Sammy Snake’s Sound

About the Sound

Sammy’s sound is a long, soft sound. Note that the sound is “sssssssss” and not “sah”. ( Have a listen to the sound above and make sure you are demonstrating the sound correctly.)

Sound Pair

A sound pair is another sound that is made in the same way – only one of the pairs is LOUD (uses voice) and the other is SOFT (uses no voice, is whispered).  Not all sounds have a pair.  When a sound is involved with a speech error, often (but not always) the Sound Pair will also be involved in the same speech error. 

The sounds of Sammy Snake (soft) and  Zippy Zac (loud) are  Sound Pairs. 

When it develops

This sound is usually used correctly in words by the time a child turns 5 years of age.  Many younger children will be producing it more like a /th/ sound.  

How it is made

The tongue tip is raised to the roof of the mouth behind the front teeth. Air is pushed over the top of the tongue tip with significant force in a steady, long and “skinny” flow. (*Less commonly, some individuals produce this sound with the tongue tip down behind the bottom teeth while raising the section that is further back along the tongue.) Either way the air is directed at the centre of the top teeth (Sammy’s golden front teeth!).

Tips to Help 

Some children benefit from keeping their teeth together to prevent the tongue from coming forward into a /th/ sound. This can help the tongue “find” the correct spot. 

The position that the tongue is held for the sound /t/ is similar to the position that makes the /s/ sound.  The difference is, instead of the tongue tapping down, it is held in place while the air flows above it. 

Common Errors

Remember, some speech sound errors are perfectly NORMAL as a child progresses in their speech development.  

1)  Young speakers often produce the sound as a /th/ sound, with their tongue sticking out between their teeth.  This is sometimes called “lisping”.  Lisping is common in preschool years and can be seen as part of normal speech development. It usually will naturally “disappear” by the age of 5 years. *Children who are “lisping”, will say “thun” for “sun”.  Try practising “teeth together”  when making Sammy Snake’s sound. 

2) Many young speakers will leave the /s/ sound of words that begin with an /s/ cluster (or blend).  S Clusters are the two sounds at the beginning of words like “smell, snap, step, sleep, spot, skate.” This error is a normal developmental error called S Cluster Reduction and usually resolves naturally by the time a child is 5 years of age.  Examples of S Cluster reduction are a child saying “mell” for “smell”, “dep”  for “step” and “nake” for “snake”.  Note that leaving the /s/ off the the start of such words is also a feature of Aboriginal English. 

3)A young speaker might produce a /t/ or /d/ sound instead of a /s/ sound. (E.g. “tun”  or “dun” for “sun”). This error is called STOPPING because the long sound /s/ is “stopped” into a short sound.  This can be seen as part of normal speech development but naturally “disappears” by the age of 3 years. *Children who are “stopping”, will often “stop” the long /f/ sound also, producing it as a short /p/ or /b/ sound (saying “bun” or “pun” for “”fun”). 

4) Sammy’s sound is very soft and also very high-pitched (along with Furry Fox’s /f/ sound and Thirsty Theo’s /th/ sound), so children with even a mild high-frequency hearing loss may have trouble hearing this sound and differentiating it from others.  If you can’t hear it, it is difficult to learn it, right?    Keep children facing you so they are able to watch your mouth as you say words. Otherwise, words like “thick” and “sick” might sound very similar. 

About the Letter

The lower-case letter used in this set is the non-cursive letter s. Non-cursive is what is most often seen in text and in the world around a child, so we encourage all written text to be presented in non-cursive in the preschool setting.

The letter s is the same shape as Sammy Snake’s body. 

The letter’s name is pronounced “ess”. 

Activities

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 demonstrate letter formation.  E.g. “This is how you do the letter S …. backwards, forwards, backwards”.  2. Children can practise again and again within the outline. Using different colours can make it more fun. Encourage a child to say the sound as they trace the letter (not the letter name).  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.