Teaching · Speech and Language

Bee or beet?
Pairs where the last sound counts.

A child who drops final consonants says “bow” for boat and “tea” for teeth. Each pair here is the same word with and without its last sound, so leaving it off changes the meaning. Deal a set by the kind of final sound, with a sentence and what both words mean.

Make a set of pairsWhat you get
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Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Speech & Language toolkit, $79 for 88 items.

Make a set of final sound pairs

The worked example is made up: a three-year-old on final stops and a four-year-old on final airy sounds. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Teaching · Speech & Language$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A set of 6, 10 or 16 word pairs for final consonant deletion, chosen by the kind of final sound and the vowel before it, each with a target sentence and what both words mean, plus notes on how practice went.
Who it is for
School and clinic speech-language pathologists and speech-language pathology assistants, and the teachers and families they hand home practice to.
Format
Browser card maker with saved sets. Prints the cards as a cut-out sheet or a list for home practice; presents one card at a time for a screen or a tablet at the table; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Speech & Language toolkit ($79) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Speech & Language space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Choose one kind of final sound; stops are often the easiest to see and feel.
  2. Listen first: say one word of a pair and the student points to its card.
  3. Then the student says a word and you respond to what you hear: “Bee? Where is it buzzing?”
  4. Give a tap, clap or a hand sign on the final sound.
  5. Note what worked and print the cards for home.

Make a set of pairs

What final consonant deletion is

From open syllable to closed1Hear itPoint to bee or beet as anadult says one2Feel itTap or clap on the last sound3Say the pairbee, then beet, with the tap4Use itAsk for things that need theend sound5Mix itShuffle pairs from more thanone kind6Carry itShort sentences at home and inclassFrom open syllable to closed1Hear itPoint to bee or beet as an adult saysone2Feel itTap or clap on the last sound3Say the pairbee, then beet, with the tap4Use itAsk for things that need the end sound5Mix itShuffle pairs from more than one kind6Carry itShort sentences at home and in class
Drawn for this page. Final consonant deletion usually fades by about three.

Open syllables are easier

Young children often simplify words to a consonant and a vowel. Most stop dropping final consonants by about three; a child who still does it often is hard to understand.

Grammar rides on it

In English, final sounds carry plurals and tense: shoe and shoes, play and played. Dropping them can look like a grammar problem when it is a speech pattern.

Real-word and made-up partners

After a long vowel both words are real (bee and beet). After a short vowel the partner is often not a word (ca and cat); those cards show the listener cannot tell what was meant.

Sources

  1. Weiner, F. (1981). Treatment of phonological disability using the method of meaningful minimal contrast: Two case studies. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 46(1), 97 to 103. PMID 7206686.
  2. Dodd, B., Holm, A., Hua, Z., & Crosbie, S. (2003). Phonological development: A normative study of British English-speaking children. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 17(8), 617 to 643. PMID 14977026.
  3. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Practice Portal: Speech Sound Disorders: Articulation and Phonology (asha.org/practice-portal).
  4. Bowen, C. (2015). Children’s Speech Sound Disorders (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. Phonological processes and typical ages of elimination.

Word pairs, sentences and meanings were written for this page; the example sets and students are made up. Ages are rough guides from published norms and vary with the child and the dialect. The cards support practice a speech-language pathologist plans; they do not assess or diagnose. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.