Today we continued our study of the letter “X”. Below are some of the highlights of our morning.
by Audrey Wood. I was able to get a copy yesterday and I am so glad I did. This is a cute story about all of the lower case letters trying to find “little x” who had run away because he didn’t think he was needed. They found him in a castle playing a xylophone. When they all finally got home “little x” had a special job to do. He got to be on a birthday cake because “x” stands for kisses. Thanks, Laurie, for the suggestion!
After our story the children completed a letter “X” tracing page from DLTK. The children glued on xylophone clip art which you can download and print by clicking here. These papers will go in each child’s alphabet binder. We are nearing the end and I know the children are getting excited to take these home.
I have had two xylophone themed learning center activities available this week. The first is a set of xylophone number cards. (You may download and print the cards by clicking the link above.) I asked the children to put the number cards in order and count them aloud for me. A fun option is to ask the children to close their eyes while you take a number away. Then children have to tell what number is missing.
Xylophone Size Sorting Cards
Another center activity I made was a set of xylophone size sorting cards. The children had to put the cards in order from biggest to smallest and vice-versa. For both the number cards and size sorting cards I covered them with contact paper for durability.
Of course, we had to play our xylophones today. These are a staple for music time each week, and were perfect for today’s letter theme. I was given seven of these wooden xylophones by a local teacher and they have been so much fun for the children. We usually sing a song and play along, but sometimes I will ask the children to play slowly, quickly, softly, loudly and to a beat. It can get noisy, but they love it.
Finally, we painted our folders today. I asked the children to make at least one “X” on their folders. They could then either draw whatever they wanted or make a treasure map where “X” marks the spot. Most of the children tried to draw a treasure map. One child made a boat on her folder because she said you have to take a boat to get to the treasure. Cute!
We had a great morning and will finish our study of the letter “X” on Friday when we will learn how “X” sounds at the end of a word as in “fox”.
