Thirsty Theo’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.
Buy The Speech Sound Set Alphabet CardsAbout the Sound
This sound is long and soft sound.
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 Thirsty Theo (soft) and The Echidna* (loud) are Sound Pairs.
Note that The Echidna is not included in this alphabet card set. It is the sound at the start of the word “the, them, they, those, though…”
When it develops
This sound starts to appear later in a child’s speech. It is usually used correctly in words by most children’s speech between the ages of 5 and 6 years.
How it is made.
The pointed tongue appears slightly between the front teeth and air is sent in a thin stream over the tongue.
Tips to Help
Don’t expect this sound too early. It’s NORMAL not to be able to say it.
Common Errors
Remember, some speech sound errors are perfectly NORMAL as a child progresses in their speech development.
The funny thing with this sound is that often children will produce this sound when attempting to say /s/ words (“thick” for “sick”) but at the same time do not produce it in /th/ words (“fick” for “thick”)!
1) A young speaker might produce a /b/ sound instead of a /v/ sound. (E.g. “bet” “vet”). This error is called STOPPING because the long sound /v/ 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 /s/ sound also, producing it as a short /t/ or /d/ sound (saying “tun” or “dun” for “sun”).
2) When children lose their central front baby teeth, they may have trouble making this sound for the period until the new adult teeth are in place. This is a temporary error only. Usually children will have established correct production of this sound before they lose their front teeth.
3) One feature of Aboriginal English is the /v/ sound being replaced by /b/ sound. Traditionally, Victor Vampire’s /v/ sound did not occur in Aboriginal languages (nor did the sounds /th/) .
About the Letter
The lower-case letter used in this set is the non-cursive letter v. 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 is the same shape as Victor Vampire’s green jawline and chin.
The letter’s name is pronounced “vee”. This letter is acrophobic, meaning the letter’s name begins with the sound it represents. For this reason, the letter-sound link can be easier to learn.
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 demonstrate letter formation. E.g. ” This is how you do the letter v …. Down and back up”. 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.