Draw and Say: /r/ Carryover at the Sentence Level

Articulation · Grades 2–5 · 8 cards · about 15 min

Sentence-level /r/ practice anchored to a picture the student drew, so the target sentence is theirs to own.

Draw a red race car. Then say three times: 'The red race car raced around the track.'

What's in this activity

  • Draw a red race car. Then say three times: 'The red race car raced around the track.'
  • Draw a rabbit in a garden. Then say: 'The rabbit ran right through the carrots.'
  • Draw a rainy day. Then say: 'The rain ruined our trip to the park.'
  • Draw a bird in a tree. Then say: 'A bird built a nest right by our front door.'
  • Draw a farmer and a barn. Then say: 'The farmer parked the tractor in the barn.'
  • Draw a river with a bridge. Then say: 'The river runs under the bridge near our house.'
  • Draw your favorite dinner. Then finish the sentence out loud: 'For dinner I really want ___.'
  • Draw the playground. Then tell me three things you do there, using an /r/ word in each sentence.

About this activity

Eight tasks that pair a drawing with a loaded sentence: draw a red race car, then say The red race car raced around the track; draw a rabbit in a garden, then say The rabbit ran right through the carrots; draw a river with a bridge, then say The river runs under the bridge near our house. Drawing it first means the sentence describes the student's own picture, which is a small thing that changes how willingly it gets said ten times.

How to use it in a session

Keep the drawing to a minute. It is a scaffold for the sentence and not the activity, and a student who is still colouring is not practising. Ask for the sentence three times as written, then once while pointing at their own drawing, then once from memory. The last two tasks are open — finish the sentence, tell me three things about the playground — and are the closest to conversation, so save them for the end.

What to listen for

Listen for which /r/ position breaks. These sentences mix initial /r/ in rabbit and ran with vocalic /r/ in car, farmer and river, and most students are stronger on one. Watch accuracy across the three repetitions: a sentence that improves by the third has a motor pattern warming up, and one that decays has a student running out of attention.

Carrying it home

Send home the drawing with its sentence written under it. A picture the child made, with one sentence to say to somebody, is a home programme a family can actually run.

Questions

What grades is this for?
Second through fifth, for students working /r/ at sentence level rather than in words.
Do I need an account?
No, all eight tasks play free.
Why have the student draw first?
Because the sentence then describes something of theirs. It buys attention and willingness on a task that requires many repetitions of the same sentence.