Fricatives - /sh/ sound Phonology Lesson Plan

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SLP 242 - Phonology therapy for the hearing
impaired

• The /sh/ sound

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Lesson 1 Correct /sh/ sound production

• The /sh/ sound is a stream of air (fricative)
  sound. The /sh/ is voiceless. That is, the larynx
  does not vibrate as it does on its voiced
  partner, the /zh/ sound. To produce a clear
  /sh/ sound the tongue is raised high in the mouth
  and pulled back so that the sides of the tongue
  contact the back teeth at the roof of the mouth.
  The lips are slightly protruded The tongue's
  position creates a shallow groove in the center
  of the tongue over which the air stream flows.
  Due to the rear position of the tongue and the
  nature of the protruded lips the sound quality of
  the /sh/tends be louder than its other fricative
  (breath stream) cousins. This sound quality could
  be described to the child as loud and windy. 

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Lesson 1 /sh/phonetic placement

• Phonetic placement
• A few simple steps to teach the child where to
  place his/her tongue, jaw, lips and teeth for a
  good SH sound include
• Have your child part his/her lips slightly
• Then touch your childs tongue with a tongue
  depressor or his/her toothbrush just behind the
  tip of the tongue. Have him/her place the part of
  the tongue just touched on the roof of the mouth
  just behind the bumpy part.
• Next, have the child lower his/her tongue just a
  little. You may need to use a tongue depressor or
  popsicle stick to help your child lower it
  slightly.
• Finally, have your child hold this position,
  pucker his lips and breathe out through his mouth.

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Lesson 1 producing the /sh/sound

• Demonstrate to the child what a typical /sh/
  sound looks like and sounds like. You do this by
  slightly protruding the lips and directing the
  breath stream over the middle of the tongue's
  blade. Elongate and exaggerate the /sh/ sound at
  this point. Ask the child to feel with the
  sides of their tongue their upper back teeth.
  When the tongue is in the correct position, then
  have the child feel for the alveolar ridge with
  their tongue tip. The child then lowers their
  tongue slightly so that the tongue tip is roughly
  in the middle of the oral cavity, not touching
  any structures. It's important at this point to
  remind the child to slightly pucker or protrude
  their lips. Try using a small mirror like a
  makeup mirror to give the child immediate
  feedback on how their lips need to be
  shaped. Encourage the child to produce a loud,
  windy sound. Demonstrate the contrast between the
  /sh/ sound and the /s/ sound by alternating the
  sounds like this, /ssshhh/ 'loud and windy
  sound,' '/ssss/ thin and hissy sound.' If the
  child is comfortably producing the /sh/ sound at
  this point have him/her produce the /sh/ - /s/
  contrast. If the child is not yet sure about the
  new /sh/ sound then continue repeating the tongue
  and lips position, using the mirror to reinforce
  correct lip position. 

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Lesson 1 - Considerations

• It may take several sessions for the child to
  feel comfortable producing the /sh/ sound, or it
  may take only 5 minutes. That's the nature of
  speech therapy. Each child is different, of
  course, and each child learns new skills at
  different rates. An important consideration when
  teaching speech sounds is, how well does the
  child interpret oral instructions, and how well
  does the child visualize the relative position of
  their tongue in their mouth? Some children
  struggle with the information overload and get a
  little mixed up when attempting to maintain
  correct tongue position at the same time as
  attempting correct lip position. This can be a
  little frustrating for both the child and the
  clinician. Patience and calm and lots of praise
  for the child's attempts are very important to
  encourage the child's confidence. 
• If the child is produces a good /sh/ sound
  quickly, you can start with words or listening
  discrimination exercises. For the purposes of
  this lesson plan, we will stop at placement and
  sound production for day 1.

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Lesson 1 - Homework
Listen to the words being said by mom, your
favorite TV show and your friends. List 10
words That start with the /sh/ sound. 1- 2- 3- 4-
5- 6- 7- 8- 9- 10-
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Lesson 2 - Rreview

• Start by asking the student if he/she remembers
  the /sh/ sound if needed, reinforce placement
  and sound production
• Review homework and quickly emphasize the /sh/
  sound on the words written down by the student.
  Correct wrong sounds by contrasting and
  demonstrating the difference. For example if the
  student wrote a word that begins with /ch/
  instead /sh/ or /s/ instead of /sh/, model the
  sound difference and ask the student to repeat it
  after you
• Sound in Isolation
• Practicing a sound in isolation means saying the
  sound all by itself without adding a vowel. For
  example, if you are practicing the /sh/ sound you
  would practice saying /sh/, /sh/, /sh/ multiple
  times in a row. The more accurate repetitions you
  are able to get your child to produce the better.
  For the purposes of this lesson, we will require
  10 accurate repetitions in a row. When you are
  satisfied they can say the sound in isolation you
  are ready to move on to syllables.

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Lesson 2 Syllables
Sound in Syllables Practicing a sound in
syllables simply means adding each vowel after
the target sound, before the target sound, and
before and after the target sound, being sure to
practice the long and short form of each
vowel. For example if the target sound was /sh/
after the target sound would be sha, she, shi,
sho, and shu. This is called initial syllable
production, meaning the target sound is in the
beginning of the syllable.
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Lesson 2 The word wheel

• Step 1 Print the word wheel on card stock paper.
• Step 2 Attach the front to the back with a brass
  paper fastener.
• Step 3 Have the students spin the wheel to make
  the Sh-words and read them aloud.

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Lesson 2 - Homework
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Lesson 3 Review

• Lets review /sh/ sound production.
• Ask the student to repeat the words on the
  homework worksheet.

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Lesson 3 Initial, medial and final /sh/ sound

• Sound in Words
• We will begin practicing word cards in the
  initial, medial or final position of the word. I
  am satisfied with 80 accurate independent
  productions. Meaning, I dont count it as correct
  if the child says it in imitation of me. If I
  have to model a word for a child I will often put
  that word card back in the rotation for them to
  say again. After all the cards have been said we
  go back and practice the word cards that were in
  error.

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Lesson 3 The word Business

• Activity 2
• Put two words from a pair in front of your child
  again, but this time, inform your child that he
  will have to tell you which picture to look
  under. Have your child close his eyes and then
  you hide the penny (or candy) under the picture
  with the target sound, thats the one youre
  trying to teach him, not the one he currently
  says instead. Have your child open his eyes and
  this time have him tell you where to look. Your
  child will probably say the word with the error
  sound first so repeat the word back to your child
  and look under that picture. (For example, if
  youre doing long and short sounds with the pair
  two and shoe, hide it under the shoe. When
  your child tells you to look under two, say
  Two. Ok, Ill look under two. Oh, its not
  under two). Then, have your child guess again.
  If he says the error sound word again, repeat his
  error back to him, and then model the correct
  pronunciation of the word. In our example, you
  would say you said two but its not there. Do
  you mean, ssshhhoe? Then, help your child say
  the word with the correct sound so you can look
  under that picture. Once your child can do this,
  try having your child label a picture of a word
  with the target sound by just showing him the
  picture and saying whats this? Once he can do
  this consistently, youre ready to move on to the
  next step.

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Lesson 3 The word Business
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Lesson 3 - Homework

• Provide the student with the sentence worksheet
  to begin preparation for sentence building. Ask
  the student to read the sentences out loud to a
  parent or caretaker and ask the parent to sign
  it.

Ask your parent or caregiver to listen to you
While you read the sentences. Substitute the
word shiny for the words on the bottom. Once
you are done, your parent or caregiver can Sign
the worksheet. You only need to read each
Sentence once to complete the assignment. You
can do it! I believe in you!
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Final tips and considerations

• If you hear your child say a sound from that
  class incorrectly, repeat your childs error back
  to him as a question. For example, if your child
  says wheres my two? (instead of shoe) you can
  say your two? See if your child can fix it back
  to shoe. If not, say Oh, do you mean shoe?
  Wheres your sssshhhhoe? Then, have your child
  say the sentence again using the long sound
  correctly.
• Point out the class of sounds when you hear them
  in his own or someone elses speech. Say Oh, I
  heard a long sound there! Sssshhhhhoe. Did you
  hear that?.
• Come up with a cue with your child that you can
  use to remind him to use that class of sounds.
  This could be touching your mouth or something
  else. During speech time, use that cue to
  remind your child.