About this activity
Ten words ending in /s/: bus, dress, grass, kiss, glass, goose, horse, house, moose, mouse. Final position is its own target — the sound has to be released at the end of a word rather than launched into a vowel — and a child with a clear sun can still say bu for bus.
How to use it in a session
Hold the final sound in your model. Bussss gives the child time to hear and produce it, and shortening the hold later is the fading. Ask for the word, then a two-word phrase — my bus, the house — and stop there for a young child. Five minutes covers ten cards, which makes this a good short activity inside a longer session.
What to listen for
Listen for the sound being dropped rather than distorted. Bu for bus is final consonant deletion and affects many sounds at once; a slushy or forward /s/ at the end is an articulation difference in a sound that is present. Watch goose, house and mouse, where the vowel is long and the final consonant is proportionally quieter.
Carrying it home
Bus, house, grass and dress are ordinary words. Asking a family to listen for the end of the word gives them something specific enough to actually hear, unlike a request to listen for a sound.
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- Kindergarten through third grade.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all ten cards play free with no login.
- My child has initial /s/ but not final. Is that normal?
- Yes, and it is the usual order. Position effects are real — starting a word with a sound and ending one with it are different motor tasks, so each position needs its own work.