Week 29: Free Letter X Activities

Welcome to Week 29 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 29: Letter X Activities

Week 29 of our Letter of the Week preschool curriculum focuses on the letter X. In Week 29, your child will learn about X-rays, bones, and more. This week also reviews the days of the week and tally marks.

Special Instructions for the Letter X

There aren’t many common words that start with X. So, unlike other weeks of the curriculum, which usually only teach words beginning with the week’s letter, this week’s read alouds and videos also introduce words that have an X within them or end in an X. The words ‘fox’ and ‘box’ will appear often throughout the week, so when they do, pause to point out to your child that these words end in the letter X. This week’s videos also include words where the X makes a Z sound, as in ‘xylophone.’ So, you may want to explain to your child that sometimes letters can make more than one sound, without going in depth on the concept.

Letter X Activities: Day 1

• Sing the alphabet song with your child.
• Watch Finny the Shark’s Days of the Week Song and sing along. The video will start at 0:21, when the song begins.
• Say to your child: “Yesterday was Sunday. Today is Monday. Tomorrow will be Tuesday.” (Insert the correct days.)
• Learn about the letter X on Starfall. On each screen of this interactive activity, your child will need to click the letter X, 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.
• Watch Deborah Ruddell, author of the poem, read Nobody’s Pet: A Word to the Wise from a Red Fox. The poem is from her book, A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems. The video will begin at 0:27 to skip some of the intro.
• Show your child how to write an upper and lowercase X, and have him complete the worksheet on page 143 of the workbook.
• On workbook page 144, help your child write his first name on the top line of the page. Use only the top line today, as you will use the rest of the lines throughout the week.
• Watch A-Hunting We Will Go. Encourage your child 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 X Activities: Day 2

• Watch Finny the Shark’s Days of the Week Song and sing along.
• Say to your child: “Yesterday was Monday. Today is Tuesday. Tomorrow will be Wednesday.” (Insert the correct days.)
• On workbook page 144, have your child write his/her first name on the second line of the page. Only use the second line today, as you will use the rest of the lines throughout the week.
• Watch Captain Seasalt and the ABC Pirates “X” Island cartoon.
• To practice tally marks, have your child count twenty pencils (or toothpicks). Stop at five and remind him that we can show five by crossing the fifth pencil over the other four. Stop at ten, fifteen, and twenty to do this again. However, don’t worry about teaching skip counting in preschool.
• On workbook page 145, have your child trace the numbers and help him match each number to the corresponding tally marks. The first one is already done.
• Watch A-Hunting We Will Go and 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 X Activities: Day 3

• Watch Finny the Shark’s Days of the Week Song and sing along.
• Say to your child: “Yesterday was Tuesday. Today is Wednesday. Tomorrow will be Thursday.” (Insert the correct days.)
• Watch Ms. Samyn read What Does the X-ray Say? This book was written and illustrated by second graders at Longfellow Elementary School in Wisconsin.
• On workbook page 146, help your child trace and write the letter X. Read the words under the pictures to him/her.
• Watch Let’s Look Inside Our Bodies.
• On workbook page 144, help your child write his first name on the third line of the page. Only use the third line today.
• Count to twenty with your child using pencils (or toothpicks). When you get to five, ten, fifteen, and twenty, stop and have him lay the fifth pencil across the previous four pencils, like we do when making tally marks.
• Watch A-Hunting We Will Go and 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 X Activities: Day 4

• Watch Finny the Shark’s Days of the Week Song and sing along.
• Say to your child: “Yesterday was Wednesday. Today is Thursday. Tomorrow will be Friday.” (Insert the correct days.)
• On workbook page 144, help your child write his/her first name on the fourth line of the page. Only use the fourth line today.
• Watch What about X? An Alphabet Adventure by Anne Marie Houppert.
• Workbook page 147 reviews letters from earlier this year. Have your child trace the letters and help him match the letters to the picture beginning with the letter’s sound. The first one is already done. It’s okay if he doesn’t remember all the letters or their sounds.
• Count to twenty with your child using pencils (or toothpicks). When you get to five, ten, fifteen, and twenty, stop and have him lay the fifth pencil across the previous four pencils, like we do when making tally marks.
• Watch A-Hunting We Will Go and sing along.
• Choose an activity, a recipe to prepare together, or a snack from the list of additional activities near the end of this page.

Letter X Activities: Day 5

• Watch Finny the Shark’s Days of the Week Song and sing along.
• Say to your child: “Yesterday was Thursday. Today is Friday. Tomorrow will be Saturday.” (Insert the correct days.)
• On workbook page 144, help your child write his/her first name on the last line of the page.
• Watch the Letter X Song by ABCmouse.
• Watch Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss.
• On workbook page 148, read the words ending in X to your child and have him trace the X in each word.
• Watch A-Hunting We Will Go and sing along.
• Count to twenty with your child using pencils (or toothpicks). When you get to five, ten, fifteen, and twenty, stop and have him lay the fifth pencil across the previous four pencils, like we do when making tally marks.
• Optional: Choose an additional activity, a recipe to prepare together, or a snack from the list below.

Additional Letter X Activities

• Writing- Have your child practice writing the letter X with his/her finger in a tray of sand, rice, or dried beans.
• Arts and crafts- Q-tip x-ray craft or paper plate fox craft
• Science- water xylophone experiment
• STEM- Fox in Socks themed printable tangrams
• Field trip- visit foxes at a wildlife center or zoo, see how many food labels your child can find with the letter X in a grocery store, or look for the letter X on signs and license plates while on a drive or walk
• Recipe- xylophone fruit kabobs or make something from a box mix
• Snacks- Arrange pretzel sticks, carrot sticks, or celery sticks in the shape of an X.

Letter W Review

If your child has completed all the Week 29 activities, and time allows, you may want to spend some time reviewing Week 28, which covered the letter W. However, if you do not get a chance to review Week 28, it is okay. Week 32 of the Letter of the Week preschool curriculum will review weeks 26 through 31.

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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.

• A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems by Deborah Ruddell
• What Does the X-ray Say? by second graders at Longfellow Elementary School
• What about X? An Alphabet Adventure by Anne Marie Houppert
• Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss

Supply Reminder

Remember to look ahead to Week 30, decide which activities you would like to do with your child, and make sure you have the necessary supplies on hand.