Rough draft.This research track is under review with Dr. Atit's lab. Content and sequence may still change.

Here's an example of what's due today

How a Repaired Palate Lets Mateo Talk

Disease domain · Lesson 12 of 20 · Shared clinical backbone (the cleft team)

Today's goal: Students will explain how the soft palate seals off the nose for speech, why a cleft causes hypernasal speech and nasal air escape (velopharyngeal insufficiency), and what the speech-language pathologist does about it.

Learn first

What a finished product looks like

This is a model of the work you should turn in. Use it to check your own: match the structure and the level of detail, do not copy it. Your wording should be your own.

VPI explainer for parents

Completes: A three-sentence, plain-language explanation of the soft palate's speech role, VPI, and one SLP action.

For Mateo's parents:

1. 'During certain sounds the soft palate lifts and seals the back of the mouth off from the nose, so air and sound do not leak upward.'

2. 'When that seal does not work, we call it VPI, and it makes the voice sound like it is coming through the nose and makes the pressure consonants p, b, t, d, k, and g sound weak, because those sounds need built-up mouth air.'

3. 'I will measure exactly how his speech is developing and run speech therapy to build clearer sounds, and if the palate still will not seal after good therapy, the team can consider a secondary speech surgery later.'

Also due today: Mateo remains a composite isolated case: the team is not finding a string of other problems pointing to a named syndrome.

Learn first

How this was built, step by step

The finished product above did not appear all at once. Here is the path from the question to the turned-in work, so you can follow the same steps.

1Start from today's question: How does the soft let us make clear speech sounds, and what goes wrong with speech when it cannot seal off the nose?
2Work the Model and the Explore questions to reason it out before writing anything.
3Pull the specific evidence the product needs from the reading and any database you used.
4Write it up in the required format: As Mateo's SLP at his 2-year visit, answer the parents' question 'Why does he sound like he is talking through his nose, and what will you do?' in three short sentences: (1) what the soft is supposed to do during speech, (2) what VPI means in plain words, and (3) one thing you will do about it. Use the words 'seal,' 'nose,' and '.'
5Check it against the rubric, then submit.

How this is graded (rubric)

For: As Mateo's SLP at his 2-year visit, answer the parents' question 'Why does he sound like he is talking through his nose, and what will you do?' in three short sentences: (1) what the soft palate is supposed to do during speech, (2) what VPI means in plain words, and (3) one thing you will do about it. Use the words 'seal,' 'nose,' and 'pressure consonants.'

Criterion	Proficient	Developing	Beginning
Complete	Every required part of the artifact is present and filled in.	Most parts are present, but one is missing or left blank.	Several parts are missing.
Accurate	The science and data are correct and match the evidence.	Mostly correct, with a small factual slip.	Key science or data is wrong.
Scientific reasoning (CER)	States a claim, backs it with specific evidence, and explains the reasoning.	Has a claim and evidence, but the reasoning is thin or missing.	Gives an answer with no evidence or reasoning.
Professional communication	Clear, organized, and labeled the way a clinician or scientist would write it.	Readable but disorganized or missing labels.	Hard to follow.
Submitted	Turned in the right way (Schoology for routine work) and confirmed.	Turned in, but in the wrong place or unconfirmed.	Not turned in.

How the model answer scores against this rubric

CompleteProficient: Nothing is left blank: the model fills every part of "As Mateo's SLP at his 2-year visit, answer the parents' question 'Why does he sound like he is talking through his nose, and what will you do?' in three short sentences: (1) what the soft palate is supposed to do during speech, (2) what VPI means in plain words, and (3) one thing you will do about it. Use the words 'seal,' 'nose,' and 'pressure consonants.'".
AccurateProficient: Every number and claim matches the case evidence.
Scientific reasoning (CER)Proficient: It names a claim, cites the specific evidence, and explains the reasoning, not just the answer.
Professional communicationProficient: It is organized and labeled like a real chart note.
SubmittedProficient: It would be turned in on Schoology and confirmed.

Check yourself

WebXam problem for today's skill

One exam-style question that uses exactly what you practiced today. Try it before you reveal the answer, then read why each choice is right or wrong.

WebXam-style domain: Speech and velopharyngeal functionSelf-check skill: Predicting which speech sounds suffer most when the palate cannot seal off the nose

A child with velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) after palate repair has air leaking into the nose during speech. Which speech sounds will be most affected, and why?

Tap an answer to see the full explanation. Nothing is recorded or graded.

Back to this lesson