Gliding Minimal Pairs: Ring or Wing?
Eight minimal-pair cards for gliding, played as a memory game: /r/ and /l/ at the start of a word against /w/ and /y/, from ring and wing to lamb and yam.
How to run it
Play it as memory: turn two cards, and keep them when a target word and its partner match. Name both cards on every turn. When the student keeps a pair, they say the target word, and you listen for the /r/ or /l/. Take turns so the student hears you say ring and wing back to back. Play the /r/ pairs and the /l/ pairs as separate rounds if the student is working on one sound first.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentThe student names one card of the pair; you point to the card you heard. Wait 3 seconds.Log as correct
- Listen firstSay both words of the pair, then ask the student to say the one you point to.Log as cued
- Verbal modelSay the target word slowly, stressing the sound that changes, and the student repeats it.Log as cued
- Placement cueFor /w/ the lips do the work; for /r/ keep the lips relaxed and lift the sides of the tongue to the top back teeth. For /l/, lift the tongue tip to the ridge behind the top teeth.Log as cued
Adjust it
Play with the cards face up first, and use only the /r/ or only the /l/ pairs.
When the student keeps a pair, they put the target word in a sentence, such as the ring is gold.
Matching IEP goal
Given minimal-pair picture cards, Student will produce /r/ and /l/ at the start of words, without gliding them to /w/ or /y/, 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
Eight minimal pairs for gliding, the pattern where /r/ and /l/ are replaced with the glides /w/ and /y/. Four pairs are for /r/: ring and wing, rock and wok, rail and whale, red and wed. Four are for /l/: lamb and yam, light and white, lawn and yawn, lip and whip. Each pair differs only in the first sound, so a glided word becomes a different word.
What to listen for
Notice whether the student glides /r/, /l/ or both, and whether lamb and lawn come out with /y/ rather than /w/. Listen for an /r/ that is close but sounds like a /w/ with rounded lips. Watch for a student who can match the cards but still says wing for ring: hearing the difference often comes before saying it.
Carrying it home
Use real things for a pair or two: a ring and a picture of a bird wing, a lamp light and a white sheet of paper. Say one word and let the child point. Then the child says one and you point to what you heard. Keep it light and stop while it is still fun. Rock and wok, or lamb and yam, make good silly sentences.
What's in this activity
- ring wing
- lamb yam
- light white
- rock wok
- rail whale
- lawn yawn
- lip whip
- red wed
Questions
- What is gliding?
- Gliding is a speech pattern where /r/ and /l/ are replaced with /w/ or /y/, so ring sounds like wing and lamb sounds like yam.
- Is it free?
- Yes. It plays free in the browser with no login. An account adds session data, goal scoring and assignment to a student.
- Can I play the same pairs as a different game?
- Yes. Copy it to your own library, open the copy in the Activity Studio, and switch the template between Match Up, Memory Pairs and Find the Match. The same pairs play in each.
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.