Getting
Started with Interventions
Identify for the student
what the correct sound production for the target “letter”.
Identify the incorrect
sound production for the error “letter”.
If you can, have him see
the difference on your face.
Example: th vs s f vs s t (tongue tapping) vs k
Model the correct sound
for the child first in isolation and then at the beginning of simple words.
Ask the child to point to
the correct letter when you say a sound while covering your mouth. This will
tell you if the child can HEAR the difference between the correct vs error
sound when YOU say the sound.
Do the same thing with
words where the sound is in the initial position (initial minimal pair words).
Example: chip/ship tap
/ cap
You can do this in
conjunction with alphabet training, phonics, spelling, or writing lessons
depending on the age of the child.
OR
Use pictures. (If the
child says /sh/ for /ch/, use pictures of similar sounding words such as /ship/
and /chip/. The adult says the words, and
the child points to the appropriate picture. The child then takes a turn saying
the words as the adult points.
Have the child practice the
correct sound in isolation a few times using the packet provided at the end of
the screener handout. I suggest you also show the child the “signal” you will
be using.
The process above is often a
very quick confirmation that the child is able to start working on
correction.
Now you are ready to choose a
strategy or strategies for the intervention plan. I have put together some general ideas that
are helpful with minimal teacher prep time and easily communicated to
parents. They are roughly in order of
age and grade.
STRATEGIES
Usually start with the target
sound in the STARTING/INITIAL position of words (given the child can make the
sound).
The child sorts phonics picture cards into
two piles to separate the error and target sounds. This could be a “center” to work with peers
working on letter/sound associations.
Examples: Gg:
toe tail table
TV vs Gg: goat
girl green
HINT: CV patterns are best to start (vs
blends)
The child cuts out pictures of items containing the target sound and
pastes them in a notebook for daily practice at home and progress checks at
school.
*The creation of the
notebook could be done entirely at home or with a school volunteer.
The child makes some minimal pair rhyming
cards that include both the error and target sounds.
Examples/Initial: tea / key wake / lake wheel / reel
Examples / Final: bait/bake bass/bath
When working on final sounds the child can
discover new words by changing the beginning sound (cake, bake, make, take,
fake, lake, sake, rake, Jake, quake, wake).
Teacher, volunteer, peer or child highlights practice words
from the spelling, word wall, personal dictionaries, content area vocabulary
words etc. used in the classroom.
Teacher, volunteer, peer or child places dots over the
target sounds on one paragraph or page (depending on the child) of something
that the child will be reading more than once for content or language arts
work.
HINT: Older students should look for the words and
add the dots on their own to train the eye to notice the sounds.
It should be a limited amount
of dotting so as not to contaminate the comprehension and joy of reading or
study time with the added focus of speech.
The child keeps a notebook of difficult words encountered each day.
The child would practice the select intervention
strategies several times a night at home with a parent. Parents chart the error words each night and
the teacher could review the list at school (at least once per week).
The teacher makes a copy
of the parent logs each week and maintains them in a folder for
documentation. A dated teacher check log
is kept on the other side of the folder along with the original Service
Plan. This folder then becomes the documentation
if the child is referred for Consultation.
