Step 5 - Part 2: Learning about the vowels

Guidance is provided for some of the alternative spellings, including an explanation of soft c and soft g. The ‹ow› digraph represents two very different sounds. It has an /oa/ sound in yellow, pillow and elbow and an /ou/ sound in owl, crown and flower. When blending a word with an ‹ow› in it, the children have to try one way – /oa/ – and if that does not make sense, then they try the other way: /ou/ [demonstration].