Week 11: Free Letter I Activities

Welcome to Week 11 of Freedom Homeschooling’s Letter of the Week preschool curriculum!

If you are new to the Letter of the Week curriculum, please start here, for information, the supply list, and the free 185-page downloadable workbook that accompanies the curriculum.

Week 11: Letter I Activities

Week 11 of our Letter of the Week preschool curriculum covers the letter I and the number eight. This week will focus on the short I sound (as in igloo and iguana). The long I sound (as in ice cream and island) will be covered in Week 34.

In Week 11, your child will also learn about insects, igloos, and measuring in inches.

Letter I Activities: Day 1

• Sing the alphabet song with your child.
• Learn about the letter I on Starfall. On each screen of this interactive activity, your child will need to click the letter I, wait for the animation to play, or complete the activity to get the green arrow to appear. Then, he/she will click the green arrow to go to the next screen.
• Show your child how to write an upper and lowercase I, and have him complete the worksheet on page 51 of the workbook.
• Watch The Itsy Bitsy Spider. Teach your child the hand motions and encourage him to sing along.
• Optional: Choose an activity, a recipe to prepare together, or a snack from the list of additional activities near the end of this page.

Letter I Activities: Day 2

• Watch the Letter I Song by Bounce Patrol. If your child notices that the top and bottom lines are missing from the uppercase I in this video or elsewhere, explain that it’s another way to write the letter I. However, to avoid confusion with the lowercase L, I would teach the letter I with the top and bottom lines.
• Watch Lizzy Rockwell, author of the book, read I Love Insects.
• Show your child how to write the number 8 and help him/her complete page 52 of the workbook.
• Practice counting to eight with your child using blocks, beads, or other household objects.
• Watch The Itsy Bitsy Spider, sing along, and do the hand motions.
• Optional: Choose an activity, a recipe to prepare together, or a snack from the list of additional activities near the end of this page.

Letter I Activities: Day 3

• Watch The Itsy Bitsy Spider, sing along, and do the hand motions.
• On workbook page 53, help your child trace and write the letter I. Read the words under the pictures to him/her.
• Watch Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni. This story introduces measuring in inches.
• Read I’m Walking with My Iguana by Brian Moses to your child. Scroll down to get to the text version of the poem.
• Optional: Choose an activity, a recipe to prepare together, or a snack from the list of additional activities near the end of this page.

Letter I Activities: Day 4

• Sing the alphabet song with your child.
• Watch Curious George Builds an Igloo.
• On workbook page 54, help your child write and trace the number 8s. Have your child use a dot marker to mark eight boxes of the ten frame. You may want to place something under the worksheet to protect your table, because the dot markers tend to soak through paper.
• Practice counting to eight with your child using blocks, beads, or other household objects.
• Watch The Itsy Bitsy Spider, sing along, and do the hand motions.
• Optional: Choose an activity, a recipe to prepare together, or a snack from the list of additional activities near the end of this page.

Letter I Activities: Day 5

• Watch the Letter I Phonics Song by Little Fox.
• On workbook page 55, have your child count the legs on the spider and insect and color the pictures. Tell him/her that spiders have eight legs and insects, including butterflies, bees, and ants, have six.
• Watch Inside, Outside, Upside Down by Stan and Jan Berenstain.
• Watch The Itsy Bitsy Spider, sing along, and do the hand motions.
• Optional: Choose an additional activity, a recipe to prepare together, or a snack from the list below.

Additional Letter I Activities

• Writing- Have your child practice writing the letter I or the number eight with his/her finger in a tray of sand, rice, or dried beans.
• Arts and crafts- inch worm bead craft, pom pom inch worm, coffee filter butterfly, or paper plate bee
• Science- insect investigations
• STEM- build an igloo out of sugar cubes or measure items with this printable inchworm ruler (Skip the included recording worksheets.)
• Field trip- Italian or Indian restaurant, insect exhibit at a science center, inventions exhibit at a museum, or investigate I words at the library (insects, igloos, iguanas, etc.)
• Recipe- inside-out turkey wrap or choose an Italian or Indian recipe to try
• Snacks- Italian ice or pretzel sticks, carrot sticks, or celery sticks arranged in the shape of an uppercase I.

Letter H Review

If your child has completed all the Week 11 activities, and time allows, you may want to spend some time reviewing Week 10, which covered the letter H. However, if you do not get a chance to review Week 10, it is okay. Week 13 of the Letter of the Week preschool curriculum will review weeks 8 through 12.

This page contains affiliate links. See our complete disclosure for more information.

Build a Home Library

If you would like to buy any of the books from this week’s video read alouds, you can use these links to find them on Amazon.

• I Love Insects by Lizzy Rockwell
• Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni
• Inside, Outside, Upside Down by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Supply Reminder

Remember to look ahead to Week 12, decide which activities you would like to do with your child, and make sure you have the necessary supplies on hand.