|
Mary Lowery, M.S. CCC-SLP
R is a palatal (tongue is raised against the hard palate) liquid sound, meaning the tongue forms a partial obstruction in the mouth and creates a vowel-like sound.
R is a voiced sound, where the vocal folds are vibrating. R can be produced two ways: retroflexed or bunched.
Retroflex R:
- Touch the sides of the tongue against the upper back teeth.
- Curl the tip of the tongue back.
- Keeping the tongue tense, turn the voice on to say R.
Retroflex R:
- Touch the sides of the tongue against the upper back teeth.
- Curl the tip of the tongue back.
- Keeping the tongue tense, turn the voice on to say R.
Types of R
- Prevocalic R occurs before the vowel in the word (e.g. rose).
- Vocalic R occurs after the vowel in the word (i.e. bear). The vowel can change how the R sounds. Vocalic R includes “ar, er, or, air, ear, ire.”
- R clusters occur when R follows another consonant (e.g. bread, friend).
When Does the Sound Develop?*
- 50% of children produce R by age 3. This is when the sound is emerging.
- 90% of children produce R by age 5. This is when the sound should be acquired. If the child is not producing the sound by this point, speak with a speech-language pathologist.
Tips for Cueing**
- Verbal
- “Pull your tongue up and back.”
- “Make a growling sound.”
- Visual
- Show the student the picture above. Ask the child to describe how the teeth and lips look.
- Use a mirror to have the child see the difference between R and /w/.
- Because the tongue position is difficult to see, it is helpful to use a mouth model to demonstrate the position of the tongue when saying R.
- Tactile
- Rub a lollipop against the sides of the back molars to help the student learn where to place the sides of the tongue.
- Have the child place his/her hands on the sides of the his/her chair he/she is sitting on. Pull up on the chair to help create tension in the body/tongue while saying R.
- Have the child slide the tongue tip along the roof of the mouth to practice curling the tongue for retroflex R.
Practice***
Note: Even though a word may end with another letter, if the R sound is pronounced last, it is considered a R final word (e.g., fire).
- Phonemic Awareness
- Name each picture. Point to the pictures with the R sound.†
- Isolation
- Practice R while tracing each letter.
- Syllable
- ro-ro-ro-ro-ro
- ray-ray-ray-ray-ray
- ar-ar-ar-ar-ar
- er-er-er-er-er
- ree-rid-ray-ree-rie-ray
- Word
| Prevocalic R |
Vocalic R |
R blends |
| run |
teacher |
break |
| rain |
barn |
crab |
| ring |
corn |
drip |
| raisin |
chair |
grass |
| reef |
fire |
present |
| rope |
deer |
train |
- Phrase
- a small rat
- read a book
- the soft rabbit
- bow and arrow
- a huge dinosaur
- in the backyard
- use a crayon
- grab an apple
- Sentence
- The baby has a rattle.
- Melissa loves to go to recess.
- The rocket shot into space.
- The scissors are in the desk.
- Did you listen to the story?
- Mom bought new earrings.
- It is breezy outside.
- We take a trip each fall.
- Structured Language
- Sing the song “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” Have the child fill in the words “row, your, merrily, dream” or sing the song him/herself using his/her best R sound.
- Arr! Talk like a pirate! Use the words: pirate, parrot, treasure, desert island
- Pick out a page in a book and mark the words with the R sound with sticky notes. Read the page with your best R sound.
- Unstructured Language
- Tell how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich using your best R sound.
- Talk about your favorite winter activity using your best R sound.
- Talk about your favorite restaurant using your best R sound.
*These milestones are based on monolingual, native English speakers. If a child speaks more than one language, acquisition of English sounds can be influenced by the other language(s). These differences do not necessarily indicate speech sound disorder. Please consult with a speech-language pathologist.
**Not all cues are appropriate in all cases. Please consult with a speech-language pathologist before cueing.
***Ask your child’s speech-language pathologist which targets are appropriate to practice.
†“rose”, “cherry”, and “hammer” contain the R sound.
Resources
|