About this activity
Twelve words starting with /sh/: shoe, ship, sheep, shell, shark, shirt, shop, show, shadow, shovel, shape, shelf. Ten are single syllables and two — shadow and shovel — are two, which gives you a step up within the same deck once the short words are stable.
How to use it in a session
Use the lip rounding as your cue, since it is visible. /sh/ rounds the lips and /s/ does not, and showing that in a mirror is faster than describing a tongue position the child cannot see. Ask for the word, then a two-word phrase — my shoe, the ship — and stop there for a young child. Six minutes covers the twelve.
What to listen for
Listen for /s/ replacing it, which means the tongue is too far forward and the lips are not rounded. Watch shirt and shark, where the following sound is r-coloured and pulls the tongue back — those can be easier for a fronting child and make a good starting point. Notice shadow and shovel, where a second syllable competes for attention.
Carrying it home
Shoe, shop, ship and shirt are ordinary words. Modelling them clearly and noticing the ones that come out right does more than correcting the ones that do not.
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- Kindergarten through third grade.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all twelve cards play with no account.
- How do I cue /sh/?
- Through the lips. /sh/ is produced with rounded lips and the tongue further back than /s/, and the rounding is visible in a mirror — which makes it the cue to use first.