Vocalic R

Placement, step by step

Where the lips, tongue and teeth go.

1. 1Same tongue shape as consonant /r/ - bunched or retroflex, with the tongue root pulled back.
2. 2The difference is that the shape has to be HELD. There is no vowel afterwards to glide into.
3. 3Each of the six r-controlled vowels starts from a different jaw and lip position, which is why a child can nail "car" and still miss "chair."

Elicitation strategies

Tips to help a child say this sound. Most need more than one.

Phrases 12

Most of these carry two targets, so each one is two chances to practice.

• ●a bigger car
• ●over there
• ●under the chair
• ●four more years
• ●my sister and brother
• ●a farmer's barn
• ●near the corner
• ●her purple sweater
• ●a tiger in the water
• ●before dinner
• ●a better answer
• ●work harder

Sentences 12

1. 1.The car is parked over there by the corner.
2. 2.My sister sat under the chair with her sweater.
3. 3.Four more years and I will be in fourth grade.
4. 4.The farmer worked hard near the barn.
5. 5.Her brother is taller than mine.
6. 6.There is a tiger in the water near the shore.
7. 7.The teacher gave a better answer.
8. 8.We were there before dinner.
9. 9.The letter arrived earlier than we thought.
10. 10.A large bear wandered near the river.
11. 11.Her hair was shorter than her sister's.
12. 12.The workers were here all winter.

Reading passage

Play-based ideas for young children

Conversation and verbal games for older kids

• Compare and contrast

  Compare two things in detail. Comparatives all end in -er: bigger, smaller, harder, faster.

  Words that come up

  compare, rather, similar, different, prefer, more, better, worse, share, order, whereas, further

• Where were you

  Talk about where you were and what you were doing. "Where," "were," "there" and "here" are among the highest-frequency vocalic R words in English.

  Words that come up

  where, were, remember, morning, yesterday, arrived, before, after, around, hour, near, far

• Career day

  Describe jobs and what each worker does. Teacher, doctor, farmer, firefighter, engineer - job names are an -er goldmine.

  Words that come up

  career, doctor, teacher, farmer, driver, builder, reporter, worker, engineer, nurse, artist, ranger