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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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Take a test in spelling the short /ŭ/ sound.

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The Spellzone interactive course is intended to be used online and may not be printed.

"Spellzone fits in beautifully with our Scope and Sequence of Phonological Awareness and Spelling. It also aligns perfectly with the four areas of spelling knowledge and uses the Brain, Ears, Eyes approach to learning spelling."
Thank you!

Teacher, Australia