/r/ Medial Flashcards
Conventional medial /r/ targets at the single-word level.
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
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.
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/, before the student tries again.Log as cued
- Verbal modelSay the word; the student says it right after you.Log as cued
- Placement cueSides of your tongue up against your top back teeth, tip either lifted and pulled back or pointed down with the tongue bunched up. Lips slightly rounded, and the tip never touches the roof.Log as cued
Adjust it
Drop to syllables ('ra' and 'ree'), or use fewer cards.
Put each word in a short carrier phrase with no /r/ in it or mix in /r/ words from another position.
Matching IEP goal
Given picture cards, Student will produce /r/ in the word-medial position 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
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.
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.
What's in this activity
- carrot
- arrow
- parrot
- berry
- cherry
- fairy
- pirate
- mirror
- syrup
- zero
- hero
- earring
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.
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.