Describe the Articulation Picture
Describe pictures containing target sound words.
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
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.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentThe student works through the card on their own, listening for their target sound.Log as correct
- SignalUse a silent signal you agreed on, such as a tap on the table, when their target sound slips.Log as cued
- AskAsk 'Did that sound right?' and let the student try the word again.Log as cued
- ModelSay the word correctly; the student repeats it, then carries on.Log as cued
Adjust it
Slow the pace: the student plans each sentence before saying it.
Fade the signal. Record the student and have them count their own errors afterwards.
Matching IEP goal
During this activity, Student will produce their target sound correctly in structured conversation, self-correcting any error, in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than a nonverbal signal.
Send it home through the parent portal →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.
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.
What's in this activity
- Describe the picture in 3 sentences using your /s/ sound.
- Describe the picture in 3 sentences using your /r/ sound.
- Describe the picture in 3 sentences using your /l/ sound.
- 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.
- Describe the kitchen. Watch: chair, cheese, kitchen.
- Describe the zoo. Watch: zebra, zoo, lizard.
- Describe the birthday party using 4 target words.
- Describe the classroom using 4 target words.
- Describe the playground using 4 target words.
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.
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.