Just like with the previous levels on ai vs. ay vowel pairs and oi vs. oy vowel pairs, the general rule of thumb for deciding whether to use ou or ow in a word depends on whether the sound occurs in the middle or end of a syllable or word. In the middle of a syllable, ou is more commonly used; to close a syllable or end a word, ow is more commonly used. This pattern has more exceptions than the previous two patterns did, though -- high-frequency words like down and brown are two examples of this. Still, a student who hears the ou sound at the end of a word can be pretty confident that ow is the correct spelling to use in that situation.

By the time they get to this level, if they are working through the levels sequentially, your students will have mastered 470 of the 1,200 Rocket Spelling words. Their awards pages should be filling up, and their spelling confidence should be growing!