All pediatric speech therapy sessions begin with teaching language sounds. In English, we have consonants and vowels. Here in this article, we are going to discuss some interesting fun games and activities to adopt while teaching short vowels, which are A-E-I-O-U.
2. INTRODUCTION
All pediatric speech therapy sessions begin with teaching language
sounds. In English, we have consonants and vowels. Here in this
article, we are going to discuss some interesting fun games and
activities to adopt while teaching short vowels, which are A-E-I-O-U.
We all remember saying these 5 short vowels in a row with a singing
rhythm. How did our teachers implant the rhythm and sounds into
our minds? They had their ways and games, and here we are revealing
some of the activities the best speech therapists use with children
who need extra care in understanding these sounds.
3. Short Vowel Stick
Puppets
Students are always excited to make crafts with the materials they
have. Assign them to make five puppets each for a short vowel and
let them hold it in their hand.
The therapist can say a vowel out loud, let students listen, repeat,
identify and hold the stick puppet of that particular vowel high in the
air. If students find it hard to make puppets on their own, let the
therapist bring one set of stick puppets to the class and give chance
to students individually.
4. Sand Writing
Let students be provided with sand spread on
some tray or a paper plate. When the therapist
says a vowel sound, for example, /o/, ley
students trace the vowel sound in the sand
along with repeating the vowel out loud.
In this activity, students not only learn the
vowel sounds clearly, but they also get a
sensory experience of tracing the sand with
their respective finger.
5. Fluency Strips
Even if students know the vowels by heart, they might find it
difficult to distinguish one after the other while reading.
Fluency strips are best to make them practice in differentiating
one vowel from the other.
Fluency strips are more beneficial, if they are made with one-
syllable words, not complex ones such as a bat, dog, bed, sit,
put etc. with one vowel in between consonants. Here students
can underline the vowels and say them in front of others.
6. CONCLUSION
These are some of the best activities effectively utilized by the
speech therapist in Sharjah to teach short vowel sounds.
All students learn lessons taught through games and activities
much easier than teaching in words and lectures.
Learning through games are more memorable, imprinting the
concepts to the younger minds for a lifetime.
