Multisyllabic Words with /r/ and /s/
Long academic and vocational words where residual errors are most audible.
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
Choose by relevance rather than working through. A student applying for a job needs supervisor and scholarship; one going into a transition meeting needs responsibility and circumstances. Split each into syllables, rebuild, then use it in the sentence the student would actually say it in. Twelve minutes covers three or four words to that standard.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentShow the card and wait 3 seconds for the student to say it.Log as correct
- Visual cuePoint to your mouth, or show the mouth picture for /r/ and /s/, before the student tries again.Log as cued
- Verbal modelSay the word; the student says it right after you.Log as cued
- Placement cueFor /r/: sides of the tongue up against the top back teeth, tip off the roof. For /s/: teeth close, tongue tip just behind the top teeth, thin stream of air down the middle.Log as cued
Adjust it
Tap out the syllables and say each one on its own, then two at a time, then the whole word.
Say each word in a short sentence of the student's own.
Matching IEP goal
Given picture cards, Student will produce /r/ and /s/ 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
Eight long academic and vocational words: responsibility, transportation, opportunity, certificate, scholarship, supervisor, circumstances, registration. Every one contains both an /r/ and an /s/, and every one is a word a secondary student has to say in a meeting, an application or an interview — which is where a residual error is most audible and most costly.
What to listen for
Listen for which target degrades first. In responsibility the /r/ is initial and the /s/ is buried in the middle of a five-syllable word, and the buried one almost always goes first. Watch whether accuracy holds when the word is embedded in a sentence rather than said alone — for a residual error at this age, that gap is the whole problem.
Carrying it home
These words appear on forms and in meetings rather than in conversation. Rehearsing the two or three the student will actually have to say this month is worth more than practising all eight.
What's in this activity
- responsibility
- transportation
- opportunity
- certificate
- scholarship
- supervisor
- circumstances
- registration
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- Sixth through twelfth, for residual /r/ and /s/ errors.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all eight words play free in the browser.
- Why these words specifically?
- Because they are long, they contain both targets, and a secondary student has to say them in high-stakes settings. A residual error is most audible in a long word and most costly in an interview.
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.