SH Words for Speech Therapy (Word Lists and Activities)
If you’re a speech-language pathologist looking for a quick list of initial and final sh target words to practice during therapy, this article is a must-read! You’ll also find fun ideas for making speech therapy more fun with a variety of engaging games, resources, and articulation activities for teaching the sh sound. This blog post provides a list of sh words, including initial sh, medial sh, and final sh words. This articulation article also suggests a variety of strategies for teaching correct placement for the sh sound.
How To Say the SH Sound
The SH sound is a lingua-palatal sound. It is a fricative. It is also a voiceless sound, meaning the vocal folds do not vibrate during production. When we produce the sh sound, the lips are protruded. The correct production of sh involves the front of the tongue (the tongue tip and tongue blade) angling toward the lower front teeth. The sides of the tongue make contact with the upper molars. The tongue is raised, flattened, and has a wide groove, which is much wider than it is for the s sound. Air is directed through this wide opening.
References:
Peña-Brooks Adriana, and M. N. Hegde. Articulation and Phonological Disorders: Assessment and Treatment Resource Manual, PRO-ED, Austin, TX, 2007.
Bauman-Wängler Jacqueline Ann. “Chapter 8: Therapy for Phonetic Errors.” Articulatory and Phonological Impairment: A Clinical Focus, Pearson, Harlow, Essex, 2014.
Common SH Sound Errors
Sometimes, students with articulation disorders or phonological disorders have difficulty producing the sh sound. A student with a lisp, such as a lateral lisp, may have difficulty with the production of the sh sound. Read about the different types of lisps, and make sure to check out these lateral SH tips for speech therapy.
Another error may involve the phonological process of stopping. A student might substitute “t” for “sh”. The result would be saying “two” for “shoe”. Stopping minimal pairs might be beneficial if this occurs. Read more about the different phonological processes.
Reference: Bauman-Wängler Jacqueline Ann. “Chapter 8: Therapy for Phonetic Errors.” Articulatory and Phonological Impairment: A Clinical Focus, Pearson, Harlow, Essex, 2014.
How To Teach the SH Sound in Speech Therapy
A speech language therapist might find it beneficial to try giving this sound a silly name. It could be something like “your quiet sound”. Raise a finger to your lips as an additional reminder.
A speech pathologist could try to shape SH from S. Have your student say the s sound, then pucker the lips (or make “fish lips”).
Try incorporating minimal pairs. For example, if a child says ‘t’ for ‘sh’ (“two” for “shoe”), try using stopping minimal pairs. If a child says the s sound as a substitution for the sh sound (“Sue” for “shoe”), try using fronting minimal pairs.
A mirror may be helpful to provide visual feedback.
And don’t miss these tips for lateral SH.
Reference:
Author’s clinical experience
Peña-Brooks Adriana, and M. N. Hegde. “Chapter 8- Therapy for Phonetic Errors.”Articulation and Phonological Disorders: Assessment and Treatment Resource Manual, PRO-ED, Austin, TX, 2007, pp. 300–301.
Speech Sound Word Lists for the SH Sound
The following word lists contain words with the initial sh sound, medial sh sound, and final sh sound. These SH articulation word lists allow the SLP to easily work on a target sound in speech therapy. Quickly pull these SH word lists up during your speech therapy session and pair them with the game or activity of your choice. Check out the best games for speech therapy here. These lists are helpful for a student with an articulation disorder. To practice at the sentence level, have students combine words and generate sentences.
Initial SH Word List for Speech Therapy
Here is a list of initial sh words (sh at the beginning of a word) to use in speech therapy:
- show
- shoe
- she
- sheep
- chef
- shake
- shark
- shave
- shelf
- shine
- shore
- shut
- shadow
- shaky
- shamrock
- shiny
- shopping
- shuttle
- sugar
- shampoo
Medial SH Words for Speech Therapy
Here is a list of medial sh words (SH in the middle of a word) to use in speech therapy:
- action
- caution
- cushion
- dishes
- fashion
- fiction
- flashlight
- glacier
- lotion
- machine
- Nashville
- ocean
- seashore
- special
- tissue
- washer
- addition
- attention
- collection
- emotion
Final SH Word Lists for Speech Therapy
Here is a list of sh occurring at the end of the word (sh at the ends of words, final position):
- bush
- blush
- crash
- dash
- dish
- fish
- flash
- fresh
- hush
- leash
- wish
- splash
- eyelash
- finish
- goldfish
- hairbrush
- paintbrush
- skittish
- toothbrush
- Swedish
5 Best SH Words Speech Therapy Activities
Speech-language pathologists are often looking for fun ways to work on the sh sound in speech therapy! Here are the top articulation activities that include sh words.
Speech Sound Mouth Articulation Cards
How about a nice change from traditional articulation drill cards? These speech sound mouth articulation cards are the answer! Your speech therapy students will be excited to see articulation cards in the shape of lips! The picture of the mouth is very helpful as a visual cue. Even better, these articulation cards can double as speech room decor. Prep them once and hang them in your speech room for everyday use!
Several speech sound targets are included in this resource, including sh initial, sh medial, and sh final.
Articulation Manicure
This creative articulation activity is going to be a HIT in your speech therapy session! Banish boring and try an articulation manicure instead! Your student simply picks a play dough color (aka, a nail color), while you pick the target speech sound. Your speech therapy student will say the target word, then smash a small piece of play dough on a “nail”. Your student continues to say each target articulation word and each time she gets to smash a small piece of playdough onto a fingernail. Before you know it, the manicure will be complete!
Articulation Card Game Companion
Your students love playing that very popular color-coded card game- and you’d like a way to incorporate that into articulation therapy. No problem!
Speech-language pathologists will absolutely love this articulation card game companion because it makes data collection a breeze. Not only that, but it ensures an engaging session for your elementary speech therapy students.
Here’s how it works: before your student puts down a blue card during his turn, he must say the sh articulation word that is listed under the blue section. If he draws a yellow card, then he must say the sh articulation word that is assigned to that target color. It’s fast, easy, and motivating!
SH Sound Speech Therapy Minimal Pairs
Need some easy-to-use minimal pairs for speech therapy? Speech therapists will love how simple and organized these minimal pairs are to use in therapy! If you aren’t a fan of searching through hundreds of cards in. a pile, trying to find exactly the words you need, then give these a try!
Everything you need to implement a successful minimal pairs session is available on one page. First, there is an auditory bombardment word list that you can read to your speech therapy student. Then, your student can complete an auditory sorting or auditory discrimination activity. Finally, have your student practice saying the 6 minimal pair target words per page.
Try these fronting minimal pairs or stopping minimal pairs to target the sh sound. Or, just grab the bundle so you’ll always be set!
Articulation Activity for Older Students
Do you have older students working on the SH sound? This Type & Say Articulation Challenge is a hands-on activity that your students will love! No, it doesn’t involve using any laptops or tablets.
Here’s how it all works: your student will pretend to “type” the word using the ”keyboard” on the paper, then they will practice saying the target word. This can also open up great conversations about how speech sound targets can be represented in print in various ways.
More Articulation Words for Speech-Language Pathologists
Are you in a hurry and need this article summed up? To see the SH words, simply scroll up. Next, make sure to try out these best-selling SH sound articulation resources:
- Speech Sound Mouth Articulation Cards
- Articulation Manicure
- Articulation Card Game Companion
- Minimal Pairs Bundle
- Type & Say Articulation Challenge
Don’t miss these other articulation word lists!
