About this activity
Eight sentences carrying several /th/ words each: Thursday is my birthday. I brush my teeth in the bathroom. The moth flew over the path. Beth thinks about math. Both boys walked north. Timothy took a bath. My tooth fell out on Thursday. Think about the thick thread. The last one is a tongue-twister and is the hardest here by a distance.
How to use it in a session
Model, repeat, then produce independently. Think about the thick thread has three targets in five words and puts two of them in clusters, so leave it until the others are stable rather than opening with it. Beth thinks about math is a good middle case — three targets in initial, medial and final position across one short sentence. Five minutes is a full pass.
What to listen for
Listen for position effects inside the sentence. These mix initial /th/ in Thursday and think with medial in birthday and bathroom and final in teeth and math, and most students are stronger in one position. Watch thick thread, where the /th/ sits in a cluster with /r/ and the tongue has to travel a long way quickly.
Carrying it home
One sentence a day is realistic. Thursday is my birthday is short, memorable and contains two targets, which makes it a better home sentence than the tongue-twister.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Second through fifth, for students accurate on /th/ in single words.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all eight sentences play with no account.
- Accuracy drops here compared to word level. Is that expected?
- Entirely. The drop from word to sentence is the normal pattern and is why sentence level is a separate step. Shorten the sentence rather than going back to single words.