TH sound IEP goals: 24 examples for voiced and voiceless th

By the IEP Atlas editorial teamLast updated November 1, 2026

Short answer

A th sound IEP goal names voiced or voiceless th, the position, the level and a criterion with a denominator. Example: given 20 untrained words with voiceless th at the start or end, Marcus will place his tongue between his teeth and say th, not /f/, in 17 of 20 words across 2 probes.

"th" is two sounds. Voiceless th is in think, bath and nothing. Voiced th is in this, mother and breathe. Children most often swap in /f/ for the voiceless one ("fink") and /d/ or /v/ for the voiced one ("dis," "muvver"). This page gives 24 goals across both sounds, from tongue placement to self-monitoring in class. Each has a condition, a baseline, a criterion and a template link. The numbers are illustrations.

The articulation goals examples pillar has three th goals inside a sound-by-sound overview. This page is the full set for a student whose main target is th.

Check the age and the dialect first

th is the last English consonant most children master. In a large review of US studies, voiced th was produced by most children by about 5 years, 11 months and voiceless th by about 6 years, 11 months, using a 90% criterion.^[1] ASHA's speech sound page uses the same review.^[2] An /f/ for th in a kindergartner is usually still expected. The same error in a third grader who is otherwise clear may be worth a short, focused goal, especially if it affects spelling or how peers respond.

Dialect matters more for th than for almost any other sound. In African American English and several other varieties of English, /f/ or /t/ for voiceless th and /v/ or /d/ for voiced th are rule-governed features in some word positions. They are not errors.^[3] Score against the student's home dialect, and write a goal only for patterns that are not part of it.

How to choose the right th goal

What you see now	Sub-skill to target	Measurement method
No th even after a model; tongue stays behind teeth	Placement in isolation and syllables	Opportunities: 20 trials
th after a model, /f/ in spontaneous words	Voiceless th in words	Percent of 20 untrained words
"dis" and "dat," or "muvver"	Voiced th	Percent of 20 words or phrases
Correct in words, /f/ in sentences and reading	Sentences and reading	Percent of target words
Correct in the therapy room, not in class	Conversation and class	Percent of th words in a 3-minute sample
Does not notice own errors	Self-monitoring and home	Agreement with the SLP, out of 10

Placement goals

Show the tongue tip resting lightly between the teeth, with air flowing over it. A mirror helps. Most students find voiceless th faster, then add voice.

Given a mirror and a verbal cue, Marcus will place his tongue between his teeth and say voiceless th in isolation and syllables in 16 of 20 trials across 3 sessions. Baseline: 6 of 20. Template.
When asked, Lena will explain the 3 parts of making th (tongue out, teeth light, air flowing) and show it, scoring 3 of 3 parts on 4 of 5 checks. Baseline: 1 of 3. Template.
Given 20 made-up words with th (such as "thoob" and "mithe"), Lena will say th correctly in 16 of 20 words. Baseline: 7 of 20. Template.
During a 2-minute timed drill, Marcus will say th syllables and words correctly at least 40 times with 90% accuracy across 3 sessions. Baseline: 15 correct at 70%. Template.

Weak: "Marcus will learn correct tongue placement." Measurable: The first goal in this section. It names the cue, the level and the count.

Voiceless th in words

Given 20 untrained words with voiceless th at the start or end, Marcus will place his tongue between his teeth and say th, not /f/, in 17 of 20 words across 2 probes. Baseline: 4 of 20. Template.
After the SLP models each word, Lena will imitate 20 voiceless th words correctly in 18 of 20. Baseline: 11 of 20. Template.
Given 20 words ending in voiceless th (such as bath, tooth and mouth), Lena will say final th in 16 of 20 words across 3 sessions. Baseline: 5 of 20. Template.
Given 15 long school words with th (such as thermometer, mathematics and arithmetic), Marcus will say th correctly in 12 of 15 words. Baseline: 4 of 15. Template.

Weak: "Marcus will say th in words." Measurable: The first goal in this section. It names voiceless th, the positions, the error to replace and the count.

Voiced th goals

Voiced th lives in the most frequent words in English: the, this, that, they, there. Those small words are where the goal pays off in conversation.

Given 20 sentences starting with the, this, they or there, Jada will say voiced th correctly in 17 of 20 sentences across 3 sessions. Baseline: 6 of 20. Template.
Given 15 words with voiced th in the middle (such as mother, feather and brother), Jada will say th rather than /v/ or /d/ in 12 of 15 words. Baseline: 3 of 15. Template.
Using the carrier phrase "I want that ___," Theo will say voiced th correctly in 18 of 20 phrases across 2 sessions. Baseline: 9 of 20. Template.
When the SLP says 10 words with th or a substitute (such as "this" and "dis"), Theo will judge each as right or wrong in 9 of 10 across 2 sessions. Baseline: 5 of 10. Template.

Weak: "Jada will stop saying 'dis' and 'dat.'" Measurable: The first goal in this section. It turns the complaint into a sentence task with a count.

Sentence and reading goals

When describing 10 pictures in one sentence each, Lena will say every th word correctly in 9 of 10 sentences across 3 sessions. Baseline: 4 of 10. Template.
During a short story retell with 10 th words, Theo will say th correctly in 8 of 10 target words on 3 consecutive retells. Baseline: 3 of 10. Template.
During class read-aloud turns, Marcus will say th correctly in 8 of 10 marked words, scored by the SLP during push-in on 3 of 4 visits. Baseline: 3 of 10. Template.
Given a list of 10 th words from the current science unit, Jada will say each correctly in a sentence in 8 of 10. Baseline: 4 of 10. Template.

Weak: "Lena will use th in reading." Measurable: The third goal in this section. It names the setting, the scorer and how many visits.

Conversation and class goals

During a 3-minute conversation about a class topic, Marcus will say th correctly in 80% of th words on 2 of 3 monthly samples. Baseline: 25%. Template.
When answering a question in class, Lena will say th correctly in 4 of 5 th words noted by the teacher, on 3 of 4 weekly checks. Baseline: 1 of 5. Template.
After a private signal from the teacher (such as a tap on the desk), Theo will repeat a th word correctly in 4 of 5 signals across 3 weeks. Baseline: 1 of 5. Template.
During a guessing game, Jada will ask questions with th words (such as "Is it the thing that ...?") and say th correctly in 8 of 10 questions. Baseline: 3 of 10. Template.

Weak: "Marcus will generalize th to all settings." Measurable: The first goal in this section. It sets the sample, the topic and the schedule.

Self-monitoring and home goals

After listening to a recording of 10 of her own th words, Lena will rate each as right or wrong and agree with the SLP on 9 of 10. Baseline: 5 of 10. Template.
From a 2-minute recording of his own speech, Marcus will tally his th errors and match the SLP's count within 1 on 3 of 4 recordings. Baseline: no match. Template.
Each week, Jada will rate her th use in 3 class settings on a log and match the SLP's rating in 4 of 5 weeks. Baseline: no log. Template.
During a home card game with a family member, Theo will say 10 th words correctly on 4 of 5 days each week, logged on a home sheet. Baseline: no home practice. Template.

Weak: "Lena will monitor her th." Measurable: The first goal in this section. Monitoring becomes rating 10 recorded words.

How to measure th goals

Score each th word with a code: C for correct, F for /f/, D for /d/, V for /v/, S for /s/ (a frontal, lisp-like th), or X for distorted or omitted. Only C counts toward the goal. A child moving from F to a slightly distorted th is closer, and the codes show it.

For words through sentences, use 20 untrained items per probe every 2 weeks, at the start of the session. The opportunity trial data sheet fits 20 coded trials. For conversation, record 3 minutes, count every th word and report the percent correct of th words. The opportunities measurement guide covers prompted responses.

One probe series for the untrained voiceless word goal: 4 of 20 in October, 9 of 20 in December, 14 of 20 in February. The F count dropped from 15 to 4 in that time. Both numbers go in the progress report.

Adapting by grade

Grade band	Typical focus	Example change
K to 1	Usually monitor; target only if intelligibility or other sounds are involved	Fold th into a broader goal, not its own
Grades 2 to 3	Voiceless th in words, voiced th in function words	Picture cards, decodable text, home game
Grades 4 to 5	Reading aloud, class answers, long words	Science and math vocabulary lists
Middle and high school	Self-monitoring, presentations	Self-rating logs, private class signal

For moving the sound into class, see articulation carryover strategies. /f/ and /v/ goals are on IEP goals for /f/ and /v/, and "sh" goals on IEP goals for sh and ch. More templates are on the th topic page and the articulation goals page. Paste any draft into the goal checker.

Frequently asked questions

At what age should a child say th correctly?

th is the last English consonant most children master. Most children say voiced th by about age 6 and voiceless th by about age 7. An /f/ for th in a 5-year-old is usually still expected.

Is saying /f/ for th always a speech error?

No. In some dialects of English, including African American English, /f/ or /t/ for voiceless th and /v/ or /d/ for voiced th follow regular rules in certain word positions. Score against the student's home dialect before writing a goal.

Should I target voiced or voiceless th first?

Voiceless th is usually easier to find because the student can feel the air without adding voice. Once the placement is steady, add voice. Voiced th in words like the and this pays off quickly in conversation.

Use it in IEP Atlas

Sources

Children's English Consonant Acquisition in the United States: A Review (Crowe and McLeod, 2020), American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, via PubMed
Speech Sound Disorders: Articulation and Phonology, ASHA
Social Dialects (Position Statement), American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Written and checked by the IEP Atlas editorial team under our editorial policy. This guide describes general practice and federal rules. It is not legal advice; your state may add requirements, and the IEP team makes the decisions for each student.