About this activity
Twelve phrases written stretched out: mmmy naaame iiis; I waaant aaa cooookie; caaan I plaaay toooo; whaaat's fooor luuunch; I neeed heeelp pleeease; seeee yooou tomooorrow. The spelling is the instruction — a child reading the stretched version produces a slow rate without needing to be told what a slow rate is.
How to use it in a session
Let the spelling do the work, then fade it. Reading aaa cooookie produces the target automatically; the skill is shortening the stretch until the phrase is normal length with the easier rate intact. Turtle talk is a good name because it is concrete and does not sound like a correction. Eight minutes covers a subset with the fading step.
What to listen for
Listen for the rate reduction without the odd quality. A child stretching every syllable at every opportunity has learned a speech pattern rather than a technique, and peers will notice it — the goal is a slightly slower, easier rate rather than a distinctive one. Watch whether it survives into a phrase the child produces themselves rather than reads.
Carrying it home
Turtle talk is a name a family can use without it becoming a correction. Asking for one turtle-talk sentence at dinner is playful in a way slow down never is.
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- Kindergarten through fifth grade, for rate control in fluency work.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all twelve cards play with no account.
- Won't this make my student sound strange?
- It will if the stretch is not faded. The stretched version is a teaching device; the target is a slightly slower ordinary rate, and shortening the stretch is a planned part of the work rather than an afterthought.