16 Ways to Spell the Long Vowel Sound OR in English
Discover a useful and interesting phonics lesson plan for learning the 16 different ways to spell the long vowel sound OR in English.
Aims:
- To reinforce the concept that the same vowel sound can be spelled in different ways in English.
- To focus on the vowel sound OR as one of the vowel sounds that has many different spellings.
- To highlight the four most common spellings of the vowel sound OR: ‘au’, ‘or’, ‘ore’, and ‘aw’.
- T (teacher) says the OR sound and asks SS (students) how to spell it. Write different answers on the board. SS think of more words with OR as the strong vowel sound, and write them in groups with the different spelling patterns.
- T shows SS some different OR spellings and asks them to pronounce them, e.g. ‘ar’, ‘ough’, ‘augh’, etc. Discuss how each spelling can represent different sounds in English, e.g. ‘bought’ (OR) and ‘cough‘ (O). If they make mistakes, ask them why they pronounced them like that. Do SS have the long vowel sound OR in their language? How do they spell it?
- Give SS copies of the blank grid (below). T says words from the completed grid (below) one by one and SS write them in the correct category on their grid.
- Or, give SS the blank grid and they have to fill in the gaps with their choice of words.
- Give SS the completed grid and check their answers. Try to elicit from SS the four most common OR sound spellings: ‘au’, ‘or’, ‘ore’, and ‘aw’. Some of the other spellings are only used rarely and with particular words, e.g. ‘oa’ in ‘broad’ and words with ‘broad’ like ‘broadband’.
- Give SS the quiz page (below) and ask them to complete it in pairs or small groups. Check answers.
16 Ways to Spell the Long Vowel Sound OR in English
16 Ways to Spell the Long Vowel Sound OR in English (Blank)
16 Ways to Spell OR – Quiz
Other ideas for teaching the many OR sound spellings:
- Read a text and highlight words with OR sound spellings; list different spellings and notice the four more common spellings.
- Listen to a text (e.g. a song) and write down words with OR sound; list different spellings and notice the four more common spellings.
- Write two or more new words with OR sound for each spelling, e.g. ‘or’: ‘corn’, ‘scorch’, etc.
- Write a sentence with two or more OR sound words – with the same spelling or different ones, e.g. ‘I bought four bags of corn at the store.’
- Discuss OR with Clear Alphabet, where it is always written ‘or’. What is the difference? Why can’t this be the normal spelling in English? What would happen if we could change the spelling of all words with OR sound to the spelling ‘or’? How feasible would it be?
- Describe or mime an OR word for a partner or group to guess.
- Put OR words into word class groups, e.g. adjectives (‘warm’), nouns (‘corn’), verbs (‘walk’), etc.
Quiz answers:
1. oars – c) vowel + r
2. football – a) single letter ‘a’
3. drawer – d) vowel + other letters
4. autumn – b) digraphs
5. allure – c) vowel + r
6. sidewalk – d) vowel + other letters
7. torch – c) vowel + r
8. lawn – d) vowel + other letters
9. thought – d) vowel + other letters
10. store – c) vowel + r
11. broadband – b) digraphs
12. awesome – d) vowel + other letters
13. pour – c) vowel + r
14. daughter – d) vowel + other letters
15. wardrobe – c) vowel + r
16. door – c) vowel + r
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