About this activity
Twelve description prompts that name the words to watch: describe the soccer game — watch soccer, score, socks; describe the rainy street — watch rain, road, red; describe the lunchroom — watch lunch, lemon, milk; describe the beach — watch shell, ship, shore. Naming the target words is the design choice that makes this carryover practice rather than open description, because the student knows what they are listening for in their own speech.
How to use it in a session
Ask for three sentences and count them. An open describe the picture produces one sentence from most students; a specific number produces three. Start with the prompts that name the words, then move to the ones that only specify a sound — describe the picture in three sentences using your /s/ — which is harder because the student has to find their own targets. Twelve minutes covers three or four prompts with repeats.
What to listen for
Listen for accuracy across the three sentences rather than within one. Most students hold the sound in the first sentence and lose it by the third, and that decay is what carryover work is about. Watch for word avoidance — a student describing the beach without ever saying shell has found a way to succeed that does not help them, and it is worth naming gently.
Carrying it home
Ask a family member to have the child describe a photo in three sentences and to listen for one named word, not the sound in general. A specific word is something a parent can actually track.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Second through fifth, for students at the carryover stage rather than at word or sentence level.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all twelve prompts play with no account.
- Which sounds does it cover?
- Several — /s/, /r/, /l/, /sh/, /ch/ and /z/ all appear. The prompts that name specific words are targeted; the ones that just name a sound work for whichever target the student has.