/m/ Initial Phrases
Two-to-four word phrases with word-initial /m/, the step between words and sentences.
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
Use this once /m/ is steady in single words. /m/ is lips together with the sound coming through the nose, and it can be held, so a long mmm before the vowel is an easy cue — mmmop the mess. Start with my mom and make a map, which are short, then move to the longer ones like the moon at midnight and mittens and a mask. Five minutes covers the ten with a second pass.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentShow the card and let the student say the whole phrase on their own.Log as correct
- Visual cuePoint to your mouth, or show the mouth picture for /m/, before the student tries again.Log as cued
- Verbal modelSay the phrase with the /m/ word slightly stressed; the student repeats it.Log as cued
- Placement cueLips closed and hum, so the sound comes out of your nose. Feel your lips tickle.Log as cued
Adjust it
Go back to single words: the student says just the /m/ word from each card.
Move to sentences: the student puts the phrase into a sentence of their own.
Matching IEP goal
Given phrase cards, Student will produce /m/ in the word-initial position in phrases 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
Ten short phrases with word-initial /m/: my mom, mud on the mat, the moon at midnight, a monkey and me, mix the muffin, mittens and a mask, make a map, a mango and milk, mop the mess, the mail man. Almost every phrase has two or more /m/ words, so the child has to close the lips again partway through rather than once at the start.
What to listen for
Listen for /b/ in place of /m/ — bop the bess — which means the lips close but the air is not going through the nose; a blocked nose from a cold can do this too. Notice whether the second /m/ in each phrase is as clean as the first. If mud on the mat is fine but mittens and a mask loses the /m/ in mask, the extra length is the load, not the sound itself.
Carrying it home
Mom, milk, more and mine come up constantly. Hum the /m/ a little when you model it — mmmilk — which makes it easy for a young child to hear and copy.
What's in this activity
- my mom
- mud on the mat
- the moon at midnight
- a monkey and me
- mix the muffin
- mittens and a mask
- make a map
- a mango and milk
- mop the mess
- the mail man
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- Pre-K through second grade.
- Do I need to sign up?
- No, the ten phrases play free in the browser.
- My child says 'bilk' for 'milk'. What should I cue?
- Humming. Ask them to hum with their lips closed and feel the buzz on their nose, then open into the word.
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.