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Unit 6, Part 2: Spelling the short vowel sounds

Page 6 of 10

Unit 6: Short vowels, Part 2: o and u

Unit StartPage 12: Short vowel /o/: o, wa, quaCourse Test: Spelling test for /o/: o, wa, quaPage 14: Spelling test for /o/: o, wa, quaPage 15: Homophones and rule breakers for /o/Page 16: Short vowel /u/: u, o or ou?Page 17: When to use o to spell the /u/ sound.Course Test: Spelling test for /u/: u, o or ou?Page 19: Spelling test for /u/: u, o or ou?Page 20: Homophones for /u/Page 21: The schwa soundUnit End

Page 6 of 10

Spelling the short vowel sound /ŭ/ : u, o or ou

Some more on the /ŭ/ sound spelled with o as in oven.

Teaching point There is one rule to tell you when to use o to spell the /ŭ/ sound:

We never put u and v together - always use ov.

Some examples:
above
love
dove
shovel
cover		 discover
glove
shove
govern
government


The following are not rules but they are letter patterns which you often see:

1. on words:

son
ton
won
done
none
monk
month
front 		honey
money
among
wonder
London
Monday

2. oth words:

other
another
mother
brother
smother

Learn the Words
Learn the Words: Short /u/ spelled o

Rule Breakers - these words break spelling rules blood -
When I cut my finger there was a lot of blood.

flood -
After a lot of rain, York is often flooded.

Note:
In some parts of the UK these two vowel sounds sound almost the same:

u as in umbrella. oo as in books.

For more on the oo words, see Unit 13.

You have not completed Learn the Words activities for the word list on this page.

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