Say It! /s/ Final Words
Flashcard drill for /s/ in word-final position.
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
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.
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 /s/, before the student tries again.Log as cued
- Verbal modelSay the word; the student says it right after you.Log as cued
- Placement cueTeeth close together, tongue tip just behind your top teeth without touching them, sides of the tongue against your top side teeth. Send a thin stream of air down the middle.Log as cued
Adjust it
Drop to syllables ('iss' and 'oss'), or use fewer cards.
Put each word in a short carrier phrase with no /s/ in it or mix in /s/ words from another position.
Matching IEP goal
Given picture cards, Student will produce /s/ in the word-final 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
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.
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.
What's in this activity
- bus
- dress
- grass
- kiss
- glass
- goose
- horse
- house
- moose
- mouse
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.
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.