The Mom I Want to Be

Letter X is a very unreliable letter that make the sounds:

     /x/ as in x-ray

     /ks/ as in six

     /z/ as in xylophone

1. Present a capital and lower case X to your child.  See if she knows the name of the letter and the sound it makes.  This is a tricky one.  Explain that the X makes different sounds in different words.

 

2. Read A Xylophone for X-Ray Fish

 

3. The X bag is a real stretch. You may want to include words with the X sound in the middle or end of the word such as eXit sign or foX.  Create a list of the items, displayed where it can be seen.

 

4. Create an X collage.  Have your child search through magazines for X words, and glue them to paper for his alphabet book.  If this is too hard, even with X sounds at the end of words, then try just cutting a magazine into small strips and show your child how to cross them to make X’s all over the page.

 

5.  X-Ray X’s.  Cut an X out of white paper.  Using white crayon or oil pastel, draw in bone shapes on each side of the X.  Provide children with the pre-marked X taped to wax paper for easy clean up,  diluted black liquid watercolor and a brush.  Have your child paint all over the X; the crayon should resist the paint and the bones magically appear.  When dry, glue to 8½ x 11” paper and place in alphabet book. 

 

6. Provide a worksheet with a line of X’s to trace across the top and 2 parallel horizontal lines about 2.5 inches apart below, 6 1×3” strips of colored paper, thin popsicle stick, cotton ball, glue.  Glue the 6 strips of paper to make keys for the xylophone, glue the popsicle stick down, and then add the cotton ball to the top to make the stick.

 

7. Other activities:  Play a xylophone;  play X marks the spot – hide a cut out X in the room and have your child ask questions until he guesses where it is;  have pretzel sticks for snack and make X’s with them; create an “X marks the spot” Pirate X Alphabuddy.