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)
/M/
Lips closed then
Hum (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!"
/SM/ small
/M/ mall
Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "The red block is not as big as the others, it is small. This shopping place is called a mall. Small and mall."
Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Small. Mall. Small. Small. Mall." etc.
Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say small or mall and I'll point to the one you say."
/SM/ smile
/M/ mile
Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This person is happy, you can see their mouth smile. This picture is a road sign that says how many miles until the exit. A mile is a way to measure distance in the USA. Smile and mile."
Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Smile. Mile. Smile. Smile. Mile." etc.
Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say smile or mile and I'll point to the one you say."
/SM/ smash
/M/ mash
Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This person likes to smash clay. Smash. This person likes to mash potatoes. Smash and mash."
Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Smash. Mash. Smash. Smash. Mash." etc.
Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say smash or mash and I'll point to the one you say."
/SM/ smell
/M/ Mel
Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This person likes to smell flowers. Smell. This girl is named Mel. Smell and Mel."
Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Smell. Mel. Smell. Smell. Mel." etc.
Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say smell or Mel and I'll point to the one you say."
/SM/ smack
/M/ mac
Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This person is going to smack the tennis ball, they're going to hit it hard, smack! This picture shows mac n cheese, mac. Smack and mac."
Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Smack. Mac. Smack. Mac. etc.
Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say smack or mac 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 small. You could tell there was only one sound at the beginning of mall."
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 small with my sound buddies. See how I have two sounds? S-m-all. Point to small. Great, now I'm going to say mall with only one sound: mall. Point here, to mall."
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 "M"), 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 M-all, twice for blends like S-M-all).
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 small, smile, smell, 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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