Loud & Quiet Sounds

S vs Z

S (quiet)

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)

Z (loud)

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
"Z" is quiet (voice off)

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: "Sometimes I make my sounds quiet and sometimes I make them loud," or "We are going to practice turning our voice on and off while we talk."

C ("see")

Z ("zee")

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This is the letter C ("see"). It says /k/. This is the letter Z ("zee"); it says /z/. C ("see") and ("zee")."

Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. C ("see"). Z ("zee"). C. C. Z." etc.

Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say C ("see") or Z ("zee") and I'll point to the one you say."

sip

zip

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This person is sipping their drink. Sip means take a small drink. This person is zipping their jacket's zipper. Sip and zip."

Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Sip. Zip. Sip. Zip Sip. Sip. Zip" etc.

Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say sip or zip and I'll point to the one you say."

Sue

Zoo

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This girl is name Sue. This place, where many different animals live, is a zoo. Sue and zoo.

Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Sue. Zoo. Sue. Zoo. Zoo." etc.

Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say Sue or zoo and I'll point to the one you say."

sap

zap

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "Pine trees like this make a sticky substance called sap. This picture shows a zap of lightning. Sap and zap.

Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Sap. Zap. Sap. Sap. Zap." etc.

Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say sap or zap and I'll point to the one you say."

seal

zeal

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This animal is a seal. This picture shows zeal, it means when you do something with excitement and energy: zeal."

Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Seal. Zeal. Seal. Zeal." etc.

Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say seal or zeal and I'll point to the one you say."

Tip for Step 3 (discriminating between words)

If they can do Step 3 accurately, praise them, "Great! You heard my quiet sound in peas and my loud sound in bees."
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 peas with my quiet sound. Feel my throat, feel how there is no buzzing, it's quiet? Peas. Point to peas. Great, now I'm going to say bees with my loud sound, bees. Feel my throat, can you feel it buzzing? It's louder. Point here, to bees."

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. It's okay if there are NO points on the other page!
Print or draw a picture of something quiet (ex: a rabbit) and something loud (ex: drums, a dog barking, a train). Point to each picture as you practice quiet and loud sounds.
Repeat a quiet sound (e.g. p p p p p p p p) and catch each other sneaking a noisy sound in there (e.g. p p p p p b p). Make it competitive and add points if that is motivating to your child.
When you/your child make a quiet sound (/p/) hold a finger to your lips (as if you're saying "shhhh"). When you/your child make a loud sound (/b/), you could lightly touch your/their voice box to remind them to turn their voice on. (Or, cup your hand around your ear to cue them you want to hear their loud sound.)
Have your child draw a picture of each of the ten words above. Then, have them sort the pictures into a "quiet sound" pile and a "loud sound" pile.
Use the quiet/loud sound 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 pees, peep, pie, etc.). This therapy approach is meant to build your child's understanding that changing a sound can change the meaning of a word.
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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