Spelling Pattern: OW

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Combination OW

The combination ow has two sounds:

The first, it's the spelling pattern of ow as in row.

The second, it's the variant vowel pattern as in cow.

Spelling pattern of ow as in row.

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Read these long (o) words.

bellow	bowler	glow	owe	slow
billow	bungalow	grow	own	snow
blow	crow	low	pillow	sow
borrow	elbow	meadow	row	throw
bow	fellow	mellow	shadow	tow
bowl	flow	mow	show	yellow

Read these sentences.

• Do you bend your elbow when you throw things?
• You owe me a dime if you want to see the show.
• Why did you throw the pillow?
• I will put the snow in a bowl.
• How low can a crow fly?
• Can you follow the shadow of the crow?
• I see a yellow bow on the snowman.
• I sat in the shadow of a willow tree.
• The tow truck towed my car home.
• Can a blowfish blow bubbles?
• It is freezing in the blowing snow.
• Do you see the glow in the window?
• The stowaway on the ship was a mellow fellow.
• I laid my pillow in the shadow of the yellow bungalow.
• I will sow these seeds in a row and hope they grow.
• That bowler was a show-off until he hurt his elbow.
• A crow walked slowly in the shadow of my snowman.

Spelling pattern of ow as in cow.

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The spelling/reading letter patterns ow and ou have the same sound as heard in cow

This is not the long (o) sound heard in snow, although it is spelled exactly the same.

This sound has two spelling patterns: ow and ou.

These vowel combinations, ow and ou are diphthongs when they have the variant vowel sound as heard in cow and house.

Read the words listed in the columns below.

brown	down	owl
clown	flower	shower
cow	frown	towel
crowd	how	town
crown	now	vowel
about	found	ouch
cloud	hour	our
couch	house	out
count	loud	round
flour	mouth	shout

Read these sentences.

• I found a flower by my house.
• I must go to town to buy some flour.
• Can you count the brown cows for me.
• The owl flew around my house.
• Do you want to go outside now?
• How loud can you shout the vowel sounds?
• A stout clown had a sour apple in his mouth.
• The owl found a mouse by my house.
• How far can you count aloud in an hour?
• I see a cow by the trout pond south of here.
• I saw a clown upside down make a frown.

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