About this activity
Twelve words with /r/ in the middle: carrot, arrow, parrot, berry, cherry, fairy, pirate, mirror, syrup, zero, hero, earring. Every one is two syllables with the target on or near the break, which is what makes medial /r/ its own target rather than an extension of initial work.
How to use it in a session
Split the word at the sound: ca-rrot, ar-row. Splitting gives the student a final /r/ and then an initial one, both usually easier, and rejoining them is the target. Carrot and parrot are worth doing together since they differ only at the front, which makes the shared middle obvious. Six minutes covers the twelve at word level.
What to listen for
Listen for the /r/ becoming a /w/ between two vowels, which is where it is quietest and most easily replaced — ca-wot for carrot. Watch mirror and earring, where the vowel before the /r/ is itself r-coloured, so the student has to produce two /r/ qualities in one short word. Those two are usually the hardest here.
Carrying it home
Carrot, cherry, mirror and zero come up in an ordinary day. Asking a family to listen for one word at a predictable time gives them something concrete, which works better than asking them to listen for a sound.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- First through fourth, usually after initial /r/ is stable.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all twelve cards play with no account and no card.
- Why is medial /r/ harder?
- Because the sound sits between two vowels with no boundary to lean on, and in several of these words the surrounding vowels are themselves r-coloured, which makes the target harder to isolate.