GSSD SLP PLC Speech Sound Model – To Do
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Wiki? Google Doc?
Develop Rti articulation Referral Flowchart
o See “Presenting Rti to classroom teachers” document
Define SLP role & response at each tier
o See “SLP Role in Rti” & eligibility/criteria documents
o Is tier 3 year long? For a block?
Develop checklist/chart for developmental sound errors
o Attached/embedded in document
Develop “quick reference” severity rating scale for teachers and parents
o Attached/embedded in document
Develop severity rubric based on assessment, stimulability etc
o See artic manuals – CSDA, CSHA, VDOE
Develop teacher packages
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Packets will contain developmental guidelines, (when to monitor, when to refer, red
flags)
Packets will contain a teacher questionnaire (what data have you collected, what have
you tried)
Packets will provide sound elicitation strategies and activity ideas that can be used in
the classroom .
o Elicitation/cues, activities, resources, recommendations on time/week
o In-services/presentations/modeling ?
Develop parent/home programming packages
o Similar to above
Forms:
o Assessing Stimulability, # of errors, etc
o Progress Monitoring
Ideas for GSSD Speech sound delivery model - Rti Process
We should discuss criteria for sound errors or accuracy level we feel are tier 1, and can be
targeted at the school level.
We should discuss what our tier 2 intervention will look like – what frequency, what duration.
We should discuss progress monitoring – what is an acceptable rate of growth? When can a
student move to tier 1? When does a student move to tier 3?
What does tier 3 look like? How long should blocks be?
Tier 1
Students will be identified by Kindergarten screens and teacher observation in higher grades.
Teachers can refer to packets for appropriate response to sound errors.
Students will be identified as “no concerns”, “at risk”, or “refer”.
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Teachers will refer to packets for sound elicitation ideas and activity ideas.
Students previously identified will be placed accordingly
Students in tier 2 & 3 should continue to receive tier 1 supports as well.
Tier 2
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If by Term 1/ Christmas (negotiable) the classroom teacher reports no improvement, we move
to “tier2”
Teacher completes articulation questionnaire and indicates on rating scale where student is
situated (See Appendix 1 Below)
Perhaps no referral is needed? The SLP works with the student and classroom teacher to try to
shape the sound and provide more individualized cues/prompts/sound elicitation techniques,
and perhaps more targeted activities that may occur in the school environment.
Tier 3
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If no improvement by end of 1st semester, the SLP consults, referral can be completed, SLP or
SLPA direct tx can commence, students can be grouped for therapy, student can be considered
for tx block.
Once a block is completed, the collected data and progress monitoring sheet will dictate what
action is to follow ... therapy rest, Tier 1 to await generalization, continue intervention, or
increase frequency/duration/change intervention.
Dismissal Criteria
Introduce these criteria during the consultation phase or early in the assessment phase.
This ensures that the parents and teachers have been informed and have a reasonable
expectation about the length of intervention. Dismissal is indicated when the student:
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No longer requires intervention to make educational progress.
Has adequate intelligibility. (what do we consider adequate?)
Articulation Questionnaire – Teacher
*developed by Cobb County SLPs, Marietta GA 1996 (Revised 2011)
Student____________________________DOB____________Date__________
Teacher _________________ School ___________________ SLP ________________
Services Description for Articulation Concerns
Some articulation errors are developmental. Below is a chart that provides the sounds and grades
at which the average child should be able to correctly produce each sound. Please indicate which
sounds your student appears to be struggling with.
K
K,G
P, T
F
The girl kicked the can.
Pat and Tom took a trip.
Get the fish off the floor.
Gr. 1/
Gr. 1.5
Gr. 2
Y
L
R initial
R (vocalic)
S, Z
Sh, Ch, J
Th
Yes, the yogurt is yummy.
Let's play with the ball.
Ron ran a really long race.
The large bird flew over the car.
Sally sees Zack at the store.
She went to church in June with Jim.
I think that dog needs a bath.
Sounds in Error: _____________________________
Rating Scale
1
2
3
4
5
Criteria
Non- Developmental error.
- Non stimulable at sound or word level
Multiple Non developmental Errors
(Stimulable)
One Non - Developmental sound
(Stimulable at sound, and word level)
or
Multiple Developmental Sound Errors
(Not Stimulable)
Developmental Sound Errors (Stimulable
at sound or word level)
Developmental or Not-Developmental
stimulable at sound, word, and sentence
level.
Description
Refer
Refer
At Risk
At Risk
No concerns
Severity Rating/Action: ___________
Notes, Observations, Comments:
1. What is the specific educational impact of the articulation difficulties?
_____spelling / writing errors; explain:________________________________________
_____reluctance to participate in oral activities; explain:__________________________
_____Other Area_________________________________________________________
Explain:______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
What accommodations for the misarticulations have you made to support the student in each
affected academic area?_____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
2. Please specify the social/emotional impact of the articulation disorder:
_____Is student often misunderstood during speaking/oral reading activities by
(circle one or more): parents teachers peers
other_____________
List
examples:___________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_____Do misarticulations distract from the content of the message?
_____Is the student aware of misarticulations?
_____Does student demonstrate embarrassment or frustration regarding
misarticulations?
_____Do peers frequently tease student about speech? If yes, describe the
negative reactions and the impact on the student_____________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
What have you done to stop the negative reactions?_________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
3. What other variables may interfere with the development of the student’s
articulation skills? (Cume file may provide such details)
_____oral motor difficulties___________________________________________
_____malocclusion_________________________________________________
_____orthodontic appliances/braces ___________________________________
_____hearing loss _________________________________________________
____other___________________________________________________
4. Other comments:
Kindergarten Speech Sound Checklist, Teaching Strategies and
Classroom Activities
There is a developmental sequence to speech sounds. Some sounds are learned very early on,
and other sounds do not completely develop until age 7 - 8. There is a wide range of what is
considered “typical”. In Kindergarten, errors on the sounds below are considered normal or
typically developing. You should not worry about referring for these errors. You CAN still be a
good speech model by using and teaching these sounds, as well as the letters that represent them
in spelling. Emphasize these sounds by making them a little longer and a little louder in your
speech. Try some of the modeling, coaching, and cueing strategies provided below while you
collect data with your word list (described below). Bear in mind that these sounds may not be
appropriate for phonological awareness tasks such as segmenting, blending, and identifying
initial or final sounds.
Developmentally Appropriate Sound Errors for Kindergarten
Speech Sound/
Description
Example
Error Pattern
/l/
Substituting /w/ or /y/
/r/
Substituting /w/ or a
vowel sound
Substituing /f, d, p, s/
Substituting /s/, /ts/
Substituting /d/, /dz/
Substituting /s/, /ts/, “sh”
Substituting /n/
“th”
“sh”
“dg”
“ch”
“ng”
“Soft g”
“yeyow” for “yellow”, “wike” for “like”, “kwas”
for “class”
“wed” for “red”, “coy” for “car”, “gween” for
“green”
“dat” for “that”, “fing” for “thing”
“sip” for “ship”, “tseep” for “sheep”
“dump” for “jump”, “dzack” for “jack”
“sair” for “chair”, “shuck” for “chuck”
“Fishin” for “fishing”, “runnin” for “running”
“genre”, “garage”
Inappropriate Error Sounds for Kindergarten
The following error patterns should be addressed by an SLP. Errors on any sounds not
mentioned in these two lists should be considered inappropriate sound errors.
Speech Sound/
Error Pattern
Description
Consonant
Deletion
Cluster Reductions
Deleting or missing consonants (especially final
consonants)
Only pronouncing one sound of a consonant
blend
Frequent and consistent syllable reductions for
common multi-syllable words
A sound normally produced at the back of the
mouth is produced in the front of the mouth.
A consistent pattern of producing short sounds
(stops) in the place of long sounds. *
Most errors on /s, z/ are attributable to a frontal
lisp. You may also notice a lateral lisp. **
Syllable
Reductions
/k, g/ (Fronting)
/f,v,s,z,m,n/, “sh”,
“th” (Stopping)
/s, z/
Example
“ca” for “cat”, “tru” for
“truck”
“poon” for “spoon”
“nana” for “banana”,
“copter” for “helicopter”
“tat” for “cat”, “dod” for
“dog”
“ban” for “van”, “pan”
for “fan”
“thun” or “shun” for
“sun”, “thip” for “zip”
* (Note that errors on ONLY “sh” and “th” are ok as these are later developing sounds)
** (/s, z/ are often later developing sounds but there are strategies an SLP can provide to
remediate a lisp. Consult your SLP for lisps).
Red Flags
An immediate referral to an SLP is appropriate when:
 You understand less than 75% of what a child says in a quiet environment working one
on one, ESPECIALLY if the context of what the child is saying is known
 The child mixes “babbling” or gibberish in with “true words”
 The child has “jumbled” or “garbled” speech but you notice “islands” of clear speech
 You notice consistent and certain vowel deviations (may indicate a neurological, motor,
or hearing problem)
 Hypernasality or hyponasality – If a child sounds very “nasal” and many speech sounds
emerge like /m, n/, or “ng”; or if the child sounds like they always have a cold
 The child gets “stuck” on a sound or word or repeats sound or words frequently in speech
(may indicate fluency difficulty or stuttering)
 A student has a rough, hoarse, raspy or breathy voice for longer than a week
Classroom Ideas: Things a teacher can try
Identify
Collect data to help identify which sounds are in error, if there is a pattern to the error, and if this
error and subsequent pattern are consistent. This information is valuable to a Speech-Language
Pathologist if you need to refer. It can be difficult to recognize which sound(s) are in error when
a child mispronounces a word. One strategy to collect data is to keep a journal or list of words
that you hear mispronounced. This should reveal the pattern of sounds the student has trouble
with. It will also provide valuable insight regarding which word position errors commonly occur
- word initially, medially, finally, or in all word positions. Also record what types and level of
cueing you are using.
Modeling, Coaching, Cueing
Stimulability refers to what a child can do with coaching, cueing, modeling, and scaffolding. A
child is stimulable if they can pronounce a sound with a little help. If a child is stimulable they
may be closer to developing the sound on their own, or with a little help. A child who is not
stimulable indicates a more significant delay.
Modeling  If you notice a sound in error, be sure to recast or repeat the word correctly for the
student (usually by rephrasing what the student has said).
 Draw extra emphasis to the target sound by making it a little louder and a little longer in
your speech.
 Raise awareness of the target sound by mentioning it in the environment, adapting the
environment, or adding activities to the room that will elicit the sound.
 When possible, get face to face with your students while providing speech models. Get
down to their level so they can see what you do with your articulators when you
pronounce the sound.
 Inform the parents/family that you have noticed an inappropriate speech error. Share
some of these strategies. It will speed up the error correction and also the referral process
(if required).
Coaching  Talk about the target sound. Raise the student’s awareness of the target sound by
acknowledging that it can be tricky to pronounce. Talk about places in the classroom
where the student may encounter the sound.
 Talk about the sound as a SOUND, not a letter. Try giving sounds a name or a
representation. For example, “ssssss” may be a snake sound, “ffffff” may be the sound a
fire hose makes, and “rrrrrrrr” may be the sound a car engine makes. If a child is having
trouble with patterning, they may have already attributed their error sound to a letter. If
you ask what sound the letter “s” makes, they may say “th”. BUT, if you ask what a
snake sounds like, you may elicit the accurate “ssssss” sound.
 Draw attention to the sound in all word positions (initial, medial, final, and blends) but
recognize that the sound will be easiest to perceive, identify and produce in initial
position.
 Always praise and reinforce productions and attempts at speech sounds.
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Provide meaningful feedback whenever possible – tell the student what they did right
(e.g., “I like the way you made that sound long, like a snake – ‘sssss’) and tell them what
they need to do to improve (e.g., “that was a great try, but you forgot to hide your tongue
behind your teeth. Let’s try again”).
Reflect on how it feels in your mouth to make a sound and try to relate that to the student.
Cueing  There are many different types of cues we can use to assist with speech productions.
Cues can be given in isolation, or you may use all cues at the same time and pair them
with a model. Try to find what level of support works best for the student.
o Visual cue – Something the student can see (e.g, trace a squiggly line down your
palm or your arm to emulate a snake while saying “ssssss”).
o Verbal cue – A verbal reminder of what the student needs to remember when
making a sound (e.g., “Let’s try that word again with our best snake sound”).
o Placement cue – Tells the child where to place or position the articulators. (e.g.,
“Your tongue needs to stay behind your teeth when you make the “ssssssss”
sound. Keep your tongue in its cage”).
o A mirror can be a great tool for self-awareness/self-reflection for a child to
emulate what you are doing when you pronounce a sound.
Instruction
Some activities and activities things that you may incorporate into whole group, small group, or
center-time activities to improve target sound articulation and articulation coordination include:
Set Up The Environment For practicing Target Sounds
 Set up the environment to increase exposure to target sounds by adding sound-loaded
books to literacy centres and objects to centres that will elicit the target sound (e.g.,
spiders and snakes that say “ssssss” to the wheat table). This gives students an
opportunity to hear your models, positive peer models, and practice themselves.
 Watch for “teachable moments” and opportunities for incidental learning.
 Add words with target sound to the word wall or incorporate into class writing. Use
target sound words in individualized spelling lists.
 Incorporate cueing, modeling and feedback for speech sounds into Guided reading.
 Choose sound-loaded books (such as those from Reading A – Z)
 Utilize high functioning peers as models and partners. Consider a “Big Buddy” speech
model, similar to “Big Buddy” reading with higher grade level kids.
 Incorporate Flashcards with pictures that represent the target sound into activities and
classroom environments. Encourage peer practice.
 Develop Small group assignments that are based around sounds – settings, characters,
activities that are sound loaded. Ensure groups have some positive peer models (Students
that can accurately create the sound).
 Design a class sound poster, class sound book, or speech sound project
 Integrate a speech sound center into your classroom.
 Have a mystery speech sound bag that students can interact with – could be a prize,
reward, sorting activity, naming activity, etc.
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Designate a “sound of the day” or “sound of the week”.
Incorporate all school staff into speech sound practise. Perhaps a Librarian can provide
some exposure to sounds by reading, or practise a set of 10 words quickly when a student
comes to get a book.
Ask for Community Volunteers to come to school to read to students or do flashcard
drills.
Activities for practicing Target Sounds:
 Create opportunities for incidental learning by requesting a student to answer a question
or name and object/repeat a word containing the target sound
 Highlight speech sounds in classroom listening activities such as
o Phonics and phonemic awareness instruction activities
o Assign students to listen for and give a hand signal or tally each time they hear the
focus sound in a story, lesson, or song.
o Use reading as a context for speech sound practice. Ask the student to find words
containing the focus sound in short reading passages, picture books, classroom
and school environments and to practice saying those words with a peer or adult.
 Draw attention to the target sound in peer, pet, and family names.
 Add Activities and games that incorporate the target sound (e.g., Snakes n’ Ladders –
shoot up the ladder, zip to the top, slide down the snake, roll the dice, move three spots)
 Help the child discriminate between speech sounds by pairing the sound with the
appropriate letter and with meaningful pictures.
 Play Sound Bingo (e.g., “R” Bingo commercially available) or create your own.
 Use Sound Sorts (sorting words or pictures according to similar sounds).
 Have a Sound Scavenger Hunt
 Play Go fish
 Home programming – Send speech sound homework, flashcards, assignments and
worksheets
 Consider using speech sound software (examples ….)
 Consider using online speech games (examples ….)
 Consider Commercially available products for speech in the classroom (e.g., Artic Lab,
Artic Chipper Chat)
 Incorporate some speech games into your classroom that students can play when they
complete assignments, during free time, or can earn with good behavior.
Activities to build Articulation Coordination
 Multi-syllable word games
 Nursery Rhymes with alternating patterns (e.g, Jack and Jill went up the hill)
 Tongue Twisters (focus on accuracy, not speed)
 Children’s story re-tells or participation (e.g., Jack and the Beanstalk – Fee, fie, foe, fum)
 Fast paced songs (focus on accuracy, not speed while learning the words)