Sounds and Spelling: ou and ow

1Ouch!

Imagine you step on a sharp stone. What do you shout? “Ow!” or “Ouch!” That sound is in lots of words about the places where we live: town, house, mountain.

Today you will learn two ways to spell it: ou and ow.

2One sound, two spellings

Open your mouth wide, then close your lips into a small circle: a-oo, ow.

3A helpful pattern

• ow often comes at the end of a word (cow, now, how) or before n or l (town, down, owl).
• ou often comes in the middle of a word, before other letters (house, mouth, cloud).

Careful: ow and ou can play tricks

• Sometimes ow says the long o of go: snow, grow, show, slow, window, yellow.
• Sometimes ou sounds different too: you, your, four, soup.

When you are not sure, say the word aloud and listen.

4Chant: Down to the town

Out of the house and down to the town,
I count the cows, black and brown.
Round the mountain, over the ground,
Clouds float by without a sound.

Words with the “ow” sound: out, house, down, town, count, cows, brown, round, mountain, ground, clouds, sound.

Your turn: speak and write

Speak: Say the chant with a friend. Say “Ow!” quietly every time you hear the sound.

Write: Make two lists, ow words and ou words, with five words each. Then write two sentences about your district using at least three of the words. Example: Our house is on a mountain, south of the town.

Try it yourself

Write your answers in your exercise book, then check.