Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Classroom Articulation Intervention Strategies

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.


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