Minimal Pairs — /sh/ vs. /ch/
Discrimination practice for /sh/ and /ch/.
Words
Match
How to run it
Teach the stop. /ch/ is a /t/ followed immediately by /sh/, and cueing the tongue to touch first is more useful than asking the student to say the sound again. Do the listening half before the production half: say one of each pair and have the student choose, since a student who cannot hear the difference has no way to check their own attempts. Ten minutes covers three pairs properly.
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 cue/sh/ is a long, steady wind; /ch/ starts with the tongue stopped on the ridge and bursts out, like a quick sneeze.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 'shoe' and 'chew', Student will produce the contrast between /sh/ and /ch/ 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 /sh/ and /ch/: shoe and chew, ship and chip, shop and chop. The two sounds are made in nearly the same place, and the difference is that /ch/ begins with a complete stop and /sh/ does not — a small distinction that produces entirely different words.
What to listen for
Listen for the direction of the error. Most students substitute /sh/ for /ch/ — chew becoming shoe — which means the stop is missing. The reverse, /ch/ for /sh/, is less common and means the student is adding a closure that should not be there. Watch whether the contrast holds at the end of a word as well as the start, since ship and chip are initial and the same distinction at the end is harder.
Carrying it home
Shoe and chew, ship and chip are easy pairs to notice. Asking which one someone said is a game rather than a drill and it takes seconds — and getting it wrong is funny, which is exactly the kind of feedback a young child will accept.
What's in this activity
- shoe 👟
- chew 😋
- ship 🚢
- chip 🍟
- shop 🏪
- chop 🔪
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- First through fourth, and the contrast can persist longer than that.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all three pairs play with no account.
- What is the difference between /sh/ and /ch/?
- /ch/ starts with a complete tongue closure and releases into the /sh/ sound; /sh/ has no closure. Cueing the stop first is usually more effective than asking for the whole sound again.
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.