Week 33: Free Long A and E Activities

Welcome to Week 33 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 33: Long A and E Activities

Week 33 of our Letter of the Week preschool curriculum focuses on the long vowel A (as in acorn and ape) and the long vowel E (as in eagle and ear). The short vowel A was covered in Week 2, and the short vowel E was covered in Week 6.

In Week 33, your child will learn how an acorn grows into an oak tree, how ears work, and more. Your child will also continue to review the days of the week. 

 

Long A and E Activities: Day 1

Today’s activities introduce the vowels.

• 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: “Today is Monday (or substitute the correct day). What was yesterday? What will tomorrow be?”
• Tell your child that he/she is going to learn about some special letters called vowels, which are A, E, I, O, and U. Explain that he has already learned one sound these letters make, but now he is going to learn about another sound they can make. (In preschool, don’t worry about teaching when vowels make the long vs. short sound or that Y is sometimes a vowel.)
• Watch the Vowel Song: Long and Short Vowel Sounds by Scratch Garden.
• On workbook page 166, have your child write his name at the top and help him match the long vowels to the picture that begins with its sound. The first one is already done. The last picture is oatmeal.
• Watch Can U Save the Day? by Shannon Stocker. When the story mentions consonants, you may want to pause the video and briefly explain to your child that all the letters that are not vowels are called consonants.
• Watch Do Your Ears Hang Low? Help your child learn the hand motions and encourage him to sing along.

 

 

Long A and E Activities: Day 2

Today’s activities focus on the long vowel A.

• Watch These Are the Long Vowel Sounds by Jack Hartmann.
• Read Little Acorn by Sandra Elaine Collins to your child.
• On workbook page 167, have your child write his/her name on the top line and trace and write the letter A. Read the words under the pictures to him.
• Watch Ms. Katy read Ape’s Great Escape by Russel Punter.
• Sing Do Your Ears Hang Low? While doing the hand motions.
• Optional: Choose an activity, a recipe to prepare together, or a snack from the list of additional long vowel A activities near the end of this page (below Day 5).

 

 

Long A and E Activities: Day 3

Today’s activities focus on the long vowel A.

• Watch Finny the Shark’s Days of the Week Song and sing along.
• Say to your child: “Today is Wednesday (or substitute the correct day). What was yesterday? What will tomorrow be?”
• Watch These Are the Long Vowel Sounds by Jack Hartmann.
• Watch Kiki read Little Acorn by Igloo Books.
• Count aloud with your child from zero to twenty.
• On workbook page 168, have your child count the acorns and write the numbers.
• Sing Do Your Ears Hang Low? While doing the hand motions.
• Optional: Choose an activity, a recipe to prepare together, or a snack from the list of additional long vowel A activities near the end of this page (below Day 5).

 

Long A and E Activities: Day 4

Today’s activities focus on the long vowel E.

• Watch These Are the Long Vowel Sounds by Jack Hartmann.
• On workbook page 169, have your child write his/her name on the top line and trace and write the letter E. Read the words under the pictures to him.
• Watch The Ear Book by Al Perkins.
• Watch How Your Ears Work.
• Sing Do Your Ears Hang Low? While doing the hand motions.
• Optional: Choose an activity, a recipe to prepare together, or a snack from the list of additional long vowel E activities near the end of this page (below the long A activities).

 

Long A and E Activities: Day 5

Today’s activities focus on the long vowel E.

• Watch Finny the Shark’s Days of the Week Song and sing along.
• Say to your child: “Today is Friday (or substitute the correct day). What was yesterday? What will tomorrow be?”
• Count aloud with your child from zero to twenty.
• Watch These Are the Long Vowel Sounds by Jack Hartmann.
• Watch Dev Petty, author of the book, read Don’t Eat Bees.
• On workbook page 170, have your child write his/her name at the top and draw a picture of his favorite food to eat.
• Sing Do Your Ears Hang Low? While doing the hand motions.
• Optional: Choose an activity, a recipe to prepare together, or a snack from the list of additional long vowel E activities near the end of this page (below the long A activities).

 

Additional Long Vowel A Activities

• Writing- Have your child practice writing the letter A with his/her finger in a tray of sand, rice, or dried beans.
• Arts and crafts- acorn painting or torn paper acorn craft
• Science/STEM- air science activities
• Field trip- airport or look for acorns on a nature walk
• Recipe- angel food cake or roasted acorn squash flowers
• Snacks- apricots (Pronunciation of ‘apricots’ varies regionally. Some areas of the US pronounce the word with a long A, and others pronounce it with a short A.)

 

Additional Long Vowel E Activities

• Writing- Have your child practice writing the letter E with his/her finger in a tray of sand, rice, or dried beans.
• Arts and crafts- eagle hand print art or paint on an easel
• Science/STEM- learn about eagles and build an eagle nest
• Field trip- eagle sanctuary, bird reserve, wildlife refuge, or zoo to see eagles
• Snacks- éclairs or “eat” your favorite snack

 

Review Activities

If your child has finished all the Week 33 activities, and time allows, you may want to choose some Week 32 activities to repeat or complete any you weren’t able to get to last week. Week 32 reviewed letters U through Z.

 

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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.

• Can U Save the Day? by Shannon Stocker
• Little Acorn by Igloo Books
• The Ear Book by Al Perkins
• Don’t Eat Bees by Dev Petty

 

Supply Reminder

Remember to look ahead to Week 34, decide which activities you would like to do with your child, and make sure you have the necessary supplies on hand.