Guided Practice Script

Let’s make the /s/ sound. Start with /t/ … now slide your tongue a tiny bit back and then let the air keep going:  “tssss” turns into /s/.

Listen to my /s/ like a snack sound:  “ssssss”.  Can you copy me?  “sssssss”. That’s great!

Let’s try putting your teeth close together, keep your tongue behind your teeth, and blow soft, quiet air with no voice.

Let’s try saying these words:  sleeps, hats, sniffle, stop.  Now your turn.  Amazing!  Keep it up!

Targeted Techniques and Considerations

We started with helping to create the sound, then we moved on to the listen and copy the sound (i.e., imitation). Finally, we used the instructions and prompts on where to put the tongue (i.e., placement cues) and blow air to get the result we needed.

Common Errors

• /s/ is often replaced with /t/ or /θ/ (stopping or dentalization)
• /θ/ (“th”) instead of /s/ (i.e., frontal lisp)