Year 1 English: ow, oi and the er sounds: ur and er
Part of the Year 1 English two letters, one sound (digraphs) chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page · Download worksheet (PDF) · Answers (PDF)
ow, oi and the er sounds: ur and er
The letters ow can make the sound in cow. They can also make the sound in snow. The letters oi make the sound in coin.
The letters ur and er can make the same sound: the ur in fur and the er in her. Both are digraphs.
| Letters | Example words |
|---|---|
| ow (as in cow) | cow, owl, town, brown |
| ow (as in snow) | snow, grow, window |
| oi | coin, point, join, oil |
| ur | fur, turn, curl, burst |
| er | her, fern, water, sister |
Key ideas
- ow is the sound in cow and in town, but in snow it sounds like the oa in boat.
- oi is the sound in coin and point.
- ur and er can make the same sound, as in fur and her.
- Put each digraph in one sound box.
Key words. A sound box holds one sound. A digraph is two letters that make one sound.
Method. Say the word slowly. Put the letters for each sound in one box.
- Say the word slowly, one sound at a time. Say each sound on its own, like a robot.c - l - ow - n
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: ow.c | l | ow | n
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.4 sounds
- Write the answer. c, l, ow, n
Check. Push the boxes together again: c + l + ow + n makes clown. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of ow in one box. Do not split ow into separate letters.
Key words. Blend means to push the sounds together to read a word.
Method. Say each sound, then push the sounds together to make the word.
- Say the first sound. Use the letters for that sound together.f
- Say the sounds in order. Keep going until you reach the last sound.f - er - n
- Push the sounds together and read the word. Read them quickly, as one word.fern
- Write the answer. fern
Check. Split the word back into sounds: f, er, n. ✓
Watch out. Say er as one sound, not as two separate letters.
Method. Look at the picture, then build the word from its sounds.
- Look at the picture. Say what it is, in one word.The picture shows a coin.
- Split the word into sounds. Two letters that make one sound go in one box.c | oi | n
- Write the word. Write each sound in order, with its letters together.coin
Check. Read the sounds back in order: c - oi - n makes coin. ✓
Watch out. Write both letters of oi together, in one box.
Watch out
Watch out: ow does not always make the same sound. The ow in cow is different from the ow in snow. Read each word with its example in mind.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Make two lists on paper: words where the ow is like cow, and words where it is like snow. Sort the words from this section into the lists, and say each word aloud.
Exercise 2E Reading and splitting ow, oi, ur and er words
Method. Look at the picture, then build the word from its sounds.
- Look at the picture. Say what it is, in one word.The picture shows a cow.
- Split the word into sounds. Two letters that make one sound go in one box.c | ow
- Write the word. Write each sound in order, with its letters together.cow
Check. Read the sounds back in order: c - ow makes cow. ✓
Watch out. Write both letters of ow together, in one box.
Method. Look at the picture, then build the word from its sounds.
- Look at the picture. Say what it is, in one word.The picture shows an owl.
- Split the word into sounds. Two letters that make one sound go in one box.ow | l
- Write the word. Write each sound in order, with its letters together.owl
Check. Read the sounds back in order: ow - l makes owl. ✓
Watch out. Write both letters of ow together, in one box.
Method. Look at the picture, then build the word from its sounds.
- Look at the picture. Say what it is, in one word.The picture shows a coin.
- Split the word into sounds. Two letters that make one sound go in one box.c | oi | n
- Write the word. Write each sound in order, with its letters together.coin
Check. Read the sounds back in order: c - oi - n makes coin. ✓
Watch out. Write both letters of oi together, in one box.
Key words. A sound box holds one sound. A digraph is two letters that make one sound.
Method. Say the word slowly. Put the letters for each sound in one box.
- Say the word slowly, one sound at a time. Say each sound on its own, like a robot.c - l - ow - n
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: ow.c | l | ow | n
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.4 sounds
- Write the answer. c, l, ow, n
Check. Push the boxes together again: c + l + ow + n makes clown. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of ow in one box. Do not split ow into separate letters.
Key words. A sound box holds one sound. A digraph is two letters that make one sound.
Method. Say the word slowly. Put the letters for each sound in one box.
- Say the word slowly, one sound at a time. Say each sound on its own, like a robot.p - oi - n - t
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: oi.p | oi | n | t
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.4 sounds
- Write the answer. p, oi, n, t
Check. Push the boxes together again: p + oi + n + t makes point. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of oi in one box. Do not split oi into separate letters.
Key words. A sound box holds one sound. A digraph is two letters that make one sound.
Method. Say the word slowly. Put the letters for each sound in one box.
- Say the word slowly, one sound at a time. Say each sound on its own, like a robot.t - ur - n
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: ur.t | ur | n
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.3 sounds
- Write the answer. t, ur, n
Check. Push the boxes together again: t + ur + n makes turn. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of ur in one box. Do not split ur into separate letters.
Key words. A sound box holds one sound. A digraph is two letters that make one sound.
Method. Say the word slowly. Put the letters for each sound in one box.
- Say the word slowly, one sound at a time. Say each sound on its own, like a robot.w - a - t - er
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: er.w | a | t | er
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.4 sounds
- Write the answer. w, a, t, er
Check. Push the boxes together again: w + a + t + er makes water. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of er in one box. Do not split er into separate letters.
Key words. Blend means to push the sounds together to read a word.
Method. Say each sound, then push the sounds together to make the word.
- Say the first sound. Use the letters for that sound together.b
- Say the sounds in order. Keep going until you reach the last sound.b - r - ow - n
- Push the sounds together and read the word. Read them quickly, as one word.brown
- Write the answer. brown
Check. Split the word back into sounds: b, r, ow, n. ✓
Watch out. Say ow as one sound, not as two separate letters.
Key words. Blend means to push the sounds together to read a word.
Method. Say each sound, then push the sounds together to make the word.
- Say the first sound. Use the letters for that sound together.j
- Say the sounds in order. Keep going until you reach the last sound.j - oi - n
- Push the sounds together and read the word. Read them quickly, as one word.join
- Write the answer. join
Check. Split the word back into sounds: j, oi, n. ✓
Watch out. Say oi as one sound, not as two separate letters.
Key words. Blend means to push the sounds together to read a word.
Method. Say each sound, then push the sounds together to make the word.
- Say the first sound. Use the letters for that sound together.c
- Say the sounds in order. Keep going until you reach the last sound.c - ur - l
- Push the sounds together and read the word. Read them quickly, as one word.curl
- Write the answer. curl
Check. Split the word back into sounds: c, ur, l. ✓
Watch out. Say ur as one sound, not as two separate letters.
Key words. Blend means to push the sounds together to read a word.
Method. Say each sound, then push the sounds together to make the word.
- Say the first sound. Use the letters for that sound together.f
- Say the sounds in order. Keep going until you reach the last sound.f - er - n
- Push the sounds together and read the word. Read them quickly, as one word.fern
- Write the answer. fern
Check. Split the word back into sounds: f, er, n. ✓
Watch out. Say er as one sound, not as two separate letters.
Method. Find the word that goes in the gap. Then find the letters for the gap.
- Think of the word. A town has houses and shops.town
- Find the letters in the gap. The letters t and n stay the same. The gap is ow.t + ow + n
- Write the answer. ow
Check. Put ow in the gap: t-ow-n. That makes town. ✓
Watch out. Read the whole word again after you fill the gap.
Method. Find the word that goes in the gap. Then find the letters for the gap.
- Think of the word. To point means to show where something is.point
- Find the letters in the gap. The letters p and nt stay the same. The gap is oi.p + oi + nt
- Write the answer. oi
Check. Put oi in the gap: p-oi-nt. That makes point. ✓
Watch out. The gap is one sound, so write both letters.
Method. Look at the last part of each word, and find the one with a different sound.
- Look at coin, join and point. Each one has the letters oi.coin, join, point: oi
- Look at town. town has the letters ow, not oi.town: ow
- Write the odd one out. town
Check. coin, join and point all have oi. town has ow. ✓
Watch out. Look at the two letters together. oi and ow are different.
Method. Find the word with the letters er. Check each word.
- Look at fur and curl. Both have the letters ur.fur: ur, curl: ur
- Look at fern. fern has the letters er.fern: er
- Write the answer. fern
Check. Sound boxes: f | er | n. fur and curl have ur. ✓
Watch out. ur and er can sound the same, but they are spelled differently.
Method. Think about the two words, and what Lily says.
- Look at snow and cow. Both words have the letters ow.snow: ow, cow: ow
- Say the two words. The ow in cow sounds different from the ow in snow.cow: ow as in cow | snow: ow as in boat
- Compare the sounds. The ow in snow sounds the same as the oa in boat.Not quite.
Check. Sound boxes: s | n | ow and c | ow. The letters match, but the sound is different. ✓
Watch out. The same two letters can make two different sounds. Read the example words.
Method. Think about the sound in each word.
- Look at fur. fur has ur, and the sound is like the er in her.fur: ur
- Look at her. her has er, and the sound is the same.her: er
- Explain. ur and er are different spellings for the same sound in these words.ur and er can make the same sound.
Check. fur: f | ur. her: h | er. Both words have the same sound. ✓
Watch out. Different letters can make the same sound. Look at the letters in each box, then read the example words again.