Teaching Phoneme Production

TEACHING PHONEME PRODUCTION FOR READING, SPELLING, AND TALKING

To call attention to phoneme production when students make pronunciation errors in reading or talking or produce incorrect spelling, use language to describe the “Look and Feel” of phonemes. (Ex: “This letter makes our mouths say “k”. K is a tongue scraper. Feel how we scrape our tongue against the top of our mouth.”) Phonemes can be described as:

Quiet Noisy Brother Tongue Scrapers...... k ...... g Back of your tongue against the roof of your mouth to scrape the air out

Lip Poppers...... p ...... b Lips together, then pop the sound out

Skinny Air ...... s ...... z Teeth make a fence so only skinny air can come out

Fat Air ...... sh ...... zh Pucker your lips and use your tongue to push air out

Fat Pushed Air ...... ch ...... j Pucker your lips and tap your tongue (on the bumpy spot behind top teeth) to punch the air out

Lip Coolers ...... f ...... v Bite your bottom lip and send air out to cool it

Tongue Coolers...... th (with)...... th (the) Gently bite your tongue tip and send air out to cool it

Tip Tappers ...... t ...... d Lift your tongue tip behind your top teeth (bumpy spot) and tap the air out

Front Tongue Lifter...... l Lift the front of your tongue behind your top teeth, turn on your voice, pull your tongue down

Back Tongue Lifter...... er Lift the back of your tongue, turn on your voice

Nose Sounds...... m ...... n ...... ing m-Close your lips and turn on your voice; n-Lift your whole tongue and turn on your voice; ing-Lift the back of your tongue and make the sound through your nose

Wind Sounds ...... w ...... h ...... wh w, wh-blow a little wind through your lips; h-open your mouth and push some air out adapted from: Lindamood-Bell Phoneme Sequencing Program (LiPS) for Reading, Spelling, and Speech