Easy Onset and Light Contact: Teen Sentences
Fluency-shaping practice on utterances a teenager would really produce.
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
Match the technique to the sentence's first sound, which the cards already do — easy onset for vowel-initial utterances, light contact for those starting with a stop. Rehearse each one until it is boring, then use it for real: the notes sentence should be said to an actual teacher. The name-and-interview sentence is the highest-stakes item here and worth the most repetitions. Fifteen minutes with a plan for where each one gets used.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentThe student uses easy onset on their own. Listen without reminding.Log as correct
- Visual reminderPoint to the picture or card that stands for the technique.Log as cued
- Verbal reminderSay a short reminder, such as 'Gentle start.'Log as cued
- ModelSay it yourself using the technique; the student copies, then tries the card again.Log as cued
Adjust it
Go back to shorter turns: single words or two-word phrases.
Move to longer turns, a new listener, or a little time pressure.
Matching IEP goal
Student will use easy onset in sentences in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than a visual reminder.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Eight utterances a teenager would genuinely produce, tagged with the technique to use: easy onset on Anyone know when practice starts? and Is the game still on tonight?; light contact on Can I get the notes from Tuesday? and My name is ___ and I'm here for the interview. Fluency shaping usually gets practised on sentences nobody says, which is why it so rarely appears outside the room.
What to listen for
Listen for the technique surviving the second clause. Most students apply easy onset to the first word and drop it thereafter, and a sentence like My name is ___ and I'm here for the interview has two hard starts in it. Watch which sentences the student avoids practising — that avoidance usually points at the situation they most need.
Carrying it home
Pick the one sentence the student will actually have to say this week and rehearse that. A family can hear it once and then let it happen for real, which is the only part that counts.
What's in this activity
- easy onset: Anyone know when practice starts?
- easy onset: Is the game still on tonight?
- light contact: Can I get the notes from Tuesday?
- easy onset: Excuse me, is this seat taken?
- light contact: My name is ___ and I'm here for the interview.
- easy onset: Are we meeting after school?
- light contact: I need to talk to my counselor.
- light contact: Hey, hold the door please.
Questions
- What is light contact?
- Making the consonant with less pressure than usual, so a /p/ or a /t/ is formed gently rather than pressed and released. It reduces the tension that turns a sound into a block.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all eight sentences play free.
- What grades is this for?
- Sixth through twelfth, using utterances from a teenager's actual day.
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.