/sh/ Initial Flashcards
Conventional word-initial sh 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
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.
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 /sh/, before the student tries again.Log as cued
- Verbal modelSay the word; the student says it right after you.Log as cued
- Placement cueLips rounded and pushed forward, tongue pulled a little further back than for /s/ and raised. Blow a wide, quiet stream of air.Log as cued
Adjust it
Drop to syllables ('sha' and 'shee'), or use fewer cards.
Put each word in a short carrier phrase with no /sh/ in it or mix in /sh/ words from another position.
Matching IEP goal
Given picture cards, Student will produce /sh/ in the word-initial 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 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.
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.
What's in this activity
- shoe
- ship
- sheep
- shell
- shark
- shirt
- shop
- show
- shadow
- shovel
- shape
- shelf
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.
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.