About this activity
Twelve words ending in /sh/: fish, wash, dish, push, wish, cash, bush, leash, brush, trash, splash, crash. The last four add an opening cluster as well — brush, trash, splash, crash — which raises the demand and makes them a useful second group rather than more of the same.
How to use it in a session
Hold the final sound in your model. Fisssshhh gives the child time to hear and produce it, and shortening the hold later is the fading. Do the simple words first and the cluster words second, since splash asks for a three-consonant cluster and a final digraph in one short word. Six minutes covers the twelve.
What to listen for
Listen for /s/ replacing /sh/ at the end, which is the standard substitution and means the tongue has not moved back. Watch the cluster words: a student accurate on wish and inaccurate on splash has a cluster problem rather than a /sh/ one, and those need separating.
Carrying it home
Fish, wash, brush and trash come up daily. Asking a family to listen for the end of one word gives them something specific enough to hear, which works better than asking about a sound.
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- Kindergarten through third grade.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all twelve cards play free.
- My child has 'shoe' but not 'fish'. Why?
- Position effects. Starting a word with /sh/ and ending one with it are different motor tasks, so the sound has to be worked position by position rather than assumed once it appears.