PRIMARY SPELLING & PHONICS • GRADE 2–3 ORTHOEPY • DIPHTHONG OW (/aʊ/) • POETRY STUDENT WORKSHEET • PAGE 1 OF 2

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Vocalic Diphthong • Unmarked ow (/aʊ/) • Classic Nature Couplet

“Oh, were you ever in Drowsy Town, / Just when the dusk was dropping down?” — CARRIE SHAW RICE

Wheeler's 12 Core Words:
how • town • frown • brow • howl • down • crown • plow • scowl • brown • crowd • drown

1 12-Word Diphthong <ow> Orthographic Matrix

Copy the 12 target words in 4 balanced columns, underlining the ow diphthong in each word:

how • town • frown

brow • howl • down

crown • plow • scowl

brown • crowd • drown

2 Carrie Shaw Rice Poetic Couplet Copywork

Transcribe Carrie Shaw Rice's classic couplet with elegant handwriting, proper capitalization, and question mark:

3 Contrast Diphthong Challenge • OI vs. OW

Fill in each blank with the correct word from Lesson 119 (soil) or Lesson 120 (plow, brown):

1. The farmer used his sharp iron ________________ to turn over the rich black ________________.

2. The little ________________ sparrow hopped on the branch without making a sound.

Wheeler's Orthography Rules • Diphthong OW

1. 1. Sound of as /aʊ/: Digraph ow represents the diphthong /aʊ/ in town, plow, brown, crown (contrast with long ōw in snow, blow).

2. 2. Terminal Diphthong Position: When the diphthong /aʊ/ occurs at the end of a word, English writes ow (how, brow, cow, now, plow) rather than ou.

3. 3. Poetic Question Mark: Carrie Shaw Rice's couplet begins with the interrogative verb were you, requiring an interrogation point (?) at the end of line 2.