Embedded Files
/S/
Tongue tip UP on alveolar ridge (bumps behind upper front teeth)
Sides of tongue touch upper teeth (like when you're saying "EEEEE")
Air through small groove in center of tongue tip
"S" is quiet (voice off)
/L/
Tip of tongue touches alveolar ridge
Sides of tongue relaxed (air moves past tongue laterally)
Voice on
There are 5 pairs of words below for you to practice.
Submit your homework here.
Only move to Step 4 if they are accurate with Step 3.
More ideas for Steps 3 & 4 at bottom of page.
Step 1: Remind them of the rule.
Ex: "Some words have sound buddies that go together. We can't forget their buddies!"
/SL/ slip
/L/ lip
Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This person slipped, they fell down. This picture shows lips. Slip and lip."
Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Slip. Lip. Slip. Slip. Lip." etc.
Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say slip or lip and I'll point to the one you say."
/SL/ slow
/L/ low
Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This person is not moving as fast, they are slow. This ball is not high, it is near the floor so it is low. Slow and low."
Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Slow. Low. Slow. Slow. Low." etc.
Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say slow or low and I'll point to the one you say."
/SL/ slap
/L/ lap
Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "It is not kind to slap someone, to hit them with your hand. In this picture the woman holds the computer on her lap. Slap and lap."
Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Slap. Lap. Slap. Slap. Lap." etc.
Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say slap or lap and I'll point to the one you say."
/SL/ sleep
/L/ leap
Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This person is too tired to be awake, so they decided to sleep. Here, this person is leaping, leap is another word for jump. Sleep and leap."
Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Sleep. Leap. Sleep. Sleep. Leap." etc.
Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say sleep or leap and I'll point to the one you say."
/SL/ sleeve
/L/ leave
Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "The part of shirts where our arms go is called the sleeve. This person is going away, they're going to leave. Sleeve and leave."
Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Sleeve. Leave. Sleeve. Sleeve. Leave." etc.
Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say sleeve or leave and I'll point to the one you say."
Tips for Step 3 (discriminating between words)
If they can do Step 3 accurately, praise them, "Great! You heard my sound buddies in slip. You could tell there was only one sound at the beginning of lip."
If they cannot do Step 4, praise their effort, and keep practicing Step 3 instead of going to Step 4. Ex: "Listen, I'm going to say slip with my sound buddies. See how I have two sounds? S-l-ip. Point to slip. Great, now I'm going to say lip with only one sound: lip. Point here, to lip."
Ideas to make Step 4 (saying the words) more fun:
Draw one pair of words on 2 papers (one picture on each page). Put a tally point on each page as your child says each word. Tell your student they win the game if they get more points on the page that has their target (the word that has a blend). It's okay if there are NO points on the other page!
Make three playdough people or animals; put two of them together and one alone. Every time your child says the word containing a blend, point to the pair (the buddies). When they say a word with a singleton, point to the lone creation.
Write down the sound buddies from this page and point to each sound as it is said (e.g. point to "S" then point to "L"), or use the mouth pictures at the top of this page.
Tap your finger on the table or wall as you say each of the initial consonant(s) in the words (tap once for singletons like L-ip, twice for blends like S-L-ip).
Use gestures. When you/your child say a word with a blend, hold up two fingers touching each other. When you/your child say a word with one sound put your hands together.
Have your child draw a picture of each of the ten words above. Then, have them sort the pictures into a "sound buddy" pile and a "single sound" pile.
Use the sound buddy visual below to cue your child as they produce the words.
General Tips:
Remember to keep the words in pairs (instead of just going through slip, slow, slap, etc.). This therapy approach is meant to build your child's understanding that changing a sound can change the meaning of a word.
It's fine to have your child say the contrast word (on this page, the words containing one consonant sound at the beginning pace and pot), but you want to focus most time and effort on them saying the target pattern (on this page, the words containing /sp/).
Build up your child's tolerance/ability to do more and more productions over time. Can they do 10? 20? 60?
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