Mastering the Tricky R: Practice Vocalic R Sounds With School Words

What Is Vocalic R in Speech Therapy?

If your child is working on the R sound in speech therapy, you may have heard the term “Vocalic R.”

But what does that mean?

The R sound is one of the trickiest sounds for children to master. While some kids learn to say /r/ in words like red or run, they may still struggle when /r/ comes after a vowel—like in car, bird, or ear. That’s what speech therapists call vocalic R (sometimes called “R-controlled vowels”).

In these words, the vowel and the /r/ sound blend together, making it harder to separate and pronounce clearly.

Many children substitute another sound (like “cah” for car).

Today, we’ll practice six words that each focus on a different vowel + R combination.

  • “Er” - as in return

  • “Air” - as in chair

  • “Are” - as in star

  • “Ear” - as in hear

  • “Ire” - as in higher

  • “Or” - as in door

Vocalic “er” Word - Return

Use the word “return” to say these phrases and sentences.

  • Return the tray.

  • Return the book.

  • Return the equipment.

  • He returned the lunch tray.

  • Please return the book to the cart.

  • They returned the equipment after PE.

Three illustrations of kids returning things, a boy returning a tray, a girl returning a book, and two kids returning sports equipment.

Vocalic “air” Word - Chair

Match the picture to the sentence.

  • He stood beside the chair.

  • His backpack is in front of the chair.

  • The books are under the chair.

  • The backpack is on the chair.

  • The chair is under the bookshelf.

  • The boy is behind the chair.

Six illustrations of prepositions for the word chair. They give examples for behind, on, in front, under, beside and under.

Vocalic “are” Word - Star

Find the stars that match and tell what objects each star shape looks like.

Then, make up a sentence for each pair, for example, “These stars are shaped like a magnifying glass.”

 
Five matching illustrations of star shaped objects; magnifying glasses, red buttons, footballs, trees, and pink ice cream cones
 

Vocalic “ear” Word - Hear

Kids hear a lot of sounds at school.

Make a sentence for each of these school sounds.

“He hears ______”

“She hears ______”

  • clapping

  • playing

  • laughing

  • stapling paper

  • sharpening a pencil

  • rolling dice

  • talking

  • the school bell

  • a school bus

A boy and a girls on the right side hold their hand to their ear. A variety of illustrations of noises kids may hear at school on the right.

Vocalic “ire” Word - Higher

It’s time to get these school supplies off the shelf.

Make a sentence to tell which one is on the "higher”, for example, “The tape is higher than the pencils.”

Four boxes that each have a bookshelf. There is a school supply on the top and bottom of each to practice saying "higher".

Vocalic “or” Word - Door

Practice in words: Say the word door as you point to each picture.

Practice in phrases: Is there “one door” or “two doors” in each picture?

Practice in sentences: Find the picture that matches each sentence.

  • Our teacher decorated the classroom door.

  • Our classroom is next door to the principal

  • She opens the door to greet us.

  • I walk through the door right on time.

Four boxes that each show a classroom door; a boy walking in, two doors, a classroom door, a teacher opening the door.

Mixed Vocalic R Words - School Supplies

Look at this desk full of school supplies.

Listen for which vocalic “r” sound you hear in each word.

Do you hear the “er”, “air”, “are”, “ear”, “ire”, or “or” sound?

A variety of school supplies that all have the vocalic r sound on a classroom desk.

School Supplies

  • clipboard

  • paperclip

  • marker

  • binder

  • geoboard

  • paper

  • stapler

  • eraser

  • scissors

  • sharpener

  • folder

  • index card

  • ruler

What do you notice about these words?

Were there any that sounded different than how they were spelled?

Did you hear all of the vocalic R sounds?

Was there a sound you heard a lot?

Answers

  • clipboard - or

  • paperclip - er

  • marker - are, er

  • binder - er

  • geoboard - or

  • paper - er

  • stapler - er

  • eraser - er

  • scissors - er

  • sharpener, - er

  • folder - er

  • index card - are

  • ruler - er

speech soundsLia Kurtin