Minimal Pairs — /s/ vs. /z/
Match minimal pairs to build phoneme awareness.
Words
Match
How to run it
Put a hand on the throat. Voicing is felt rather than heard by most children, and the buzz of /z/ against the silence of /s/ is immediately obvious with a hand in the right place. Say the pairs back to back — sip, zip — with the hand there, then have the student produce both. Ten minutes is plenty for three pairs done thoroughly with the tactile cue.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentThe student says the word on the card; you point to the one you heard. Wait 3 seconds.Log as correct
- Visual cuePoint to the part of the word that changes between the two cards.Log as cued
- Verbal modelSay both words slowly, stressing the difference; the student repeats the target word.Log as cued
- Placement cueHand on the throat: /s/ is quiet air, /z/ buzzes. Same tongue position for both.Log as cued
Adjust it
Listen first: you say one of the pair and the student points to it, before they say any.
Use each word of the pair in a sentence, so the difference has to survive at speed.
Matching IEP goal
Given minimal-pair cards such as 'sip' and 'zip', Student will produce the contrast between /s/ and /z/ 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
Three minimal pairs contrasting /s/ and /z/: sip and zip, seal and zeal, bus and buzz. The two sounds are made in exactly the same place with the same tongue shape — the only difference is whether the voice is on — which makes this one of the cleanest voicing contrasts available and a good way to teach what voicing is.
What to listen for
Listen for the voicing carrying into the vowel rather than starting with the consonant. A student who says zip with the buzz beginning only at the vowel has produced sip with an early vowel, which sounds close and is not the target. Watch bus and buzz, where the contrast is at the end of the word and the voicing is quieter and harder to hear.
Carrying it home
The throat cue works anywhere and children find it interesting. Asking which words buzz, over a meal, turns a voicing contrast into a game that takes no preparation.
What's in this activity
- sip 🥤
- zip 🤐
- seal 🦭
- zeal 🔥
- bus 🚌
- buzz 🐝
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- First through fourth, for students working on voicing contrasts.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all three pairs play free.
- What is voicing?
- Whether the vocal folds are vibrating during a sound. /s/ and /z/ are made identically except for that, which is why a hand on the throat makes the difference obvious in a way listening alone does not.
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.