About this activity
Twelve words with /v/ in the middle: seven, oven, movie, river, shovel, beaver, eleven, heavy, never, over, gravy, clover. All two or three syllables, and in most of them the /v/ sits right on the syllable break between two vowels — the quietest position this sound occupies.
How to use it in a session
Split at the sound: se-ven, ri-ver. Splitting gives the child a final /v/ and then an initial one, both usually easier than the medial version, and rejoining them is the target. Over and never are the shortest and best starting point; eleven has three syllables and the target in the middle one, which is the hardest configuration here. Six minutes covers the twelve.
What to listen for
Listen for the sound weakening rather than being replaced. Between two vowels, /v/ often arrives with insufficient contact and comes out closer to a /w/ — ri-wer rather than river. Watch shovel and clover, where the /v/ is followed by an l or an r and the tongue has to move immediately after the lip contact.
Carrying it home
Seven, oven, river and never come up in ordinary days. Asking a family to listen for one word rather than the sound in general gives them something they can actually track.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- First through fourth, usually after initial /v/ is stable.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all twelve cards play with no account.
- Why is the middle of a word harder?
- Because there is no boundary to lean on and the sound is quieter between two vowels. In several of these words the target also falls in an unstressed syllable, which reduces it further.