Vocalic /r/ Flashcards (er) — Spelling
Articulation · Grades 3–6 · 12 cards
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
Sort by the doubling and let the vowel decide. A short vowel in the first syllable doubles the consonant — ham-mer, but-ter, let-ter; a long vowel or a vowel team does not — tea-cher, spi-der, ti-ger. That is the same rule as everywhere else and this set is a clean demonstration of it. Ask which the word needs before building.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentAfter building each word, the student says it aloud. Wait 3 seconds.Log as correct
- Visual cuePoint to your mouth, or show the mouth picture for /r/, before the student tries again.Log as cued
- Verbal modelSay the word; the student says it right after you.Log as cued
- Placement cueSides of your tongue up against your top back teeth, tip either lifted and pulled back or pointed down with the tongue bunched up. Lips slightly rounded, and the tip never touches the roof.Log as cued
Adjust it
Drop to syllables ('ra' and 'ree'), or use fewer cards.
Put each word in a short carrier phrase with no /r/ in it or mix in /r/ words from another position.
Matching IEP goal
Given word cards, Student will produce /r/ in vocalic contexts 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
The twelve er words — teacher, water, hammer, ladder, dinner, butter, finger, spider, tiger, zipper, letter, summer — as a spelling task. Derived from the flashcard deck. Every one ends in er, which is unusually consistent, and the difficulty is in the doubled consonants: hammer, ladder, dinner, butter, zipper, letter and summer all double, and teacher, water, finger, spider and tiger do not.
What to listen for
Watch whether the student can hear the first vowel's length, since the whole rule depends on it. A student who cannot distinguish butter from tiger by vowel will find the doubling arbitrary. Notice water, whose first vowel is neither clearly short nor long and which does not double — a genuine exception worth naming.
Carrying it home
Ask whether a word has one consonant or two in the middle. Butter against tiger is a clean pair, and the vowel before it decides the answer — a rule a child can apply themselves on a word nobody has taught them.
What's in this activity
- teacher
- water
- hammer
- ladder
- dinner
- butter
- finger
- spider
- tiger
- zipper
- letter
- summer
Questions
- How does this differ from the flashcards?
- Same twelve words, built from letters. The doubling decision only arises in spelling, so this version exercises a rule reading does not.
- Is it free?
- Yes, no account or card needed.
- When does the consonant double before er?
- After a short vowel — hammer, butter, letter. After a long vowel or a vowel team it stays single, as in tiger and teacher.
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.