/l/ Medial — Spelling
Articulation · Grades K–3 · 12 cards
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
Split each word into syllables aloud before building it. Yel-low and pil-low double the letter across the break; sa-lad and me-lon do not, and the difference follows the vowel before it. Ask which the word needs before the student builds it, so the pattern gets applied rather than remembered. Keep asking for the production between letters — the sound is still the target.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentAfter building each word, the student says it aloud. Wait 3 seconds.Log as correct
- Visual cuePoint to your mouth, or show the mouth picture for /l/, 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 up on the bumpy ridge behind your top teeth, and keep it there while your voice flows out around the sides of your tongue.Log as cued
Adjust it
Drop to syllables ('la' and 'lee'), or use fewer cards.
Put each word in a short carrier phrase with no /l/ in it or mix in /l/ words from another position.
Matching IEP goal
Given word cards, Student will produce /l/ in the word-medial 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
The twelve medial /l/ words — balloon, yellow, pillow, gorilla, salad, melon, ruler, collar, silly, hello, olive, jelly — as a spelling task. Derived from the flashcard deck. Half of them double the l and half do not, which makes this a real spelling question rather than a transcription exercise.
What to listen for
Watch the doubling on the short-vowel words. Yellow, pillow, gorilla, collar, silly and jelly all follow a short vowel and double; balloon, salad, melon, ruler, hello and olive do not. Notice ruler and olive specifically, where a single l after a long vowel looks wrong to a student who has over-learned the doubling rule.
Carrying it home
Ask whether a word has one l or two. Yellow against salad is a clean pair, and the vowel before it decides the answer — a rule a child can check themselves once someone has shown them how.
What's in this activity
- balloon
- yellow
- pillow
- gorilla
- salad
- melon
- ruler
- collar
- silly
- hello
- olive
- jelly
Questions
- How is this different from the flashcards?
- Same twelve words, built from letters. The doubling pattern only matters in spelling, so this version teaches something reading does not.
- Is it free?
- Yes, no account and no card needed.
- When does the l double in the middle of a word?
- Usually after a short vowel — yellow, pillow, silly, jelly. After a long vowel it stays single, as in ruler and hello.
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.