The Elementary Spelling Book, being an Improvement on the American Spelling Book · No. 49 · Part 4: Accent, blends and new sounds
29. ou and ow: cloud, owl, brown, gown
Goal: Your child reads and spells words where ou or ow says the sound in "out".
You'll need
- The book, open to this table
- A slate, small whiteboard, or paper and pencil
What's in the book
This page begins with words like loud, proud, cloud, ounce, trout, crown, frown, town. Then No. 49: foul, owl, cowl, prowl, scowl, stout, brown, clown, gown, and flour, sour, count, fowl, howl, growl, couch, mount, out. Sentences follow: "The owl has large eyes and can see in the night."
The lesson, step by step
The pattern
ou and ow make the same sound, the one in "out" and "now". The key says ou and ow, when not marked, sound like this.
Read the table aloud
Read the table aloud together, a column at a time. You say a word, your child says it back while pointing to it. Then your child reads a column alone. Some of the words:
loud, proud, cloud, trout
crown, frown, town
foul, owl, prowl, scowl
brown, clown, gown, flour, sour
Spell aloud
Now the old way: your child looks at a word, then spells it aloud and says it.
Sayc, l, o, u, d, cloud.
Go down a column like this. Then cover the column, say a word, and have your child spell it aloud without looking.
Read the sentences
Under the table are short reading lessons that use its words. Your child reads them aloud, pointing to each word. Help with any word not yet learned. Two of them:
We can burn fish oil in lamps.
The owl has large eyes and can see in the night.
Dictation
Say each word, use it in a short sentence of your own, and say it again. Your child writes it. Try these: loud, cloud, town, owl, brown, gown, count, out.
Check together against the book. Any word that came out wrong goes on a card for tomorrow.
Wrap up
Your child sorts the dictation words into an ou column and an ow column.