Teaching the /l/ Sound

This is an excerpt from Super Star Speech, which includes instruction for teaching most of the speech sounds. Many more teaching tools and practice activities are included in the book, but I hope this will be of help to some of you!

L is produced by placing the tongue tip behind the upper front teeth, against the gum ridge. The sides of the tongue are lowered in order to allow the voice to pass around the sides of the tongue.

Tips:

1. Use a mirror to model the correct placement of the tongue. Touch the gum ridge with a spoon or popsicle stick to instruct the child where to make tongue contact.

2. Practice raising and lowering the tongue tip to strengthen the tongue and develop awareness.

3. Have the child open his mouth widely, sustain an “ah” sound while raising his tongue tip to the /l/ position.

4. Practice /l/ vowel babbling…. Lalala, loolooloo, leeleelee. You may find that the /l/ is easier to produce with one vowel over another. Practice the easier syllables first.

5. Compare the tongue tip sounds. Have the child practice: “tee, dee, nee, lee,” etc.

6. If the child substitutes /w/ for /l/, gently spread the child’s lips to discourage him from rounding them when producing /l/.

 

L Practice –Initial Position

Practice these words:

lemon leash
lips ladder
lose like
love load

loose lead
long lamp
light loop
loan lap
latch

1. Do you know a girl's name with the L sound?
2. Name some foods that begin with L.
3. Name an animal with a mane that begins with L.
4. A baby sheep is called a __________________.
5. It is dark. Please turn on the ________________.
6. What do you need to walk your dog?
7.Name a number with the L sound.
8. A fruit that is very sour is a ________________.
9. The opposite of "win" is _________________.
10.What color is the sun?
11. When you sleep, you put your head on a _________________.
12. The opposite of "tight" is _____________________.