• Articulation for Grades 3-5

    1. Create a "challenge list" with your child. This list should contain 10 words with your child's sound in them that he/she wants to work on. The words can be anything that he/she feels motivated to say better, (friend's names, a favorite TV show or book, words that he/she says frequently, etc.) Have your child say them alone at first and then in sentences as he/she improves.
    2. Play a board game or card game with your child. He/She should say a word with his/her sound in it for each turn he/she takes. You can say words on your turn as well to provide a good model. The game is just something fun to do while you're working on articulation. (Again, you can move to sentences as your child's articulation improves.)
    3. Weather permitting: play catch or basketball and have your child say a word with his/her sound in it for each throw or basket.
    4. Play "Concentration" and think of words with your child's sound in them. This is an old game in which you slap your knees, then clap, then snap right fingers, and then left fingers in a steady rhythm.
    5. You pick a category (words with your child's sound in them), and think of something in that category by the time you've snapped your left fingers. Each player does the movements in the same rhythm.
    6. Have your child create a book in which the main character's names have his/her sound (or sounds) in them. You can use colored construction paper or plain white paper. He/She can illustrate it and you can help him/her write the story below the picture. After each page is finished, have him/her count the words with his/her sound in them on that page and underline them. When the book is finished, he/she can read it aloud and practice the underlined words. This can become a keepsake as his/her "Speech Book."
    7. While driving in the car, have a contest to see who can find the most things that have your child's sound in them. As you find them, have your child put them in a sentence. You can also look for words on road signs, billboards, etc.
    8. Have your child read aloud to you for 10-15 minutes a day and remind him/her to think about his/her sound. You can have him/her look at the page before he/she reads it and underline the words with his/her sound in them. Increase the reading time as his/her articulation improves. This activity is for children whose articulation has improved beyond the sentence level.
    9. Designate a 10-15 minute period during the day when you ask your child to concentrate on making his/her sound while he/she tells you about his/her day, a favorite movie, book, etc. You can increase this time as your child improves. This activity is for children who need work at the conversational level.