Cancellation Practice

Fluency · Grades 4–8 · 12 cards · about 12 min

Cards to practice cancellation technique.

If you stutter on this word, stop, pause, then re-say it slowly: baseball
Say it out loud

What's in this activity

  • If you stutter on this word, stop, pause, then re-say it slowly: baseball
  • Stop, pause, and re-say: telephone
  • Stop, pause, and re-say: my name is ___
  • Stop, pause, and re-say: Saturday
  • Stop, pause, and re-say: I want a sandwich.
  • Stop, pause, and re-say: What time is it?
  • Stop, pause, and re-say: computer
  • Stop, pause, and re-say: Can I have a turn?
  • Stop, pause, and re-say: birthday party
  • Stop, pause, and re-say: I don't know.
  • Stop, pause, and re-say: refrigerator
  • Stop, pause, and re-say: See you tomorrow.

About this activity

Twelve cards that each set up the same three-step move: if you stutter on this word, stop, pause, then re-say it slowly. The words and phrases run from single words — baseball, telephone, Saturday, computer, refrigerator — up to whole utterances like I want a sandwich, Can I have a turn? and See you tomorrow. Cancellation is a specific technique with a specific shape, and it needs practice material at both levels.

How to use it in a session

Practise it voluntarily first. Ask the student to stutter on purpose on baseball and then run the full stop-pause-re-say, because waiting for a real moment to rehearse a technique means very little rehearsal. The pause is the part most students shorten — it should feel too long — and the re-say should be slower and easier, not louder or more forceful. Twelve minutes covers the cards with time to build from single words to the phrases.

What to listen for

Watch the pause length. A cancellation without a real pause becomes a fast repetition, which is not the technique and does not change anything. Listen for the re-say being easier rather than more effortful; a student who re-says with more push has learned the shape and not the point. Notice whether the technique transfers to the sentence cards, since single words are much easier to cancel than running speech.

Carrying it home

This is a technique that needs a tolerant audience more than a practice partner. Ask the family to let a re-said word pass without comment, and to resist finishing the word during the pause, which is the most common and most understandable interruption.

Questions

What grades is this for?
Fourth through eighth, where students can attend to their own speech mechanics without it becoming overwhelming.
Do I need to sign up?
No, all twelve cards play free in the browser.
Should the student use this every time they stutter?
No — it is too slow for that, and using it constantly makes conversation unmanageable. It is a tool for specific moments, and deciding which moments is part of the work.