Teaching Sound Spelling Patterns Part 3
In part 1 of this series, we looked at the benefits of teaching sound spellings and gave a few examples of the best ways to teach them. Part 2 covered an AUGH spelling as well as several OUGH spellings. In the third part of this series, we will be looking at two Bossy R spellings, two sounds of OW, and two sounds of OU. Let’s have some more fun with sound spellings!
Bossy R Returns
In our R-Controlled Spellings blog, we learned the true story of Bossy R and what happens when he goes walking with his friends. Today, we will see what happened next!
How to Teach AR Sounding Like the Name of R
The fact of the matter is Bossy R is just what his name suggests. He decided a long time ago that when a vowel is standing by him, the vowel is not allowed to talk. HE must do all the talking. So, when you see ER, OR, UR, or IR, all you hear is the sound, “rrrrr.” However, by the time Bossy R got to A, A had heard all she wanted to hear about who was to do all the talking. So there came Bossy R to stand by her! This time when they started to speak, A slyly poked R in the ribs and he was so startled that instead of saying, “RRRR,” like he always did, he shouted out his name, “R!”
You can find this sound spelling pattern in many words! Here are a few:
art part
ark park
tart party
partner
One of my favorite AR words is the word star. I also like to think of a little story of a guy named Mark who went to the park to sit on the grass and watch the stars at night. Then there was a guy named Art who took the cart apart! They both knew Smart Bart who got a tart at the Mart. These could make great writing prompts for your students!
Practice saying some AR words and have the children sound them and write them, one sound at a time, on their whiteboards.
How to Teach ARE Sounding Like AIR
Oh my, here’s Bossy R again! He makes our language tricky and interesting! This time A got reinforcements to be able to talk when Bossy R is around. Instead of just poking Bossy R when he started to talk, she decided to learn to speak up for herself. So, in these words, when you see ARE, it is going to sound like long A and “rrrr.” Normally we spell this sound like this: AIR. Here are some sample words:
fare care
hare pare
tare
In the picture on the front of the card, you can plainly see a hare that is super distressed. It would appear that somehow, he lost all his hair! Maybe spring came and he shed his heavy winter coat. At any rate, the hare DOES care that he’s bare! Maybe without his heavy winter coat, he can feel the air blowing against his skin.
Let the children draw their own picture of the miserable hare with no hair. Then have them practice writing and sounding the ARE words from the list above. Other words to include might be scare, share, rare, spare, stare, aware, declare, flare, prepare.
Sounds of OW
How to Teach the OW Sound When it Sounds Like OW
Look at the child in the picture on the front of the card. I suspect he was playing and fell down. Maybe he skinned his knees! Anyway, he looks like something really hurts! I think he’s crying, “OW!”
Notice how his mouth makes the O shape and his arms make the W in OW! Here are some words to sound out. When the children get to the OW part, have them do the action from the picture!
cow
pow
now
There are some words that have the OW spelling at the end, and many with the OW spelling at the end of a syllable:
powder
coward
tower
Practice sounding out words and writing them on the whiteboard - all sounding together while you write. Next, you call out each word and the children will sound them out while they write them on whiteboards. They can underline the OW in each word to make it stand out.
How to Teach the OW Sound When it Sounds Like OH
Look at the child in the picture on the front of the card. I suspect he just thought of something he had forgotten for a moment. What do you think it is? Maybe he forgot to do his homework. Maybe he forgot how to do a certain problem in math. Anyway, he looks to me like someone who just thought of something. Practice together saying, “OH!”, spelled like OW, and acting like the child in the picture looks. Here are some words where the OW sounds like OH:
snow
glow
grow
flow
Of course, there are words that have the OW inside them:
snowball
snowfall
growing
flowing
Practice sounding out words and writing them on the whiteboard - all sounding together while you write. Next, you call out each word and the children will sound them out while they write them on whiteboards. They can underline the OW in each word to make it stand out.
Sounds of OU
How to Teach the OU Sound When it Sounds Like OW
Most of the time, the sound spelling OU comes at the beginning or the middle of a word. Here are some examples:
out
pout
mouse
house
cloud
There are two ways to spell the sound of OU or OW. Well those are the two ways! Frequently the sound spelling OW comes at the end of a word or at the end of a syllable. Most frequently the only letter found after an OW word is the letter N:
cow
how
pow-der
brown
clown
Show the children the picture on the front of the card of the mouse running around the house. Maybe they are chasing a mouse and will shout when they catch it!
How to Teach the OU Sound When it Sounds Like OO
Ok, I know we JUST got through saying that OU sounds like OW! Like when you fall down and get hurt. We wrote CLOUD, LOUD, HOUSE, MOUSE, ROUND. But here comes OU and this time they sound like “OOO.” Here are some words for you:
you
soup
group
I remember this sound spelling because I look at the O and it PLAINLY looks like the lid of a soup pot! The U obviously is the pot holding the soup; the same soup that you are going to eat in a group.
Later, much later, you will learn that OU says other things. But don’t worry, just remember, “You eat soup in a group.” You can make the lid by touching your fingertips to the tip of your thumb. Then make the pot with your hand like this:
Conclusion
Adding multisensory elements to the lesson makes all the difference. Start with these fun stories and activities today and see how your students respond.
You can download larger images of the words above for teaching.
Previous blogs in this series: Teaching Sound Spelling Patterns Part 1
Teaching Sound Spelling Patterns Part 2
We are here to help; please contact us with any questions!