Diphthong: ou and ow

 

Explicit Phonics Lesson

ou/ow     

Day 1

Phonemic Awareness:

          We have studied digraphs. What is a digraph? (2 consonants  that come together to make a unexpected sound.) Name the digraphs we have studied. ( sh, ch, th, wh)

          This week we are going begin to study diphthongs. A diphthong is two vowels that make one sound.  Say diphthong. (students respond) What is a diphthong? Two vowels that make one sound. Repeat the definition after me.

A diphthong is…..two vowels….that make one sound.

          The diphthong we are studying today is the “Ouch” sound. If you skin your knee and are brave, but it really hurts, you would say /ou/. That is the “Ouch” sound.

          I am going to say some words. I want you to tell me if the /ou/ sound is in the word or not. For example, if the word is cow, you would give me the thumbs up signal because the word has the “Ouch” sound. If the word is cat, you would give me the thumbs down signal because it does not have the /ou/ sound.

          Pronounce these words to have the students indicate if the word has the /ou/ sound:

out              sour             loud             goat             got              house

blow             our              mouth          boy              horse           shout

Spelling Generalizations:

Use ou at the beginning or in the middle of a word for the “ou” sound.

Use ow at the end of a word for the “ou” sound.

If a single l, n, el, or er follows the “ou” sound at the end of a word, use ow.

Decoding:

          The sound /ou/ is most often spelled with ou when it is in the beginning or middle of the word and ow more often when the sound is at the end of a word. (Refer to the “Ouch” sound card.) Use two colors of markers to write /ou/ words one spelling at a time on the board as the class sounds out and then blends the words as a group.

                   now              out              round           mouth         

loud             cloud            how              count          

shout           house           mouse          down

          After the words are decoded, briefly discuss meanings of words that may be unfamiliar to the students. Reread the lines of words with the class. Then give clues and have the students tell their buddy which word is the answer. Call on one set of buddies to give and spell the answer. Circle the words on the board as they are given as answers. Clues could be:

1.     You use this to speak…mouth

2.    To find out how many you must____…count

3.    The opposite of up…down

4.    A shelter…house

5.    The shape of the earth…round

6.    A rodent that likes cheese…mouse

7.    Tell me ____ you did that…how

8.    Condensation in the sky…cloud

9.    The antonym for in…out

10. Please don’t ____; I’m not deaf!…shout

11.  The antonym for later...now

The last word (loud) is read by a student and used in a sentence. This exercise will give practice in reading words with the /ou/ sound and will help expand vocabulary at the same time.

Reading Decodable Text:

          Use the Decoding Practice page for imbedded text practice. Have the students count how many words they can find on the page that have the /ou/ sound. Read the page one section at a time to the students, have the class read it chorally, and then have buddy A read to buddy B. Then B will read to A.

         

Day 2

Review:

          Review the definition of a diphthong (2 vowels that work together to make a sound.) Review  the ou /ow sound using the “Ouch” Sound Spelling card introduced yesterday. Be sure to refer to the sounds as the “Ouch”  sound.

Phonemic Awareness:

I am going to say a word that has the /ou/ sound. I want you to tell me if the /ou/ sound is at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of the word.  For example, if the word is out, you would give me the signal for the sound /ou/ being at the end of the word. (Use thumbs up for beginning, thumbs down for ending, and right hand between the thumb and fingers of the left hand for middle.)

          Pronounce these words to have the students indicate where in the word the /ou/ sound is heard:

cow              shout           now              found           town            how

Frown          our              mouse          clown           ouch             chow 

Decoding:

          Write the following words on the board as the students sound and blend into words (see Day 1. Use buddy strategy for more student engagement.)

          hound           sprout         south           crown

          clown           proud           vow              bounce

          pound           around         ground         about          

         

Use these clues or make up your own (be sure to push the vocabulary factor):

1.     Something worn by a king or queen…crown

2.    A person who paints his face and entertains…clown

3.    Another word for dog…hound

4.    To make a promise...vow

5.    When a seed starts to grow…sprout

6.    The direction opposite of north…south

7.    Synonym for earth…ground

8.    To hit something and make it jump back to you…bounce

9.    A certain measurement of weight …pound

10. To be on all sides…around

11.  There are ______ twenty children in my class…about

Have a student read the last word (proud) and use it in a sentence.

Reading Decodable Text:

          Have student Buddies practice reading the ou/ow phrases. (You will need at least one copy for each pair of students.)

Day 3

Review:

          Use Sound Spelling cards to review diphthongs ou and ow. Have words with these spellings on flashcards (about 8) to quickly practice decoding.

Word Building:

          Using a pocket chart and letter cards or magnetic letter tiles work through the word chain:

shout                     found                     how                       town

out                        hound                    vow                       down

our                        pound                    now                       clown

sour                      bound                    sow                       crown

hour                      sound                     cow                      

house                    round                    

mouse

louse

loud

cloud

Reading Decodable Text:

          Have student Buddies practice rereading the ou/ow phrases. (You will need at least one copy for each pair of students.)

Day 4

Review:

          Review quickly the definition of a diphthong, and the sounds of ou and ow. Have the students give words that have these target sounds. List them on the board with the students’ help in spelling them.

Encoding:

          Use the dictation procedure.

          1.       ou      sh      ow      ŏ        ch

          2.       cow        now          how   

          3.       out         shout       pout

          4.       power          campground

          5.       We found a flower crushed on the ground.

Reading Decodable Text:

                    Provide students with copies of ou/ow sentences.  Have them locate and circle words with the ou/ow spelling. Then practice reading the sentences with buddy strategy.

Day 5

Review:

          Review quickly the definition of a diphthong, and the sounds of ou and ow using the sound spelling cards. Using about a dozen word cards, have Buddy A read the first word and tell a sentence using the word to Buddy B. Call on one Buddy A to share their sentence. Then for the next card, Buddy B reads and tells a sentence using the word to Buddy A. Continue until all the word cards have been used.

Encoding:

          Use the dictation procedure:

          1.       ow          ŏ          ou         oy         ō

          2.       crowd          shout           sprout        

          3.       frown           power          south

          4.       thousand                amount

          5.       The bill for the couch was a thousand dollars.

Reading Decodable Text:

          Reread ou/ow sentences and phrases using the buddy strategy.

Decoding Practice

cow      now      town     down    frown    out      shout    round   house    found

out of town               

shout out loud

a clown’s frown         

brown cow

1. How now brown cow?

2. Now is the time to shout out loud.

3. We found it by the house.

4. The little mouse is soft and brown.

5. There was not a sound when the sun went down.

6. The king’s crown is round.

7. The clown frowned and ran all around.

8. A gray cloud was near the ground.

ou/ow Phrases

1.   found a mouse

2.  a proud boy scout

3.  sound of a shout

4.  the round tower

5.  a sad frown

6.  way down south

7.  a tall clown

8.  a brown owl

9.  count out loud

10. around the town

11. a big brown cow

12. a very loud sound

13. out for now

14. found a cow

ou/ow Sentences

1. The cow went around the mountain.

2. There were no clouds until sundown.

3. The clown made a vow not to be too loud.

4. There was a loud growl under the house.

 5. We live in a house in town.

 6. His shout was very loud.

 7. A shower of rain helps the flowers.

8. He had a sour pickle in his mouth.

9. The little girl sits on the ground and pouts.

10. The last bus to town was crowded.

11. The loud sound came from the dark cloud.

12. Now the first drops of the shower fall.

13. We found out how to plant the flowers.