Gliding

Y vs L

"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 the tip of our tongue to make the /l/ sound today."

less

yes

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "The arrow is pointing to the group with less blocks, it doesn't have as many blocks as the others: less. This person is shaking their head yes (demonstrate). Less and yes."

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

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

let

yet

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "When they asked their mom if they could do something, their mom let them do it, she said it was okay. Let. It isn't this person's turn yet. Let and yet."

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

Step 4: Say the words

Ex: "You say let or yet and I'll point to the one you say."

lose

use

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This person is going to lose a tooth! Lose! This person is going to use a tool. Lose and use."

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

Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say lose or use ("yuse") and I'll point to the one you say."

low

yo

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "The ball is not up high; it is on a low shelf. This toy is called a yo yo. Low and yo yo."

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

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

luck

yuck

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "Some people say a clover is a sign of good luck. When you eat a food you don't like, you might think, 'Yuck.' Luck and yuck."

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

Step 4: Say the words

Ex: "You say luck or yuck 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?