LESSON 120 TEACHER GUIDE & ANSWER KEY
LESSON 120 • TEACHER MASTER KEY
Wheeler's Elementary Speller • Page 65
| Target Word | Pronunciation | Rime / Root | Orthoepic Teaching Point |
|---|
| how | /haʊ/ | Old English hū • Word-final ow | Terminal position writes -ow (never *-ou) |
| town | /taʊn/ | -own rime • Old English tūn | Diphthong before -n; rhymes with down, brown |
| plow | /plaʊ/ | Old English plōh • British plough | American spelling uses simplified -ow |
| crowd | /kraʊd/ | -owd coda • Old English crūdan | Consonant blend cr- + diphthong /aʊ/ |
Exercise 1 (Matrix Copywork): All 12 words transcribed with diphthong ow underlined.
Exercise 2 (Poetic Couplet):
Verbatim copy:
“Oh, were you ever in Drowsy Town,
Just when the dusk was dropping down?”
[Capital 'Drowsy Town'; question mark at end.]
Exercise 3 (Context Fill):
1. plow • soil.
2. brown.
Orthoepy Note: Contrast diphthong ow (/aʊ/) with vowel digraph ōw (/oʊ/) in blow, grow, snow from Lesson 69.
- Say 'snow' and 'how'. How is the sound of 'ow' completely different in these two words?
- Look at 'Drowsy Town' in Carrie Shaw Rice's poem. Why are both words capitalized?
- What farm tool ends with 'ow' and rhymes with 'how' and 'cow'?
Dictation & Oral Application Sentences (Read slowly at normal speaking pace):
1. The busy market town was filled with a large crowd of cheerful people.
2. The wise old farmer used his sturdy oxen to plow the rich garden soil.
3. Do not scowl or frown when gentle evening shadows fall over the town.
4. Carrie Shaw Rice wrote a sweet bedtime poem about quiet Drowsy Town.
Wheeler's Elementary Speller • Lesson 120 • Teacher Master Key
Page 2 of 2 (Instructor Reference)