Wednesday, April 29, 2015

RTI for the R Sound!: School Based Innovation and RTI Blog Hop

Art by Margaret Warner mwa2808@gmail.com

May means it's time to kick off Better Speech and Hearing Month by participating in my first blog hop sponsored by Speech Language Literacy Lab, LLC.

Have you cringed when you've gotten a referral for a middle school student that hadn't mastered the /r/ sound?  As SLP's, we know that the longer a student has been speaking with an incorrect speech pattern, the more challenging it is to remediate it!   I have treated these older elementary and middle school students with /r/ errors and now I see mostly pre-k through K students but I in no way ignore the /r/ sound at these young ages.  There are things we can do to lessen the gliding pattern for these younger students.  To quote Benjamin Franklin, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Disclaimer ahead:  In Wisconsin,  (my state, go Badgers!), RTI is a general education initiative so why am I doing an RTI post?  Well, there are interventions SLP's perform that do or don't (depending upon your intent, length of intervention and focus) fall under the RTI umbrella and in many cases, it's a matter of semantics.  I don't call my push in program for the /r/ sound, "RTI."  However, it can certainly be used by SLP's in other states as an RTI approach.  Clear as mud, right?

In 4K and Kindergarten classrooms, teachers introduce the letters and their accompanying sounds to their students in some systematic fashion.  This can be an opportunity to "push into" these regular education settings and give students some additional teaching on how to produce the /r/ sound.  What better way for students to learn than from the "Speech Teacher" how to produce this tricky sound?  It can also be a way for the SLP to identify children who have not yet mastered the /r/ sound and provide either some small group intervention or a home program to help the child reduce the gliding pattern and perhaps prevent that student from needing speech therapy at a later date.
Chattervox portable amplification system


I go into the regular education classroom when or shortly (as in days) after the general education teacher has introduced the letter R.  I bring in all of my developmentally-appropriate tricks of the trade, including:

An amplification system.  I use the Chattervox because I travel and it's portable.  Here's the Chattervox Web Site.



 Mouth Finger Puppet

Teaching Tools for making this tricky sound, including a Mini Mouth Finger Puppet  from Super Duper, like the one that is pictured.  There is also a larger one available at Super Duper that would work well for classroom instruction.
                                  Other Tools:
*an Ipad app to show students how to produce the sound.  I use "Speech Tutor," which I have reviewed in a prior blog post.
*small mirrors so each child in the classroom can watch themselves make the sound.


       General teaching sequence for Push-in Session(s):

Introduce the Letter Rr.  
I introduce both the uppercase and lowercase r's.  I might print some letters on the whiteboard and have a student come up and circle the r's.  How much you focus on this introductory piece depends upon how extensively the regular education teacher has already introduced it!  You might give students small white or chalk boards and have them write the uppercase and lowercase Rr.   This is an important step so we can strengthen the letter-sound connection!

Introduce the /r/ sound!  
I spend time talking about how the tongue is a muscle and the /r/ sound uses the muscles in the tongue but not the lips.   I put my hand out flat and slowly tighten it into a fist to show the students what they want their tongues to do for this sound.  It's really beneficial for each student to have or share a mirror.  I borrowed small mirrors from our guidance counselor who had them in a drug and alcohol kit so be sure to ask your colleagues if they have some mirrors for you to borrow.

Auditory Discrimination! 
Don't skip this step!  Use minimal pairs to show students that if they use a w for the r sound, they change the word!  Teach that the /w/ gives the lips a workout and the /r/ gives the tongue a workout. I choose to contrast the r and the w for this lesson but you could also contrast the w, r AND y sounds. I hold up pictures (no words) of /r/ and /w/ words and have students tell me the initial sound.

Multiple Repetitions and Practice. 
Play games such as "ring around the rosie" or "reach and roll."  In the latter, I have students choose to either reach for an /r/ card that I hold up so they have to stretch and reach for it and then say it. Students can also choose to roll a die and say an /r/ card the number of times on the die.  At the end, I give each student an /r/ themed exit ticket so families know what the child worked on with the SLP today!

Follow Up:  Short-term Intervention or a Home Program.
I keep a notepad near me and write down the students that distort the /r/ sound. (I typically find 2-4 per kindergarten classroom).  After the session, I briefly meet with the classroom teacher and discuss these students and develop a follow-up plan.   For some, I have sent home programs with students if they have a support system at home that will follow up with it.  On my home program, I am clear about explaining that the /r/ sound is a later-occurring sound and intervention at this age is more preventative than remedial.    Guess What?  I am offering this initial /r/ home program for free at my store on TPT.  Check out the:




Initial R Home or Summer Program.  (Free).
RTI for the R Sound Packet.   (Paid-entire packet).







In states where response to intervention is a special education initiative, you could consider doing some additional (short-term) /r/ intervention activities with the students that haven't yet mastered the sound.  You might just prevent some challenging /r/ students from needing speech services in the future!

Hey, grab a cup of coffee, get comfy and hop over to the following blogs related to School-based Innovation and RTI.  The blogs go live on the dates indicated in the titles.        

                                       Here's the blog schedule:


                              5/1/2015: Kick off to Better Hearing and Speech Month!

                      5/2/2015 RTI for the R Sound! Badger State Speechy  (YOU ARE HERE)

5/3/2015: An Effective RTI Program. Stephan Charlton guest blogs on Speech Language Literacy Lab.

           5/4/2015: Technology and RTI, Building Successful Lives Speech and Language

                                                 5/5/2015: Starfish Therapies

        5/6/2015: Orton Gillingham Approach and RTI: Orton Gillingham Online Academy

            5/7/2015: Evidence-based Writing that Works for RTI and SPED by SQWrite

                     5/8/2015: RTI/MTSS/SBLT...OMG! Let's Talk with Whitney SLP.

                 5/9/2015: RTI, but why? Attitudes are Everything! Crazy Speech World.

                                            5/10/2015: Consonantly Speaking

     5/11/2015: Universal benchmarking for language to guide the RTI process in Pre-K and            
                                      Kindergarten. Speech Language Literacy Lab

       5/12/2015: Movement Breaks in the Classroom (brain breaks), Your Therapy Source

                           5/13/15: How to write a Social Story. Blue Mango LLC

                 5/14/15: Some ideas on Objective Language Therapy. Language Fix

         5/15/2015 Assistive Technology in the Classroom OTMommy Needs Her Coffee

5/16/2015 Effective Tiered Early Literacy Instruction for Spanish-Speakers Bilingual Solutions Guest blog on Speech Language Literacy Lab

             5/17/2015 Helping with Attention and Focus in the Classroom The Pocket OT

                      5/18/2015 Vocabulary Instruction Smart Speech Therapy, LLC

   5/19/2015 An SLP's Role in RTI: My Story Communication Station: Speech Therapy, PLLC

               5/20/2015 Incorporating Motor Skills into Literacy Centers MissJaimeOT

               5/21/2015 The QUAD Profile: A Language Checklist The Speech Dudes

5/22/2015 Resources on Culturally Relevant Interventions Tier 1 Educational Coaching and Consulting

5/23/2015 Language Goals Galore: Converting Real Pictures to Coloring Pages Really Color guest blog on Speech Language Literacy Lab

5/24/2015 Lesson Pix: The Newest Must-Have Resource in your Tx Toolbox Speech Language Literacy Lab

                   5/25/2015 AAC & core vocabulary instruction Kidz Learn Language

                                5/26/2015 An RTI Alternative Old School Speech

           5/27/2015 Intensive Service Delivery Model for Pre-Schoolers Speech Sprouts

                 5/28/2015 RTI Success with Spanish-speakers Speech is Beautiful

5/30/2015 The Importance of Social Language (pragmatic) Skills Linda Silver guest post on Speech Sprouts

               5/31/2015 Sarah Warchol guest posts on Speech Language Literacy Lab

                                                           ENJOY!  

                                                                     Donna

4 comments:

  1. This is awesome! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great post Donna! You are right, those middle school referrals are a challenge, and make my heart drop. That dreaded er can be so stubborn to correct. I love the way you direct teach the children, and then work with the classroom teacher to provide her with tips and support. An informed teacher is a fabulous resource for helping our kiddos.thanks for sharing! Lisette from Speech Sprouts

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow this post is great.Now a days every student can order any types of custom essay writing service and make their educational life run more smoothly and effectively.

    ReplyDelete