Yucky Yak’s Sound

Below you will find BONUS ACTIVITIES that come with your purchase of The Speech Sound Set Alphabet Cards.

Note that in this series, only lower-case non-cursive letters are included. Lower-case letters are certainly more difficult to write than capitals, but this resource is about exposing children to the look of the letters that they will be seeing in the sentences of their ‘readers’ (books) when they begin formal schooling.

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About the Sound

Yucky Yak’s sound is an early sound that is heard in babble and then appears early in the speech of a child too. Yucky Yak’s sound is used at the start of the very important word “yes”!

When it develops

 This sound develops in words by the time a child is 2.5 years. 

How it is made

Really this sound is the same as saying “eeee” with spread lips.  The sound is then “released” on to the vowel sound that comes next in the word. 

Tips to Help 

Try making smiling lips and saying /eee/. 

About the Letter

The lower-case letter used in this set is the non-cursive letter y. Could could say the letter is like Yucky Yak’s two horns and then his tail hanging down. 

The letter’s name is pronounced “why”.  For this reason, many children get confused and think that the letter represents the /w/ sound (Wonderful Worm’s Sound). 

Activities

The Colour-In 

1. Learners can be shown how to form the letter, starting at the star. If there are two possible ways the writer could head with their pencil (or crayon), they should head towards the smaller star next.  Try and give consistent instructions when you show a child how to form the letter.   E.g. “Here’s how we do the letter y. Down, curve up,  down, curve up the other way”.  2. Children can practise again and again within the outline. Using different colours can make it more fun. Encourage children to say the SOUND as they trace the letter.  3. Together look at the pictures, name each and LISTEN for the first sound of each word. It will begin with the target sound. 4. You can point to the first letter in each word. Name the letter. 

Picture Cards

 Each picture begins with the target sound. You can print these out and make cards or just look at them on a device.

1) Cards can be used for  these for a range of games such as SNAP, BINGO or MEMORY.

2) Start a double-spread page in a scrapbook for each sound. Paste in the colour-in (above), practise writing the letter and cut out and paste the pictures on the pages.

3) Combine them with another set from a different sound and do a SORTING ACTIVITY.

4) Make a poster for each sound and paste on the corresponding pictures.

Find the Letter 

View the download on a digital device and point to the target letters or print out and circle/ underline the letters.  Try and encourage scanning of left to right of each line while looking for letters. Start by saying “Let’s look for all the w letters”. When you find them, say the sound as you point/circle/underline.

References

Crowe, K. and McLeod, S. (2020). Children’s English Consonant Acquisition In the United States: A Review. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 4(29), 2155-2169. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_ajslp-19-00168

McLeod, S., & Singh, S. (2009). Speech sounds: A pictorial guide to typical and atypical speech. Plural Publishing.

Peña-Brooks, A., & Hegde, M. N. (2015). Assessment and Treatment of Speech Sound Disorders in Children: A Dual-Level Text. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.

Shipley, K. G., & McAfee, J. G. (2016). Assessment in speech-language pathology: A resource manual. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.