#1012. "X" Letter Ideas

Reading/Writing, level: Elementary
Posted Tue Apr 20 13:29:13 PDT 1999 by Early Childhood Mailring ().
Concepts Taught: "X" letter activities

X letter ideas

Letter X

I have a friend who works in X-ray and he gave me some old x-rays to show my
class. You have to be very particular about handling them and the students
are not allowed to touch them, but they're GREAT to put in front of a light to
show them the real thing.

You can also play tic-tac-toe (Xs and Os) ... my kids loved this because they
did not know how to play

Have students draw their own X-rays using white chalk on black paper.

Cindy/SPED K-2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. For letter Xx, read the book, Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss. It has a lot
of words with Xx in it.
2. Make a list of words that have Xx in them somewhere in the word. My
kids found it interesting that Xx is one of those letters more often at
the end of words.

Dawn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
X: XYLOPHONE
SHOW:
Use a small xylophone. Hit a long bar. Hit a short bar. Which bar makes
the
higher sounds?
IDEAS:
The short bar gives off the higher sound. The shorter the length of the
vibrating material, the higher the pitch of the sound. The longer the
length,
the lower the sound. Play a scale for the class. Let them guess whether
some
notes are high or low with our eyes
closed.

Sandy
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Here is a cute idea for X

Give each child a piece of cardboard on which you have attached a piece
of paper.Give each child a pencil or crayon. Walk around the school and
tally the number of "EXIT" signs you find. My kids love to take
surveys. Some times we put a line down the middle of the paper and see
which letter we find more of (you might have an X on one side of the
paper and a P or any other letter on the other side.). -Leslie
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Letter X: Well, I don't know about you folks but I go with the end sound here
as it is more 'true' than, say, x-ray. AStill, I don't have much:
Six- number games , all focus on 6 . Trace around a LARGE #6 and fill with
xxxx all inside of it. Six IS a good one for re-inforcement as it is so often
confused with 9.
FOX: I have afox hat pattern the kids make. Teach facts on the fox.
FIX - tools, community helpers, plumbers, handymen etc...
BOX- Use a touchy feely box at Circle Time. BOOK:"When This Box is Full"
Reinforces the months of the year,You could duplicate many of the items for
your own box!
WAX: Bring in some crayon shavings for projects with wax pepr that has been
precut into leaf shapes.
MIX:Do a cooking project. Study measurements.
That's all I use/ can't wait to hear more! Laurie
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
X activities
X-traordinary Puppets - Have each child stuff a paper bag and tie it with
yarn or string at the bottom. Have the children use paper to cut out and
glue on eyes, ears, an X nose, and a mouth. Let them glue on scraps of yarn
or draw Xs all around the top and sides of the sack for hair. Ask them to
make Xs all around the bottom of the sack.

A Garden of Xs - Have the children use their green crayons to make stems for
a garden of flowers. Then have them use a variety of colors to design
flowers from Xs for their gardens. Ask them to make X leaves on the stems.

Butterfly from an X - Show the children how to make butterfly wings from an X
by closing the sides of the X with lines. Have the children decorate the
butterflies, adding antennae, spots, bodies, and so on.

Musical Water Glass Xylophones

X Race - Divide the children into 3 or more teams of equal sizes. Have the
first player on each team race to an X taped on the floor at a distance from
the beginning spot. When they reach the X, have them stop and jump to form
an X with their bodies. Then have them run back; tap the next person on the
shoulder, saying X; and sit down at the end of their line. The first team
with everyone sitting down is the winner.
X People - Have the children pretend to be X people. Tell them you will ask
them to move in certain ways, at the same time keeping their bodies in an X
shape. Call out movements such as running, walking, jumping, hopping,
leaping, lying down, tiptoeing, and going backward.
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Cut the letter X out of yellow construction paper. I make it into a
xylaphone. Using 1 and 1/2inch by 1/2 inch rectangles of different
colors(except yellow)glue them to down one side of the X. On the other
I put 2 brown lollipop shapes, one on either side of the line of
colored rectangles.Hope this makes sense.

I also play musical X's. Lay a letter X for each child on the
floor.Play music remove an X each time the music stop.
Sandy D.
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Activity X
How do x-rays help us? Pay a visit to a health care professional. Most
doctors, dentists, nurses, or veterinarians like to teach children about
their jobs. Not only does it take some of the fear out of your child's next
doctor or dentist appointment, but it is good business for the doctor. It is
better to go as a group. It is more efficient to give a tour to ten children
than to one. If you have a daycare or play group you may even find a health
care provider who will be willing to come and visit your group. Tell them
why you want to visit and that you are hoping the children will learn about
x-rays.

X: X marks the spot. Place a number of masking tape X's on the
floor. Children can have a treasure hunt, find the spot, "dig"
lift out buried treasure and opening it. What did you find?

Butterfly from an X
Show the children how to make butterfly wings from an X by closing the sides
with lines. Add decorations and antennae.

Xylophone
Takes six identical glass tumblers and fill with various levels of water,
from empty to full. Tap on the glasses with a wooden spoon to make music.

Musical X
Hide a small ball with Xs taped to it, somewhere in the room. Have a child
look for the ball and direct the rest of the children to clap loudly when the
person is getting closer to the ball and softly as the person gets farther
away from the ball.

X on a Cracker
Give each child a cracker. Have the children slice cheese into strips, then
cross two strips on the crackers in the shape of the letter X.

I bring in X-rays for them to look at. This is when we talk about healthy

bodies.

- we played tic-tac-toe.

- we hid things either in our classrooms or outside and made maps. X marks
the spot!

How about X-ray.....Ask your doctor or dentist for some old X-rays. OR
have them draw X-rays with white chaulk on black paper.

Xylophone........ Experiment with xylophones - - or make a bottle xylophone
--- take glass soda bottles and fill each one with a decreasing amount of
water (start w/half full) ... tap the sides of the bottles to hear the
different sounds... I like to use colored water for this

Read Xavier's Fantastic Discovery, Parker Brothers

x ray: Ask parents if any have old xrays you all could view..

Xylophone: Bring one from home and show kids how to play the instrument. (
use toy xylophone)

Cross stitch:

Make up sewing cards with big X's on then and have the kids thread the
needle9( Plastic) and sew X's!!

eXpressions-----funny faces---imitate other facial eXpressions---

eXam----medical day---doctor, dentist, vet---

X-Mas---in June! or July!

eXercise----Large Motor Activities

eXperiment

(X) 1. Make soft pretzels and form the letter X

X Marks the Spot

Read Xavier's Fantastic Discovery. Give each child one sheet of 1" graph
paper. Show the children how to draw an X in each of the squares by first
drawing a diagonal line from the top right corner of the square to the
opposite corne, and then a diagonal line from the top left corner of the
square to the opposite corner. Invite children to practice making exact X's
on the graph paper. For fun, work with small groups of children and help
them cross-stitch over their X's. Use yarn and plastic needles.

Arrange a "treasure hunt". Leave clues in three to six different places.
For example start with a clue that reads "go to the closet that has a mop,
broom and vacuum cleaner: the children then decide where to go. They would
go there for the next clue. Prearrange for a big red X to mark the correct
spot - "X marks the spot".

Invite the children toplay tic-tac-toe.

X-Ray

Ask your Dr. or Dentist for some old X-rays. Show the X-rays to the
children. Explain that doctors and dentists use X-rays to check for broken
bones or to see the inside of the body or teeth. Invite children who have
had x-rays to share their experiences.

Draw a simple X-ray with white chalk on black construction paper. Explain
that you can see bones on an X-ray and that you are going to draw some bones
that you might see in an X-ray of the body. Draw each body part on the
chalkboard and then wait for the children to draw that body part on their
papers. Start with the head, then the neck and body, then sholders, arms and
fingers. Have a small red heart cut from construction paper to glue the
heart on the right side of their skeleton drawings.

Xylophone

Show the children how to play a xylophone. Encourage the children to play
one or two notes. Encourage any children who may have small xylophones at
home to bring them in to share.

Kim ;D
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Activities for letter X.....

X-rays....stick on windows so that children can see them and compare their
body parts to those shown. i.e. measuring hands and arms.

Painting X-rays of their body...white paint on black card.

Gluing bones onto a pre-made black screen...looking at an X-ray.

Make a water bottle Xylophone.....glass containers with varying amountds of
water in them.

Xylophone and music sheet (play by numbers) so children can make their own
music.

Large X shape......make little X's with matchsticks, toothpicks by gluing
these inside shape.

X stamps - potato printing.

Look up the X page in a children's dictionary/adult variety also and discuss
the various words found....

Involve the families.....send home a sheet asking if they can assist in
finding out things that start with the letter X....animal
flower
plant
town etc

Can't think of any others at this time.

Carol in Perth
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we make a color, cut & paste mini-book that the children can read by
themselves. it's always a big hit. i wrote the text on the 'puter and
copied the two pictures from another book. hese's the text:
page 1: I see a fox.
The fox is red.
page 2: I see a box.
The box is yellow.
page 3: The red fox is next
to the yellow box.
page 4: The red fox is on
the yellow box.

children color, cut, and paste pix to match text.

janet/spedK/nj
holland@edmail.com
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I give my children the sound X makes by giving them a "link."

The sound X makes is like when your mom drops french fries in grease to cook
them for dinner /ks/ /ks/ /ks/ (they hold up their hands and pretend to
drop fries in a pan of grease).

Cathy
EC in NC