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Jonathen Posted 18 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation
ow/ou - easy way of teaching 6 yr old the difference
0 Hi there. First time user on these forums so I hope I have posted in the correct forum 05 0 02 br
00 My 6 year old son is learning to read and is progressing steadily. However, he struggles to remember the spelling for words which use the diphthongs OW and OU 00 . So for example, he'll think owl is spelt oul and bounce is spelt bownce. 02 br
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00 I need to find a rule or a way of being able to help him remember how to differentiate between the two spellings. I came across one rule that stated: 02 br
00 " 01 i 00 Ou or Ow: Use ou in the middle of a word and use ow at the end of words other than those that end in n or d 02 i 00 ." 02 br
02 br
00 But this does not allow for exceptions such as owl, growl, towel, loud, fowl, foul etc. 02 br
00 Any help would be really appreciated! 02 br
00 Thanks, 02 br
00 Jon 010id 1
00 My 6 year old son is learning to read and is progressing steadily. However, he struggles to remember the spelling for words which use the diphthongs OW and OU 00 . So for example, he'll think owl is spelt oul and bounce is spelt bownce. 02 br
02 br
00 I need to find a rule or a way of being able to help him remember how to differentiate between the two spellings. I came across one rule that stated: 02 br
00 " 01 i 00 Ou or Ow: Use ou in the middle of a word and use ow at the end of words other than those that end in n or d 02 i 00 ." 02 br
02 br
00 But this does not allow for exceptions such as owl, growl, towel, loud, fowl, foul etc. 02 br
00 Any help would be really appreciated! 02 br
00 Thanks, 02 br
00 Jon 010id 1
Top answer
02 b 00 0-
- 02 b 00 0-
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19 Answers
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0 At the risk of oversimplifying, I will suggest the following. 02 br
00 1) This rule seems to work; the fact that there are exceptions is no problem. 02 br
00 2) The boy is more at a stage of reading than of writing; recognizing both spellings as having the same sound is what is important. 02 br
00 3) He's only six; he has plenty of time to discern the diffrerences
00 1) This rule seems to work; the fact that there are exceptions is no problem. 02 br
00 2) The boy is more at a stage of reading than of writing; recognizing both spellings as having the same sound is what is important. 02 br
00 3) He's only six; he has plenty of time to discern the diffrerences
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01 cite 10 jonathen 12 cite 10 use ow at the end of words other than those that end in n or d 12 blockquote10 What? How about "Use 01 b 00 ou 02 b 00 except when final or followed by 01 u 00 final 02 u 00 01 b 00 n 02 b 00 or 01 b 00 l 02 b 00 ". 02 br
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0 Thanks for that CJ. You're right, this is too heavy for my son - I was just hoping there'd be a simpler rule to help him differentiate between the two, but clearly there isn't! 02 br
00 However, that rule you have provided will certainly 01 i 00 help 02 i 00 me to explain different words to him and I can use this later when he is old enough to grasp such things. 02 br
00 However, that rule you have provided will certainly 01 i 00 help 02 i 00 me to explain different words to him and I can use this later when he is old enough to grasp such things. 02 br
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0 For younger children it's probably best to concentrate on a few rhyming words at a time. 02 br
00 down, town, clown, frown can easily be worked into a children's story. It's probably best for the word to be encountered in reading quite a few times before writing is attempted. 02 br
02 br
00 The same is true of owl, howl, prowl, scowl. 02 br
00 And of cow,
00 down, town, clown, frown can easily be worked into a children's story. It's probably best for the word to be encountered in reading quite a few times before writing is attempted. 02 br
02 br
00 The same is true of owl, howl, prowl, scowl. 02 br
00 And of cow,
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0 My son is also 6 and in first grade learning to read. His spelling words for this week are cow, found, house,now,out,pouch, crowded. I am having a terrible 02 br
00 time trying to teach him ou and ow. So, I could really use some easier suggestions if there are any. thanks! 0-
00 time trying to teach him ou and ow. So, I could really use some easier suggestions if there are any. thanks! 0-
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0 Personally I believe at that age the only thing is to insist they are learned by heart. It is not really possible to teach a rule for so complex a pronunciation. 02 br
00 Keep the two letter combinations separate as suggested above, and drill the shape of the words into him by repetitive usage - little and often. 0-
00 Keep the two letter combinations separate as suggested above, and drill the shape of the words into him by repetitive usage - little and often. 0-
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01 cite 10 Anonymous 12 cite 10 I could really use some easier suggestions if there are any 12 blockquote10 If you restrict it to only those words, it shouldn't be a problem to see that it's 01 i 00 ow 02 i 00 when final, and otherwise it's 01 i 00 ou 02 i 00 . The only exception is 01 i
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0 I think focusing on these spelling differences at this young an age can stunt a child's desire to write. As your son has more natural experiences (not forced lessons) with reading, word families and vowel tendancies-he will adopt specific spellings. I know its tough to watch your child mispell things, but try to focus more on writing ability not spelling. Spelling will come with age. 0-
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I agree that better spelling comes with age and exposure, however I teach first grade and one of the skills we are required to teach children to "learn and apply" ou and ow. While students do write words with ou and ow, their writing time is is taught seperately.
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There is a simple rule, which has only three exceptions:
OW is used: 1. at the end of a word eg how, cow
2. at the end of a syllable within a word eg flow-er, tow-el
3. before 'n' or 'l' if they are at the end of a word eg brown, howl
OU is used in every other case....
... with the following exceptions
OW is used: 1. at the end of a word eg how, cow
2. at the end of a syllable within a word eg flow-er, tow-el
3. before 'n' or 'l' if they are at the end of a word eg brown, howl
OU is used in every other case....
... with the following exceptions
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