each space of the grid. Set the rest of the cards aside. 

The first player takes his turn by starting at the top of the grid and reading the name of the state and then naming its capital. He turns it over to see if his answer is correct. If correct, he removes the card from the grid and moves to the next space. He proceeds through all 10 cards, removing all correct responses. If incorrect, the player reads the correct answer (getting an immediate feedback) and returns the card to its original space, state name up. He still continues through each of the ten cards, removing correct responses and returning mistakes to the grid. 

When he completed all ten cards, he counts the number of removed cards and puts this number on the score sheet. This would be recorded as though it were his first "ball" when actually bowling. Then he repeats the process and counts how many new cards removed as though it were his second "ball" bowled. If he has removed all 10 with the first "ball" it would be recorded as a strike. All 10 removed with both "balls," then it would record as a spare. 

SCORE is kept just like traditional bowling. A perfect game would result in a score of 300 and require that the player had gone through all 50 cards two times without making an error. How is that for good drill?

This game can be played with 2 or more players. It can also be a great drill/game to play by themselves.

For a good variation and lots of good drill: play the game with the capital sides up.

Bowling is a fun way to drill for older children. Whatever the skill, BOWLING can be the answer.

Back to the story: My nephew realized that he did not have to finish a game. When he made a mistake he simply started a new game. Some may think this is "cheating," however the outcome was what we wanted....he was studying and learning the state capitals. HURRAY!

SPEED! Variation 2 - includes finding averages

Another version of SPEED! that the boys can play on their own is what we call SPEED! Cross-Out.

For this game the player has to write the sequence of numbers he is working on. Here Douglas is working with the SEVEN SPEED! cards.  So he writes the numbers 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56, 63, 70 three times in columns on a sheet of paper. 

Then he shuffles the cards and flips one over at a time. Working with only one column at a time he crosses off the number turned. If the number has already been crossed off, he simply flips another card.

When a player has crossed off all the numbers, he counts how many cards he flipped and that is his score for that round.

 Douglas

Charles

After he has completed three rounds, he figures his average and that is his score for the game.

In this way, Douglas, age 8 and working on the SEVENS, and Charles, age 6 and working on the THREES, can compete. Douglas gets the extra practice of the skill of figuring averages.

SPEED! Variation 1 - Solitaire Play

Because I am working with 4 - 6 children each day, I find it necessary to find ways for the children to do work independently. SPEED! works well for some fun drill that they can do on their own.

Following the basic rules of play, the children can play by themselves.

 Douglas shuffles the deck.

 He keeps all the cards for himself. He places four cards face up to be his playing cards and two cards to the center to be the cards he plays on.

 Then following the rules of the game he places cards from his playing cards to the center. He places cards that are one higher or lower in the skip-counting/multiplication table he is playing with. Here he is using the SEVEN SPEED! cards. 

He replaces any of the four playing cards used with new cards from the deck he is holding. If at anytime, NO card will play on either pile, he takes one card from his deck and places it on one of the center decks. 

The object of the game played this way is to have as few cards as possible remaining in his playing spaces, having played them all to the center.  Having zero cards remaining would be awesome. However, if they have 1 or more left, it is easy to encourage them to play again to see if they can have fewer the next time....so MORE DRILL...we all win!

 Here Charles is playing with the THREE SPEED! deck.

 See his joy at getting ALL the cards to the center. A perfect game!

He enjoys the success!