Guided Practice Script

Let’s practice our quiet sound “sh” like “shhhhh be quiet” Your turn! [1]

Round your lips (circulate finger around lips), lift your tongue up, and blow air out Remember it’s a quiet sound so we don’t use our buzzy voices! [2]

Try it now! “shhhhh” (their turn) “shoe” (their turn) “shhh” (their turn) “ship” (their turn) “shhhh” (their turn) “fish” (their turn) [1]

Let’s play a quiet game where everything we say is very quiet. (whispering the whole time) Okay repeat after me (hold finger in front out mouth to show quiet sound) [3] “shark” (their turn) “shop” (their turn) “push” (their turn)

Target Techniques and Considerations

Techniques in the Script

1. Modeling and imitation
2. Phonetic Placement
3. Verbal instructions using metaphor

Common /ʃ/ Sound Errors

• /s/ is often substituted for /ʃ/, likely due to difficulty rounding lips and blowing air through the mouth without using the voice. For example, “sip” for “shop”

Accent or Dialect Variation

• Greek speakers may substitute /s/ for /ʃ/; for example: “sip” for “ship”.
• Some speakers may merge /ʃ/ and /tʃ/ (“sh” and “ch”) due to the sound rules of their first language.