Wiggle Wiggle Worm

Empowered Learner

Overview

(Willie Wiggle Wiggle Worm (MathPickle, 2010)

Willie Worm is an enjoyable and challenging visual-spatial problem, which encourages persistence in problem-solving, as well as providing students with a purposeful reason for practicing counting and writing numbers from 1-25.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

Be able to place numbers in order from 1-25 in a grid without going diagonally.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary Words:

Diagonal: A diagonal is a line segment that goes from one corner to another.
Counting: Counting is putting numbers in order.

Pre-planning

To prepare for this lesson:

Visit the website Wiggle Wiggle Worm.
The teacher should watch the video on how to play Willie Wiggle Worm.
The teacher should print math sheets for Willie Wiggle Worm.
The teacher should review counting orally and writing digits from 1-25 with students to ensure that they can complete the activity.

Accommodations

See the Accommodations Page and Charts on the 21things4students website in the Teacher Resources.

Steps

Directions for this activity:

The teacher should watch the video on how to play Willie Wiggle Worm.
The teacher should print math sheets for Willie Wiggle Worm.
The teacher may choose to show the class the Willie Wiggle Worm story on the video or tell to the students.
The teacher places the numbers 1 and 25 in a square.
Students create the counting pattern for Willie Wiggle Worm making sure that there are no diagonals.

Assessment Options

Different options for assessing the students:

Observations
Check for understanding
The teacher creates a Willie Worm puzzle for students to complete independently, on a projector or in use with number talks.
If 25 is too challenging for some students the square can be decreased to nine.
If students need to be challenged the number of squares can be increased to provide a more challenging puzzle.

MITECS Competencies & ISTE STANDARDS

MITECS: Michigan adopted the "ISTE Standards for Students" called MITECS (Michigan Integrated Technology Competencies for Students) in 2018.

Empowered Learner
1a. Students articulate and set personal learning goals, develop strategies leveraging technology to achieve them and reflect on the learning process itself to improve learning outcomes.
1b. Students build networks and customize their learning environments in ways that support the learning process.
1c. Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
1d. Students understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations, demonstrate the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot current technologies and are able to transfer their knowledge to explore emerging technologies.