Word Recognition Interventions

Once a student has learned to isolate a sound in a particular position in a word, you should teach that student to match words with the same beginning/ending/middle. This activity is more rigorous because it requires the student to listen to two words, identify the sound in a particular position in each word, and determine whether they are the same.

Explicit Instruction

To support your student's ability to match beginning, ending, or middle sounds, you should start by explicitly teaching the skill. Here's an example of what it would sound like to teach a student to determine whether two words have the same beginning sounds (the same general format can be used for ending and middle sounds):

• Explain the Skill/Concept. Define beginning sound and explain the activity. ("Remember that we learned that a beginning sound is the first sound that you hear in a word. What's the beginning sound in the word bat?" "Today we are going to figure out if words have the same beginning sounds.") 
• Model Skill with Examples. Think aloud about how you figure out that words have the same beginning sound by providing examples. ("Pig /p/ and paint /p/ have the same beginning sound; they both start with /p/. The first sound that you hear in both words is the same.")
• Model Skill with Non-Examples. Think aloud about how you figure out that two words don't have the same beginning sound by providing non-examples. ("Pig /p/ and sand /s/ don't have the same beginning sound; piiiigggg starts with /p/ and saaaaannnndddd starts with /s/. The first sound that you hear in each word is different.")
• Practice the Skill. Engage in one or more of the activities below to practice this skill with your student, giving feedback as necessary. (Now it's your turn to...")

Activity A: Same or Different

Show the student two objects and ask whether or not the objects have the same beginning sound. "I'm going to show you two objects. I want you to tell me if they have the same beginning sound or different beginning sounds?" [Put two objects on the table.] "This is _________. This is __________. Do they have the same beginning sound or different beginning sounds? Why?"

Same or Different in Action

Watch this clip to see this intervention in action. Implementation note: During reading intervention, it is recommended that the teacher prompt the student to repeat the original words before completing the task. 

Activity B: Match the Sound

Show the student one picture and have the student repeat the name of the object. Tell the student to find a picture in the set of cards that has the same beginning sound as the object. "This is a tomato. What is it?" "Tomato." "Which picture begins with the same sound as tomato?"

Match the Sound in Action

Watch this clip to see this intervention in action. Implementation note: During reading intervention, it is recommended that the teacher prompt the student to repeat the original words before completing the task. 

Preston, J., & Edwards, M. L. (2010;2009;). Phonological awareness and types of sound errors in preschoolers with speech sound disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 53(1), 44-60. https://www-proquest-com.library.relay.edu/docview/507892023?pq-origsite=summon 

After a student has learned how to isolate and match sounds in a particular position in a word, you can teach that student to generate words with the same beginning/ending/middle sound. This is a more advanced skill because it requires that the student isolate the sound and then retrieve a word with a sound in the same position from their long-term memory.

Explicit Instruction

Again, to support your student's ability to generate words with a particular beginning sound, you will want to explicitly teach this skill. Here is an example of what it would sound like to teach a student to generate beginning/ending/middle sounds in words. The example below focuses on beginning sounds, but you could apply the same procedure to teach students how to generate middle and ending sounds.

• Explain the Skill/Concept. Review term beginning sound and explain the activity. ("Remember that we learned that a beginning sound is the first sound that you hear in a word. What's the beginning sound in the word bat?" "Today we are going to generate (or think of) words that have the same beginning sounds.") 
• Model Skill with Examples. Think aloud about how to generate words with a particular beginning sound. ("Pig starts with /p/. Another word that starts with /p/ is paint. Pig /p/ /p/ /p/, paint /p/ /p/ /p/.")
• Model Skill with Non-Examples. Model making a mistake by generating a word with a different beginning sound and noticing your error. ("Pig starts with /p/. Another word that starts with /p/ is big. Pig/p/, big /b/. Wait- pig and big have different beginning sounds! The first sound that you hear in each word is different.")
• Practice the Skill. Practice this skill with your student, giving feedback as necessary. ("Now you try...)

Activity C: Word Generation

Say a sound and have the student repeat it. Tell the student to tell you as many words as they can that start with that sound. Set the timer for one minute. "Say /m/. I'm going to set the timer for one minute. I want you to tell me as many sounds that you can think of that start with the sound /m/." 

Word Generation in Action

Watch this clip to see this intervention in action. Implementation note: During reading intervention, it is recommended that the teacher prompt the student to repeat the original words before completing the task. 

When you are planning your lessons, you should anticipate that your student will make errors throughout the activity. Here is a series of prompts that you can use to respond to errors. Keep in mind that all students are different, and some students might respond better to different types of feedback than others.  

Think about the following scenario, which takes place after a teacher has explicitly taught a lesson about how to isolate beginning sounds:
     Teacher: "What's the beginning sound in the word cat?"
     Student: "c"
     Teacher: "Is it the same beginning sound as "car" or "tap"?
     Student: "Is it the same beginning sound as tap." 

In such a case, what might you do? 

Feedback During the Lesson

If your student struggles to meet your objective, there are various techniques that you might try to adjust the activity to your student's needs.