Articulation Practice:
Students learning to produce the articulation sounds follow a series of steps along a linguistic hierarchy (level of
difficulty). Traditionally, 90% accuracy is considered ‘mastery’ and the levels are as follows:
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Say the sound in isolation
/r/
Exercises
Say
the sound in a word
0
Use the sound in
a phrase
The
/r/ sound can be heard in words like, "run", "read", and "giraffe". In words like "run"
Use"read",
the sound
in is
a sentence
and
the /r/
at the beginning of the word. In words like "giraffe" and "garage", the /r/ is in the
Read aofparagraph
multiple
occurrences
the sound.
middle
the word. containing
In words like
“car”, “mother”,
andof“her”,
the /r/ is in the final position of the word.
Use the sound in conversation
Created by Jennifer Callaway, M.S. CCC-SLP
Directions: Say each word. Have the student/child repeat the word back. Eventually, the child/student can say the
words on their own without an adult model. Once the student/child can say 9 out of the 10 words correctly on their own,
they should use the word in a sentence. After the student can produce the sound at the sentence level with 90%
accuracy, the student can progress to conversation.
/r/ initial (click here for a list with pictures)
Red
Rock
Read
Rake
Rain
Rope
Wrote
Right
Rug
Ran
THE “R” SOUND
/r/ medial (click here for a list with pictures)
Garage
Giraffe
Story
Carry
Marry
Snoring
Arrow
Starring
Hero
Berry
/r/ final (click here for a list with pictures)
Mother
Father
Brother
Sister
Teacher
Painter
Her
Fur
Purr
Stir
/r/ final (click here for a 2nd list with pictures)
Ear
Deer
Fair
Hair
Fire
Higher
More
Four
Corn
Stair
/s/ Exercises
0
The /s/ sound can be heard in words like, "sock", "baseball", and "face".
Directions: Say each word. Have the student/child repeat the word back. Eventually, the child/student can say the
words on their own without an adult model. Once the student/child can say 9 out of the 10 words correctly on their own,
they should use the word in a sentence. After the student can produce the sound at the sentence level with 90%
accuracy, the student can progress to conversation.
/s/ initial (click here for a list with pictures)
Sock
Same
See
Sew
Sam
Sand
Seat
Seed
Soap
Soup
THE “S” AND “Z”
SOUNDS
/s/ final and /s/ blends (click here for a list with pictures)
Goose
Geese
Race
Face
Star
Spot
School
Snake
Small
Swim
/z/ Exercises
0
The /z/ sound can be heard in words like, "zoo", "zap", “has”, and "is".
/z/ initial (click here for a list with pictures)
Zoo
Zip
Zipper
Is
Has
Was
Maze
Cries
Bees
Days
/z/ final (click here for a list with pictures)
Cans
Cars
Stars
Bears
Kids
Wins
Runs
Draws
Dogs
Frogs
/l/ Exercises
0
The /l/ sound can be heard in words like, "luck", "like", “hill”, and "ball".
Directions: Say each word. Have the student/child repeat the word back. Eventually, the child/student can say the
words on their own without an adult model. Once the student/child can say 9 out of the 10 words correctly on their own,
they should use the word in a sentence. After the student can produce the sound at the sentence level with 90%
accuracy, the student can progress to conversation.
/l/ initial (click here for a list with pictures)
Like
Lake
Lick
Luck
Look
Leap
Land
Lamb
Leaf
Left
/l/ final (click here for a list with pictures)
Ball
Hill
Call
Mall
Bell
Smell
Small
Tool
Pool
Rule
THE “L” SOUND
/th/ Exercises
0
The /th/ sound can be heard in words like, "think", "thank", and “bath".
Directions: Say each word. Have the student/child repeat the word back. Eventually, the child/student can say the
words on their own without an adult model. Once the student/child can say 9 out of the 10 words correctly on their own,
they should use the word in a sentence. After the student can produce the sound at the sentence level with 90%
accuracy, the student can progress to conversation.
/th/ initial (click here for a list with pictures)
Think
Thank
Thumb
Thing
Theater
Thorn
Thunder
Thirteen
Three
Thristy
/th/ final (click here for a list with pictures)
Bath
Moth
Booth
Tooth
Teeth
Wreath
Math
Bathtub
Toothbrush
Math book
THE “TH” SOUND