/ch/ Carry-Over Conversation Starters
Open-ended topics whose obligatory content words carry /ch/, for carry-over into connected and spontaneous speech.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Use this once /ch/ is steady in sentences. Read the card, let the student talk, and do not interrupt for errors in the first minute — carry-over is about what happens when attention is on the content. Tally correct and incorrect /ch/ words as you listen: kitchen, chair, reach, lunch, cheese, watch, choose. Then replay one error and have the student say that phrase again. Fifteen minutes gives time for three or four cards with a short review after each.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentGive the prompt and let the student talk. Listen for /ch/ without interrupting.Log as correct
- Visual cueUse a silent signal you agreed on, such as a tap on the table, when /ch/ slips.Log as cued
- Verbal modelRecast the word that slipped, correctly, and have the student say just that word before carrying on.Log as cued
- Placement cueLips rounded, tongue tip and front of the tongue up on the ridge behind your top teeth. Hold, then let go into a short /sh/.Log as cued
Adjust it
Go back to sentences: the student plans one sentence with a /ch/ word before speaking.
Fade your signal. Record a minute of talk and have the student count their own errors afterwards.
Matching IEP goal
Given conversation prompts, Student will produce /ch/ in all word positions in structured conversation in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than a visual cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Ten open-ended topics where the words the student has to use carry /ch/: describe your kitchen and which chair you sit in; talk about a coach or teacher who changed how you do something; explain how to make a grilled cheese sandwich; describe a beach you would choose for a whole afternoon. The /ch/ words are built into the answer, so the student cannot talk around them, and the sound has to hold up in real talk.
What to listen for
Listen to the words in the middle and at the end of the word. Kitchen, match, catch and lunch often slip before the initial /ch/ in chair or choose does. A /sh/ in place of /ch/ — shair for chair — means the stop part has gone, and the tongue blade is not closing behind the ridge before the release. Notice whether errors cluster late in a long answer, which tells you the sound is still being monitored rather than automatic.
Carrying it home
Ask one of these at dinner — which lunch would you choose every day, or how do you make a grilled cheese — and just listen. If a parent wants to help, a single agreed signal for a missed /ch/ works better than stopping the conversation to correct it.
What's in this activity
- Describe your kitchen. Tell me which chair you sit in and what you reach for first.
- Tell me about a coach or a teacher who changed how you do something. Say how much it changed.
- Talk about a lunch you would choose every day. Describe each thing on the tray and which one you would reach for first.
- Describe a match or a game you watched. Tell me which moment you would watch again.
- Explain how to make a grilled cheese sandwich. Cover each step, including the kitchen cleanup.
- Tell me about a beach or a place you would choose for a whole afternoon. Describe what you would watch there and which chair you would sit in.
- Describe a picture you would put in a future scrapbook. Explain your choice and which chapter of your life it would match.
- Talk about a change at your school you would cheer for. Explain how much it would matter and to which people.
- Explain how to catch a puppy and teach it one trick. Describe each attempt and which one you would choose to repeat.
- Describe an adventure you would choose if nobody could stop you. Answer every question I ask, including which parts you would change.
Questions
- When is a student ready for this?
- When /ch/ is accurate in structured sentences but still slips in conversation. Earlier than that, the cards turn into error practice.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all ten cards play free in the browser. An account adds session data and goal scoring if you want to tally across sessions.
- How do I cue /ch/ quickly without stopping the talk?
- Agree a small visual cue in advance, such as a tap on the table. The placement reminder is tongue blade up behind the ridge, lips slightly rounded, stop then release.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.