Gliding

W vs R

"W"

  • Round lips (“ooh”) then

  • Open lips (next vowel shapes sound, e.g. “aw”)

"L"

  • Tip of tongue touches alveolar ridge (i.e. bumps BEHIND upper teeth)

  • Sides of tongue relaxed (air moves past tongue laterally)

  • Voice on

"Y"

  • Sides of tongue UP near palate/sides of upper teeth (like “EE”)

  • Move tongue to next vowel (e.g. “UH”)

  • Voice on

"R"

  • Base of tongue BACK (toward throat)

  • Sides of tongue UP

  • Voice on

  • There are 5 pairs of words below for you to practice.

  • Submit your homework here.

  • Only move to Step 4 if they are accurate with Step 3.

  • More ideas for Steps 3 & 4 at bottom of page.

Step 1: Remind them of the rule.

Ex: "We're going to practice using our tongue to make the 'R' sound today."

read

weed

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This person likes to read, they like books. This person is pulling a plant called a weed. Read and weed."

Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Read. Weed. Read. Read. Weed." etc.

Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say read or weed and I'll point to the one you say."

ride

wide

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This person is riding a horse. Ride. This TV/box is wide, it isn't thin. Ride and wide."

Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Ride. Wide. Ride. Ride. Wide." etc.

Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say ride or wide and I'll point to the one you say."

rock

walk

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This is a big, hard, rock, like we find outside. This person is on a walk. Rock and walk."

Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Rock. Walk. Rock. Rock. Walk." etc.

Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say rock or walk and I'll point to the one you say."

run

one ("wun")

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This person is moving fast, they are on a run. This is the number 1 ("wun"). Run and 1."

Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Run. 1 ("wun"). Run. Run. 1." etc.

Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say run or one ("wun"). I'll point to the one you say."

write

white

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "We can use a pencil to write words. This picture shows the color white. Write and white."

Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Write. White. Write. Write. White. " etc.

Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say write or white and I'll point to the one you say."

Tip for Step 3 (discriminating between words)

  • If they can do Step 3 accurately, praise them, "Great! You heard my long sound in fox and my short sound in box."

  • If they cannot do Step 4, praise their effort, and keep practicing Step 3 instead of going to Step 4. Ex: "Listen, I'm going to say fox with my long sound. See my lip on my teeth, how I'm blowing air? Fox. Point to fox. Great, now I'm going to say box with my short sound, box. Point here, to box."

Ideas to make Step 4 (saying the words) more fun:

  • Draw one pair of words on 2 papers (one picture on each page). Put a tally point on each page as your child says each word. Tell your student they win the game if they get more points on the page that has their target (the word that contains /f/). It's okay if there are NO points on the other page!

  • Each time your child says the word containing /f/, make a playdough snake to represent a long sound. Every time your child says the word containing /b/, make a playdough ball to represent a short sound. Your goal is to make more snakes!

  • Each time your child says the word containing /f/, draw a long line across a paper to represent a long sound. Every time your child says the word containing /b/, make a dot on the page to represent a short sound. Your goal is to make more lines!

  • Have your child push Start on a stopwatch and time how long it takes to say their short sound (/b/). Then see how long they can make their long sound (/f/).

  • When you/your child make a long sound (/f/) stretch your arms out wide. When you/your child make a short sound (/b/), put your hands together. (Or, stretch your fingers out wide for /f/ and make a little space between your thumb and pointer finger for /b/.)

  • Have your child draw a picture of each of the ten words above. Then, have them sort the pictures into a "long sound" pile and a "short sound" pile.

  • Use the short/long sound visuals below to cue your child as they produce the words.

General Tips:

  • Remember to keep the words in pairs (instead of just going through fox, fun, phone, etc.). This therapy approach is meant to build your child's understanding that changing a sound can change the meaning of a word.

  • It's fine to have your child say the contrast word (on this page, the words containing /b/ like tub and lobe), but you want to focus most time and effort on them saying the target pattern (on this page, the words containing /f/).

  • Build up your child's tolerance/ability to do more and more productions over time. Can they do 10? 20? 60?