/g/ Initial Flashcards
Conventional word-initial /g/ targets at the single-word level.
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
Start with go, which is the shortest and the most useful — a child who has go in isolation can use it immediately in play. /g/ is made at the back of the tongue and cannot be seen, so a mirror does not help here the way it does for /f/; a lying-back position or a gentle push under the chin gives the child a sense of where the contact is. Six minutes covers the twelve.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentShow the card and wait 3 seconds for the student to say it.Log as correct
- Visual cuePoint to your mouth, or show the mouth picture for /g/, before the student tries again.Log as cued
- Verbal modelSay the word; the student says it right after you.Log as cued
- Placement cueTongue tip down behind your bottom teeth. Lift the back of your tongue to the back of the roof of your mouth, then release it with your voice on.Log as cued
Adjust it
Drop to syllables ('gah' and 'go'), or use fewer cards.
Put each word in a short carrier phrase with no /g/ in it or mix in /g/ words from another position.
Matching IEP goal
Given picture cards, Student will produce /g/ in the word-initial position in single words 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
Twelve words starting with /g/: go, goat, game, gum, gate, girl, garden, goose, gift, golf, goal, guitar. Initial position is where /g/ work usually begins, and the words are mostly single syllables — garden, guitar and goose are the exceptions, and they are worth leaving until the shorter ones are stable.
What to listen for
Listen for fronting. A child who says doat for goat has moved the contact from the back of the tongue to the front, which is the classic pattern for /g/ and /k/ and is a phonological process rather than an individual sound error. Watch whether it is consistent across the twelve — a child who fronts every one has a pattern, and one who gets go and not goat may be affected by the following vowel.
Carrying it home
Go, game and gift are frequent enough to notice without arranging anything. Modelling the word rather than asking for a correction keeps the practice from becoming a battle, which matters a great deal at this age.
What's in this activity
- go
- goat
- game
- gum
- gate
- girl
- garden
- goose
- gift
- golf
- goal
- guitar
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- Preschool through second grade, when /g/ is typically an active target.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all twelve cards play with no account.
- My child says 'doat' for 'goat'. What is that?
- Fronting — the tongue is making contact at the front instead of the back. It usually affects /k/ as well as /g/, so it is worth addressing as a pattern across both rather than one word at a time.
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.